New Board of Trustees Member: Laurie Fitch

Laurie Fitch (YAB '91), a finance professional with extensive experience in asset management, investment banking and capital markets, is AUC's newest Board of Trustees member, elected during the Board's Cairo meeting this month.

Currently, Fitch is a partner in the Strategic Advisory Group at PJT Partners, based in London, where she advises chief executives, chief financial officers and boards on strategy, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and investor communication. She also oversees business development, multiple deal executions and working teams in industrial manufacturing, power and gas, and healthcare equipment in Europe and the United States.

Fitch spent a year abroad at AUC in 1991 and graduated from the American University in Washington D.C. in 1992 with a degree in Arabic. Fitch received her master’s from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she is chair of the University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. 

"My year abroad at AUC sparked something of a love affair with Egypt, now approaching 30 years," said Fitch. "The country has enriched my life in more ways than I can acknowledge, and I feel a deep sense of commitment to ensure that the University continues to thrive. That requires so much behind-the-scenes. The opportunity to serve on AUC’s governing body is a privilege, and I’m incredibly excited to return to the University in its centennial year."

Richard Bartlett, chair of AUC’s Board of Trustees, highlighted how Fitch will provide the board with valuable counsel and expertise. 

"We are thrilled to have Laurie join our Board, " said Bartlett. "As a study abroad alum, she brings a familiarity and passion for AUC and Egypt that will be an asset to the Board on issues like re-internationalization and student experience.  And as we look to the next 100 years, her financial expertise will be extremely valuable in our strategic planning."