Margaret McKenna, former CIC Board Chair and president emerita of Lesley University (MA), was recently named president of the Wal-Mart Foundation, the charitable arm of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The Wal-Mart Foundation is the largest corporate foundation in the world, giving over $300 million each year. McKenna noted that, “It is nice to be on the other side of the development equation.”

The Foundation gives to charities that focus on economic opportunities, education, and health and human services. McKenna “will be charged with taking the company’s corporate giving to a greater level of impact and excellence,” said Leslie Dach, executive vice president of corporate affairs and government relations for Wal-Mart. “Margaret McKenna has a proven track record in leading organizations to achieve their goals and managing programs that have a positive impact on communities,” she said.

In other foundation news, Robert M. Frehse Jr. retired as executive director of the William Randolph Hearst Foundations in July after 32 years. The Hearst Foundations has been a generous supporter of many CIC member colleges and universities and of CIC itself. Frehse currently serves as a member of the CIC Board of Directors and will continue to serve as a consultant to the Hearst Foundations. He will be succeeded by Paul “Dino” Dinovitz, who headed the Foundation’s San Francisco office as vice president and western director.

Also this summer, Sabine O’Hara was appointed executive director of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) and vice president of the Institute of International Education (IIE). CIES operates the Fulbright program in which faculty members of CIC colleges have participated frequently. Most recently, O’Hara was president of Roanoke College (VA) where she served as the institution’s tenth president.