Three highly successful DePaul graduates and a fourth distinguished professional who have made marks in their industries were introduced as the university's newest trustees at a recent Board of Trustees meeting.

They are Fay Hartog Levin, senior consultant at Res Publica Group, a public relations and public affairs firm; Carla Michelotti, executive vice president/general counsel for Leo Burnett Worldwide, part of the Publicis Groupe Network, the world’s fourth-largest advertising and marketing services network; James T. Ryan, president and chief operating officer of Lake Forest-based Grainger, a Fortune 500 supplier of facility maintenance products; and George Ruff, founder and senior principal of Trinity Hotel Investors LLC, a global hotel real estate investment company in New York.

“One of the most heartening things as president is that so many people are willing to help DePaul move forward,” says the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M. “I’m proud that these very successful people who could do anything with their time and expertise have offered it to all of us. It's a good sign for the future.”

Levin was vice president for External Affairs at the Field Museum from 1997 to 2006, where she managed the museum’s community and government relations and served on the executive management team. She joined the Illinois Arts Alliance Board in 1997 and has chaired it since 2006. In addition, she is a board member of the Merit School of Music.

A graduate of Northwestern with a degree in Russian language and literature, Levin received her law degree from Loyola. She amassed an extensive background in educational issues as a lawyer at Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather and Geraldson representing school boards, private and public colleges and social service agencies. She is a published expert on school and employment law who has an intricate knowledge of First Amendment rights, AIDS in the schools, teachers' strikes and school district boundary changes.

Michelotti is a graduate of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and an alum of the College of Law. She is one of the foremost authorities on legal issues pertaining to all forms of commercial communication, self-regulation and intellectual property. She has served as chair of American Advertising Federation; the National Advertising Review Council; the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Fellows as well as ISBA Young Lawyers. She is currently a vice president of the International Advertising Association and a member of The Chicago Network, the city’s premier organization of professional women. She is on the Woman’s Board of the House of Good Shepherd and has been appointed a trustee of the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation. Michelotti is a member of the American, Illinois, and Chicago Bar Associations, as well as the Economic Club of Chicago.

Michelotti is a member of the Leo Burnett Worldwide Global Leadership Group with legal responsibility for the agency’s global network and global affairs. She has been awarded the Justinian Association award for Professional Leadership and has earned the 2004 DePaul College of Law Outstanding Service to the Profession award. Michelotti was named to Today’s Chicago Woman Hall of Fame in 2003 and was honored to be named as Chicago’s 2003 Ad Woman of the Year.

Ruff, a C.P.A., is a cum laude graduate of the College of Commerce, earning his bachelor’s degree at DePaul. He is a founding member of the Real Estate Center and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council.

A 30-year veteran of the domestic and international real estate and hotel industry who has closed more than $3 billion in transactions, Ruff leads Trinity’s investment and strategic initiatives.

He is a prolific entrepreneur, founding and co-founding five companies in which he oversaw billions in property holdings and hotel investments and directed acquisitions, asset management, finance, dispositions and development in North America, Asia and Europe. In 1989, he was a finalist for Illinois Entrepreneur of the Year.

Prior to venturing out on his own, Ruff was a partner and executive vice president of real estate for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.

Another distinguished DePaul graduate, Ryan earned his MBA with distinction at DePaul concentrating in marketing and was a recipient of DePaul’s Distinguished MBA Alumni Award in 1999. His undergraduate work was completed at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

As Grainger’s president and chief operating officer, Ryan is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the company’s operations. During his 27-year tenure, he has held key management roles including executive vice president, marketing, sales and service; president, Grainger Parts and grainger.com; and vice president, information services, achieving implementation of the single largest SAP system worldwide.

Illinois Institute of Technology recognized Ryan as the 2006 Outstanding Leader in Industry. He is a trustee of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and an executive advisory board member for the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management at the University of Wisconsin. He also is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.