Three Alumni Elected to Board of Trustees

Edvige Jean-François ’90

After graduating from Hamilton with a major in English and a minor in Spanish, Jean-François received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. For more than 20 years, she built a career in television, including positions at ABC News in New York City, Associated Press Television News in Washington, D.C., and CNN International in Atlanta. 

Most recently, in support of the College, Jean-François was an active member of her 30th reunion planning committee, led three online discussions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been engaged with Hamilton’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. She was guest editor for “We Are Hamilton,” a Winter/Spring 2021 special edition of Hamilton magazine, which was featured in Inside Higher Ed and received a CASE Gold Circle of Excellence Award.

Jean-François was awarded a Hamilton College Key Award in 2021. Also that year, Dave Bolger ’99 interviewed her for his podcast Had I Known. In the summer of 2022, Jean-François delivered the Baccalaureate address for Hamilton’s rescheduled Class of 2020 graduation and received a doctorate of humane letters. 

In July 2022, Jean-François began a career in academia when she was appointed the inaugural executive director of the Center for Studies on Africa and Its Diaspora (CSAD) at Georgia State University’s College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta. CSAD is an academic research center focused on increasing worldwide understanding of the African diaspora, the people from Africa, and their ongoing contributions to the world.

Kevin J. O’Donnell ’89, P’22,’25

O’Donnell, who graduated from Hamilton with a degree in economics, played football and was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity. He received a Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. 

O’Donnell built his career in the reinsurance industry and is president and chief executive officer of RenaissanceRe, a leading global property and casualty reinsurer. In addition, he is actively involved with many industry and educational organizations and is the chair of ClimateWise, a current trustee of The Institutes, and a member of the board of overseers for St. John’s University School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Sciences.

In 2020, O’Donnell hosted the Hamilton virtual event Reinsurance: The Most Interesting Industry You’ve Never Heard Of, providing an education to both alumni and students considering career options. Currently, he is vice chair of the Hamilton Fund and will assume the chairmanship in July for a two-year term.

O’Donnell and his wife, Jennie Lee O’Donnell ’89, live in Bermuda. They have three daughters, Emma, Mollie ’22, and Hailey ’25.

William “Bill” C. Schmoker ’89

An economics major at Hamilton, Schmoker earned his Master of Science from the London School of Economics as well as his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Hamilton’s tennis team and Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Schmoker was president of the College’s Minnesota Alumni Association, a member of the Admission and Career Center volunteer programs, a class correspondent, and a leadership gift caller for the Hamilton Fund.

In recent years, Schmoker has subsidized Hamilton’s spring trip to Nepal, associated with a class focused on adventure writing, and established a substantial endowment for the Outdoor Leadership program. He is a vice president and senior investment manager for the Principal Financial Group in Minneapolis. He has served as board chair for the Minnesota Children’s Museum, a trustee for the Jeremiah Program, which disrupts the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, as well as a trustee for the Breck School. Schmoker recently completed a term as board chair for Wilderness Inquiry, which promotes outdoor adventures for people of all ages and backgrounds.