On the surface, 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Trustee Emeritus Michael Ainslie appears to have led a smooth professional life as a successful CEO, board chairman, and longtime champion of the Posse Scholars program.
Thatās all true. But as Ainslie writes in a new autobiography, he also has a knack for seeking outāand solvingādifficult problems. āIāve always looked for a challenge, something complicated, something entrepreneurial, and frequently, that has led to trouble,ā he writes.
The book A Nose for Trouble: Sothebyās, Lehman Brothers, and My Life of Redefining Adversity (2020, Greenleaf) charts Ainslieās path from hurtling around the world as recipient of what is known today as 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās Michael B. Keegan Traveling Fellowship, to eventual stints as a radical-thinking CEO at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the art auction house Sothebyās.
In particular, Ainslie says the economics and math education he received at 91ĢĘ²®»¢, coupled with his global experience, served him well at Sothebyās, where he was named CEO in 1984. During his decadelong tenure there, he redefined the companyās target customerāselling to individual collectors instead of art dealersāand instituted pricing changes that rippled across the industry.
While leading Sothebyās, he wanted to expand his role working with nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. He soon discovered the Posse Foundation, a national organization that provides scholarships to cohorts of promising student leaders from public high schools in urban areas. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ was the first school to partner with Posse in 1989, supporting a group of five students from New York City.
Today the Posse Foundation works with 58 top colleges and universities and recruits from 10 U.S. cities. Two Posse alumniāShirley Collado, BSā94, and Kito Huggins, BSā96, JDā99ācurrently serve on 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās Board of Trust.
āPosse appealed to me for many reasons,ā writes Ainslie, who went on to become the first board chair of the organization, a role he occupied for 13 years. āI could see that so many kids did not have these [educational] opportunities or avenues.ā Through the years Ainslie has mentoredāand become close friends withāmany of the students who participated in Posse.
Yet, itās another 91ĢĘ²®»¢ graduate whom Ainslie most recently has been paying attention to: In May his daughter, Serena, completed her bachelorās degree in American studies from the College of Arts and Science.
The book is available on Amazon and on audio.
āRYAN UNDERWOOD, BAā96