Board President and Chairholders Present Faculty Symposium

Headmaster Clement invited current and former Browning faculty to a faculty symposium, “Browning in 2015 and Beyond: The View From Four Chairs,” on April 29. The featured panelists were Board of Trustees President James S. Chanos P ’07, ’09, ’11; Director of Technology Aaron R. Grill, 2013 Recipient of the STEM Chair; Dean of Faculty Michael E. Ingrisani, 2009 Recipient of the Stephen M. Clement, III Chair for the Humanities; and Gerald J. Protheroe, 2013 Recipient of the Stephen M. Clement, III Chair for the Humanities.

Mr. Chanos was given a chair bearing his name, parent affiliation, and years of service on the Board; a duplicate chair is housed in the Cook Room. Panelists then presented their views on The Browning School from a historical and global perspective, elaborating on the issues Browning boys can expect to see in regard to technology, education, economics, global affairs and politics. Following their remarks, the panelists entertained questions from Headmaster Clement and the audience, including who and/or what most influenced their career choices.

The Stephen M. Clement, III Chair for the Humanities, established in 2009 in honor of Mr. Clement’s 20th anniversary as Headmaster, is the first-ever endowed teaching chair in Browning’s history. The endowed teaching STEM Chair honors a faculty member who advances the School’s mission in supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics and was established thanks to a $2 million gift from an anonymous donor.

Read bios on Mr. Chanos, Mr. Grill, Mr. Ingrisani and Mr. Protheroe below the photo gallery.

Mike Ingrisani has been teaching at The Browning School since 1970. He graduated from Regis High School and earned his B.A. from Columbia College. He was awarded an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University. At Browning he currently serves as chair of the English Department and dean of faculty. He has been actively involved since its inception in the International Boys’ School Coalition. For many years Mike served on the IBSC Board of Trustees, often as the only full-time teacher. He has attended IBSC conferences in Boston, Cleveland, Toronto, Washington, Nashville, San Francisco, Perth, Sydney, London, Johannesburg, Philadelphia and Richmond… and New York!

Aaron Grill received both his B.A. and his M.A. from the University of Kansas. His master’s thesis, an interactive website titled “trackcurrentevents.org,” enabled teachers to create web pages with news links. Aaron came to Browning in 2003 as technology coordinator, and became director of technology in 2008. He is an avid bike rider and coaches fifth and sixth grade baseball. He is past president of NYCIST, a highly regarded organization for implementing technology in independent schools. He has led AV/Network/Technology Infrastructure planning and implementation in Phases I-V in Browning’s construction project.

Gerry Protheroe arrived at Browning in 1996. He grew up in Wales and attended Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School in Merthyr Tydfil. The first person in his family to attend university, he earned a B.A. from Jesus College, Oxford, and an M.A. with Distinction and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. Long involved in the Advanced Placement Exams, he is currently a table leader for Advanced European History. At Browning, Gerry is faculty advisor to Model UN, and he coaches 7/8 soccer. Gerry also teaches at New York University and received a Longevity Award on April 28. For a number of years he has taught a fall course titled, “Global Conflict and the Crisis of Democracy.”

Jim Chanos is a great friend of Browning. His son Nick entered Browning in 1994 and graduated in 2007, Michael graduated in 2009, and Andrew in 2011. Jim joined the Board of Trustees in 1998 and has served as President from 2000-2015. He is among the longest serving and most highly regarded independent school board presidents in New York and in the country. Jim also serves on the board of the Nightingale-Bamford School and the New-York Historical Society. He is currently a Lecturer in Finance and Becton Fellow at the Yale School of Management, teaching a class on the history of financial fraud.

In his “day job” Jim is founder and managing partner of Kynikos Associates, L.P., the world’s largest exclusive short-selling investment firm. His celebrated short sale of Enron shares was dubbed by Barron’s as “the market call of the decade, if not the past 50 years.”