PALO ALTO — Sakurako D. Fisher, a Bay Area leader in performing arts and philanthropy, is the newest member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees.
Fisher is president of the San Francisco Symphony, chair of the National Board of the Smithsonian Institution, a trustee of the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts and a member of the U.S. advisory board for the Union Centrale des Arts et Decoratifs in Paris.
“She brings to the board an impressive diversity of interests and familiarity with some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions…” Board Chairman Steven A. Denning said in a news release.
After graduating from Stanford University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations, Fisher worked for Cargill and Citibank.
Fisher, who friends call “Sako,” grew up playing the flute and music is a thread that ties her family together. She is committed to expanding Stanford students’ access to global studies and the public’s access to art and culture.
Also at Stanford, Fisher previously served on the Humanities and Sciences Council, the board of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Task Force for Undergraduate Education.
Fisher starts her five-year term on Oct. 1. The Board of Trustees manages the university’s endowment and sets the annual budget and operational policies.
Fisher lives in San Francisco with her husband, Bill Fisher, and their three children. Bill Fisher is director of Gap Inc. and CEO of Manzanita Capital.
Together, the Fishers established The Sakurako and William Fisher Family Directorship of the Stanford Global Studies Division.
