University Liggett School will honor Lisa Black ‘77 as the school’s 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient

Dedicated ULS alumna Lisa Black ‘77 will be honored as University Liggett School’s 2022 Distinguished Alumna. Each year, University Liggett School selects one outstanding graduate to receive this award as part of the school’s Alumni Weekend festivities, which will be held on Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14, 2022.

“I was a member of a terrific class and combined with the teachers, coaches, and staff, I had a wonderful six years at ULS,” Black said. “ULS laid the groundwork for my success both personally and professionally.”

A wonderfully supportive alumna for decades, Black joined the University Liggett School Board of Trustees in 2009, and continues to serve as a member of the Investment Committee, which she chaired from 2010-2015. Black also served as Board Treasurer from 2012-2015.

“We are delighted to present Lisa with our school’s highest alumni honor,” said Cressie Boggs, director of development and alumni relations. “Lisa has been a dedicated ULS alumna; giving back to the school in countless ways. We look forward to welcoming her back to campus and celebrating her this spring.”

In 2015, Black led the fundraising initiative to name the field hockey and girls’ lacrosse field after legendary coach and former athletic director Muriel E. Brock, coach/faculty emerita.

“I credit the education I received on and off the field for shaping who I am today and giving me the foundation to be a leader in my professional field,” she said. “I admired the teachers and coaches I had in and outside the classroom. Their dedication, interest, and concern for their students was unwavering.”

Black retired from Nuveen, a TIAA company, in March 2019, after a 32-year career at the firm. She held a variety of positions on the taxable fixed-income team during her tenure including research analyst, portfolio manager, head of portfolio management, and head of fixed-income trading.

In Black’s last role at Nuveen, she served as the Chief Investment Officer and Head of the Taxable Fixed Income Team from 2012-2019. In that position, she led a team of more than 90 investment professionals managing more than $235 billion of fixed-income assets.

She earned an MBA from The Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan in May 1987 and graduated from Smith College in 1981 with an A.B. in Economics.
Black is an avid volunteer and also enjoys playing golf, croquet, gardening, and boating. She splits her time between Vero Beach, Fla, and Rye, N.Y.

Previous Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are:

• Pediatric infectious disease physician and vaccine researcher Kristen Feemster ‘91
  C-SPAN co-founder John Evans ‘62 GPUS
  Washington Post foreign correspondent Keith Richburg ‘76
  Retired Rear Adm. Stanley W. Bryant ’64 GPUS
  Businessman Richard Baron '60 GPUS
  Businesswoman Denise Ilitch '73
  Businessman Bill Shelden ’68 GPUS
  Federal Magistrate Judge Nita Stormes '72
  Broadcast news journalist Miles O'Brien '77
  Carhartt heir and Board Chairperson Gretchen Valade '45 CDS
  Founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills Ralph Wilson '36 DUS
  Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides '78