At its Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow elected Bard Bunaes as Chairman. Mr. Bunaes, an Irvington resident, has been a member of Phelps’ Board of Directors for seven years.
During this time, he served as Finance Committee Chairman, Treasurer, Vice Chairman, and Chairman of the Capital Campaign Cabinet, which has been extraordinarily successful in raising funds to build the hospital’s new Emergency Department and offset the construction costs of a 100,000 square foot medical services building and a 750-space parking garage. Under his leadership as Capital Campaign Cabinet Chair, the Campaign topped $16 million.
In 1969, Mr. Bunaes assumed the management of Constitution Reinsurance Corporation where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for almost thirty years, until GLOBAL Reinsurance Company of America purchased the company. Mr. Bunaes is now the President and CEO of GLOBAL Reinsurance. He also serves on several corporate boards here and abroad.
He is also Chairman of The American Scandinavian Foundation and a former Trustee of the University of Oregon. He is a 1999 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Mr. Bunaes earned a postgraduate degree from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and his MBA on a Fulbright scholarship from the University of Oregon. He also attended universities in France and Spain.
Mrs. Bunaes served on Phelps’ Champagne Ball committee for seven years, and she and Mr. Bunaes were Ball committee co-chairs the past three years. Under the Bunaes’ leadership, the Champagne Ball moved to its new venue, Trump National Golf Club. In 2006, the event raised more than $450,000, a 31% increase over the previous year’s results.
