ASPCA Elects Frederick Tanne to Chair of the Board of Leading National Animal Welfare Organization

NEW YORK—The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that Frederick Tanne, former Senior Partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has been elected Chair of the ASPCA’s Board of Directors, succeeding Tim F. Wray in that position. Mr. Wray, a Principal at V3Limited LLC, will remain a member of the Board.

Mr. Tanne, who has been a member of the ASPCA's Board since 2006, is Of Counsel at Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis, where he was a senior member of the firm’s management team and co-founded the firm’s New York office, growing it to over 400 employees. During his 25-year tenure, he received numerous honors for his contributions, concentrating his practice on structuring and negotiating complex business transactions, including domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations.

Prior to joining Kirkland & Ellis, Mr. Tanne was an associate at Shearman & Sterling.

"Fred is deeply committed to our cause and has a keen understanding of the ASPCA’s strategies and objectives,” said ASPCA President & CEO Matt Bershadker. “He’s a wise and trusted advisor and a champion of our life-saving work. I very much look forward to working with him in his new role as he leads our Board."

"I’m honored to take the reins from my colleague, Tim, who expertly guided the organization over the past four years," said Mr. Tanne. "As a life-long animal advocate, I look forward to working with Matt and the rest of the ASPCA Board to assess new strategic opportunities as the organization continues to grow its leadership position in animal welfare."

The Board also announced the election of Sally Spooner as Vice-Chair of the Board, Dodie Gumaer as Treasurer, and Cathy Wallach as Secretary.

Mr. Tanne is a Senior Advisor to Ikove Capital Partners, a venture capital company founded to pursue early stage investments with an emphasis on commercializing technology emerging from Ohio State University and other premier research universities. He also is an active real estate investor. He serves on the Board of Nikola Labs, Inc., a start-up radio frequency harvesting company.

He served as a Board member of other charitable organizations, including Palladia, now Services for the Underserved, a non-profit helping New York’s neediest to acquire housing, employment, skills-building, treatment and rehabilitation, and Insaan Group, a non-profit that assists the underprivileged in Africa and India by creating opportunities through education and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Tanne received a bachelor of science from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor degree with distinction from Emory University School of Law.