New York, NY
John J. Bell ’95 serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the State’s public honors college. Appointed to the Board by the Governor of Maryland in 2017, he was elected Chair in 2024. In this role, he works closely with the College’s administration, faculty, staff, students, and fellow trustees to support the College’s mission, oversee institutional governance, and guide long-term strategic priorities. During his tenure as Chair, he has helped steward the institution through a period of leadership transition and strategic planning. Prior to joining the Board of Trustees, he served as Vice President of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Foundation Board.
Mr. Bell is a senior executive in corporate and investment banking, where he has held leadership roles advising global traditional and alternative asset managers and other institutional investors on capital markets strategy and institutional partnerships. Over the course of his career, he has also worked with policymakers and regulators on financial market reforms and governance initiatives following the global financial crisis.
Mr. Bell has extensive nonprofit governance experience. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco, where he also chaired the organization’s Audit Committee. Earlier in his civic leadership, he served on the board of GLBT Historical Society and worked with the Mayor’s Office and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on cultural initiatives.
He is the co-founder and former CEO of Bell Technology Solutions, a technology infrastructure firm that continues today as Bell Tower Integration, providing cloud infrastructure engineering, cybersecurity, and compliance-focused technology solutions. Mr. Bell holds a B.A. from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a certificate in nonprofit governance from Harvard Business School.