St. Margaret’s Episcopal School announced the appointment of St. Margaret’s parent and private investor Mr. Michael Berchtold as President of its Board of Trustees effective September 1, 2009.

Previously, Mr. Berchtold worked for Morgan Stanley for 20 years in a variety of investment banking roles in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong before his retirement from the firm in 2007. For more than 15 years, Mr. Berchtold was based in Asia for Morgan Stanley advising on mergers and acquisitions and capital raisings for private companies and government-controlled entities throughout the Asia Pacific region. He served as Morgan Stanley’s Head of Investment Banking for Asia Pacific for seven years and as Asia Pacific President of Asia Pacific for four years. In addition to his investment banking responsibilities, Mr. Berchtold was actively involved in Morgan Stanley’s private equity and real estate investing activities in Asia.

“It is my privilege to serve as the President of the Board of Trustees. Our role as Trustees is to plan for the future of the school; however, we never lose focus on our students. I look forward to working with our dedicated Trustees and supporting the important efforts of our Headmaster Marcus Hurlbut and the school’s outstanding administrative and faculty team,” said Mr. Berchtold.

“My wife, Trish, and I found St. Margaret’s when we returned to Southern California in 2006 after 15 years in Asia, and we were immediately impressed with the school’s strong community, its purposeful mission, outstanding academics and breadth of student programs. It continues to be a perfect fit for our children and our family.”

The St. Margaret’s Board President is nominated by the Board Trusteeship Committee and elected by the entire Board of Trustees. Mr. Berchtold was selected after outgoing President W.L. Lyons Brown, III stepped down at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.

“I am thrilled to work side-by-side with Mike Berchtold as President of the Board and know that his wealth of international business expertise and passionate commitment to the St. Margaret’s mission and our students will bring invaluable assets to the leadership of the school,” said St. Margaret’s Headmaster Marcus D. Hurlbut. “My enthusiasm is shared by our Trustees who unanimously approved his appointment.”

Mr. Hurlbut added, “We are grateful for the five years that Lyons [Brown] served on the Board and for his dedicated leadership as President.”

Mr. Berchtold has served on the General Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and currently sits on the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management Board of Visitors. He has also served on the Board of Trustees at Sage Hill School.

Mr. Berchtold holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from University of California, Los Angeles and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mr. Berchtold and his wife, Trish, have three children, Greg, who is a freshman at Southern Methodist University, and Katie and Amy, who are St. Margaret’s students.

St. Margaret’s also announced the addition of five new Trustees. They are:

. Mr. Mohamed A. El-Erian

. Mrs. Holly Larsen

. Mrs. Ashlea Scott Meggers

. Mr. Kevin G. Phillips

. Mr. Jason Weiss