Two leading businessmen and a former Newark City Councilman have recently joined the TC Trustees-Bruce Wilcox, Chairman of Cumberland Associates LLC, one of the nation's oldest hedge funds; Steven Wechsler, Senior Managing Director of Tishman Speyer Properties, a leading owner, builder and re-developer of real estate; and Cory Booker, former Newark City Councilman and community activist.

Wilcox, who came on board in October, has been with Cumberland Associates since 1986.Prior to that time, he was Vice President of the Investment Division at Central National-Gottesman, Inc., now Greenhaven Associates.

Outside of his work, Wilcox's personal interests in the arts have led him to become Chairman of the Piatigorsky Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing live classical music to underserved communities, and Director of Music in the Center, a non-profit organization providing music instruction in city owned housing projects.

Wilcox received his B.A. in Mandarin Chinese from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and his Masters of International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management.He is married with three children.

Wechsler joined the Trustees in December 2002.In his position as Senior Managing Director at Tishman Speyer Properties, he is responsible for the company's acquisition program throughout the U.S. as well as its equity capital and joint venture programs.A graduate of Columbia Business School, where he received his M.B.A., Wechsler is on the advisory board of the school's M.B.A. Real Estate Program.

Prior to his current position, Wechsler was Vice President of Tishman Realty and Construction Co., Inc. He is married with two children.

Booker, a partner at the law firm of Booker, Rabinowitz, Trenk, Lebetkin, Tully, DiPasquale & Webster, PC, is a former Rhodes Scholar and was an All-American football player and class president at Stanford University. He earned his law degree at Yale University.

His passion for politics, justice and education is evident throughout his life as a student and a councilman. At Stanford, he ran a local crisis hotline, organized programs for city youth in East Palo Alto, California, and ran a mentoring program for low-income youth. While at Yale, he co-founded and ran legal clinics to help low-income residents of New Haven. He is currently director of "Newark Now," a grassroots non-profit group, and a senior fellow at Rutgers University School of Public Policy and Planning.

As Newark's Central Ward Councilman, he introduced dozens of pieces of legislation and resolutions that have impacted housing, youth, safety, jobs, and have created better government.In 1999, Booker went on a 10-day hunger strike in one of the most drug-infested housing complexes in Newark, which resulted in increased police presence and improved security for residents. Time magazine has called him "The Savior of Newark" for his dedication to fighting inner-city problems.

Published Monday, Aug. 25, 2003