Kenan Board of Trustees

Kenan Foundation Asia is overseen by an all-volunteer board of trustees, consisting of leading academics, business leaders, and former government officials.

kenan board of trustees

Executive Committee

Kenan Leadership 1

Chairperson, Kenan Foundation Asia
Khunying Jada Wattanasiritham, one of Thailand's leading bankers, was a founding trustee of the Kenan Foundation Asia in 1996 and was appointed as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee in July 2014.

Kenan Leadership 2

President, Kenan Foundation Asia
Piyabutr Cholvijarn, President and Vice Chairman of Kenan Foundation Asia, has served with distinction in the finance and banking industry and in a variety of important government posts.

Kenan Leadership 3

Mr. W. Charles Blocker has served as a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Kenan Foundation Asia since 2007.

Kenan Leadership 4

John “Jack” D. Kasarda is the Director of the Center for Air Commerce at The University of North Carolina’s (UNC) Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and a longtime member of the Kenan Foundation Asia Executive Committee.

Kenan Leadership 5

Khunying Kasama Varavarn is a former Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education, who has served on the Kenan Executive Committee and Board of Trustees since 2013.

Kenan Leadership 6

Dr. Chadamas Thuvasethakul is the Executive Vice President of the National Science and Technology Development Agency and a member of the Kenan Executive Committee since 2007.

Kenan Leadership 7

Dr. Varakorn Samakoses is a widely known economist and educator who has served as Deputy Minister of Education and as a university president.

Kenan Leadership 8

Dr. Supavud Saicheua has served as Managing Director and Head of Research at Phatra Securities PCL since August 2002. From February to September 2001, he was an advisor to the Minister of Finance.

Kenan Leadership 9

Mr. Pradap Pibulsonggram is currently the adviser to the ASEAN Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee for the Integration Logistics Research Project, a joint project conducted by the National Research Council (NRCT) and the Thailand Research Fund (TRF).

Kenan Leadership 10

Executive Director, Kenan Foundation Asia
As the Executive Director of Kenan Foundation Asia, Richard Bernhard has over twenty years of experience in managing multi-sector programs that bring together the private sector, government, NGOs and local communities to address key development needs in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).

Kenan Leadership 11

Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labor
M.L. Puntrik Smiti is the Former Permanent Secretary, at the Ministry of Labor. She previously served as the Director-General of the Department of Skill Development.

Board of Trustees

Mr. Anand Panyarachun
Former Prime Minister of Thailand, Kenan Founding and Honorary Chairman

Khunying Jada Wattanasiritham
Chairperson, Kenan Foundation Asia, Independent Director, Siam Commercial Bank

Mr. Piyabutr Cholvijarn
Kenan President, Former Deputy Minister of Industry, Thailand

Dr. Supavud Saicheua
Managing Director, Phatra Securities PCL

Mr. W. Charles Blocker
CEO, IC Partners (Thailand) Limited

Dr. Chadamas Thuvasethakul
Executive Vice President, National Science and Technology Development Agency

Mr. Owen Gwyn
Chairman, GEOCORP

Mr. Gregory W. Brown
Director of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Varakorn Samakoses
Former Deputy Minister of Education, Thailand

Dr. Woraphat Arthayukti
Chairman, Northern Gulf Petroleum Pte. Ltd.

M.L. Puntrik Smiti
Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour of Thailand

Dr. Peter Coclanis
Director, Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Khunying Kasama Varavarn
Member of the Council of State

Dr. John D. Kasarda
Director, Center for Air Commerce, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mr. Pradap Pibulsongkram
Adviser to National Coordinator on ASEAN Connectivity

Mr. Richard Bernhard (EX-OFFICIO)
Executive Director, Kenan Foundation Asia