2024 Slate of Nominees

Voting for new Alumni Trustees and MAA Board Directors is open April 1–30, 2024.

Alumni Trustee

Alumni trustees are Middlebury alumni elected to the Board of Trustees and serve five-year terms.

Bob Sideli ’77

Bob received a BA in chemistry from Middlebury College and then studied medicine at the University of Rome, Italy, graduating in 1985. During his career, he worked in the medical field, primarily in information technology, at several prominent hospitals and consulting firms, retiring from Columbia University Medical Center in 2019. He is now devoting himself to his passion for music, both singing and playing piano. He performs regularly here in the Bread Loaf Barn!

Bob lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., with his wife, Donna. They have two daughters, Liana ’08.5 and Marina ’13.5.

Over the years, Bob has served on the boards of Breaking Ground in New York City and Broadway Malls of NYC. He recently stepped down as president of the Westchester Chordsmen, a premier barbershop chorus.

In addition to being a lead class agent and an alumni interviewer, Bob was chair of the Annual Fund Executive Committee for several years, followed by a 10-year stint on the Middlebury Alumni Association Board of Directors, including as president. He is a cofounding member of the Middlebury Alumni Lacrosse Club, which made its 25th appearance at the Vail Lacrosse Shootout Tournament in Vail, Colo., in June 2023. 

MAA Directors

The MAA Board of Directors meets twice a year to discuss ways to engage with and advocate for alumni, serving as an advisory group for the Alumni Office. In addition, the board votes on the annual Alumni Achievement Award, Alumni Plaque Award, and Alumni Trustee candidates.

Michael Chorske ’90

Michael Chorske ’90 is a managing partner at Cryder Partners, LLC, an investment and advisory firm dedicated to climate-led capital allocation. Mike is an investment and operating executive with a record of building entrepreneurial enterprises and managing alternatives funds across venture, private equity, project finance, and impact strategies. 

He has held principal positions at Victory Capital, East River Ventures, and Pegasus Capital, and he has founded companies in the sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, apparel, and healthcare industries. 

Mike earned his MBA from Columbia University in 1998. At Middlebury, he was a four-year member of the varsity lacrosse team and a Snow Bowl ski instructor. He remains connected to Middlebury as a class agent, Alumni Admissions Program volunteer, and mentor to lacrosse student-athletes.

Kate Bailey French ’93

Kate grew up in Montana, where she learned about Middlebury College through family and friends from the East Coast who summered there. She applied for and received an Air Force ROTC scholarship and was able to use the full scholarship to attend Middlebury, where she double majored in political science and theatre. After graduation, she was privileged to participate in Middlebury’s Potomac Theatre Project in Washington, D.C. She was then commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where she served as an intelligence officer for five years. Upon transitioning out of the Air Force, she pursued a career in marketing and PR.

With over 20 years of experience crafting stories for people and brands, Kate has held numerous roles, including serving as VP of marketing for an international consumer brand from startup to growth. She has also accumulated agency experience with Metropolitan Group, Weinstein PR, and her own firm, KBF Communications. Her clients predominantly consist of socially responsible brands, nonprofits, and government entities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Kate cherishes the bonds forged at Middlebury, making it a point to reunite annually with her closest friends at different locations across the country. On the home front, Kate and her husband Dale now reside in Portland, Oregon, with their two remarkable kids, Will (currently a junior in college) and Addie (a junior in high school), and their beloved golden retriever, Monte.

Jason Robart ’87

An experienced and dynamic healthcare executive, Jason is the cofounder and managing partner of Seae Ventures, an early-stage healthcare venture capital firm focused on supporting women and BIPOC entrepreneurs.

Prior to launching Seae, Jason served as the chief strategy officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, as well as the president and CEO of Zaffre Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of BCBSMA. Prior to Blue Cross, Jason served as executive vice president at Health Dialog, an international health care analytics company.

Jason has maintained a strong connection to Middlebury over the years and is the proud parent of two Midd grads (Jason Jr. ’15 and Sophie ’17). Additionally, he and his wife Sarah lived just down the road in Cornwall for several years before moving down to D.C. A political science major, Jason played hockey for two years before turning his attention to the Middlebury Campus, where he was editor in chief during his junior and senior years. While editor of the Campus, Jason also was quite active in the Student Government Association.

He serves on the board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, is chair of the board of trustees at Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., and was chair of the board at Eastview at Middlebury, a local retirement community adjacent to the College.