Mark Gerstein

Attorney

Mark is a past Global Chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, a global law firm, and has been a corporate lawyer for nearly 40 years. He regularly advises listed public companies and their boards of directors on complex business combinations and acquisitions and suppositions, including cross-border transactions. He also is a leading advisor on shareholder activism and takeover defense matters. 

Mark is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School (JD 1984), and served on The Law School Council there. He is an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. Mark also serves as a director of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Mark is actively engaged in supporting mentorship programs for challenged youth, having served as Chair of the Board of Youth Guidance during the accelerated expansion of its Becoming a Man program, which now provides services to 145 schools across six major metropolitan regions in the United States. He and his wife, Julia, are also actively engaged in supporting the Opportunity Hub’s mentorship efforts, including LSA Connect, through the Gerstein Family Mentorship Program and through first generation scholarship support at Tufts University, where Julia is an alumna. Mark has also served on numerous other civic and cultural organizations, and currently serves as a trustee of The Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 

Mark strongly believes in the value of a liberal arts education, both for shaping one’s intellect and moral values, and providing the best possible springboard for career success in academia, civic or cultural organizations or the business world. Mark and Julia have two children, Allison Sherling (BSN 2013) and Evan (AB 2016), and a grandson Aiden Henry (Michigan 2043).