Three new members join Sweet Briar College Board of Directors

The Sweet Briar College Board of Directors welcomed three new members during its meeting last week. They are Edward J. “Ned” Kelly III and Sweet Briar College graduates Holly Philbin ’95 and Olivia Myers ’17. All were confirmed at the board’s previous meeting in August.

Kelly is a director of CSX Corporation, XL Group and MetLife. He was chairman of Citigroup Inc.’s Institutional Clients Group from 2011 until his retirement in 2014. He served as chairman of Global Banking from 2010 to 2011, and as vice chairman of Citigroup from 2009 to 2010. Kelly also served as Citi’s chief financial officer from March through July 2009. Prior to his work as CFO, Kelly was head of Global Banking and before that president and chief executive officer of Citi Alternative Investments. Kelly joined Citi in 2008 from The Carlyle Group, where he was a managing director.


Edward J. “Ned” Kelly III


Prior to joining Carlyle in 2007, he was vice chairman at PNC Financial Services Group following PNC’s 2007 acquisition of Mercantile Bankshares Corporation, where he was chairman, chief executive and president of Mercantile (2003-2007) and chief executive and president (2001-2003). Before Mercantile, Kelly held several jobs at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and was a partner at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell. Early in his career, he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Clement F. Haynsworth Jr.

Kelly earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981 and his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University in 1975.

A Sweet Briar College legacy student, Philbin graduated cum laude in 1995 with a B.A. in environmental studies. Her grandmother Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, aunt Kay Yeager and cousins Elizabeth Yeager and Linda Yeager all attended Sweet Briar. Her aunt also served on the Sweet Briar College Board of Directors, as did her father, Mark Prothro, as well her grandfather Charles Prothro.


Holly Philbin ’95


Following graduation from Sweet Briar, Philbin had a successful career in marketing. She is currently an active volunteer in her sons’ schools, having served as PTA president for their preschools and elementary schools. Following six years as co-chair of the Mad for Plaid Campaign for the Highland Park ISD, she now serves as vice president for development of the Highland Park Education Foundation. Philbin is a board member of the Perkins Prothro Foundation in Wichita Falls, Texas. She has served on numerous boards and committees in her community, including Highland Park UMC and Southern Methodist University.

Philbin lives in Dallas with her husband, Phillip, and their three boys. In her free time, she enjoys travel, reading and photography.

Myers graduated from Sweet Briar College cum laude in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and history.


Olivia Myers ’17


In summer 2016, she attended the Virginia Program at Oxford and was the recipient of the Simpson Scholarship in recognition of her academic achievements during the program, as well as her community leadership. She also served as the student representative on the search committee that selected President Meredith Woo in 2016-2017.

As one of the students who made the decision to return to the College after the near-closure in 2015, she dedicated the rest of her time on campus to actively participating in the community. She was a student worker in the library, an ARC tutor, a member of Falls on Nose and president of Sweet Dancers.

After graduation, Myers moved to Nantucket, Mass., where she is saving for her Master of Library Science degree and actively pursuing her career as a librarian by working at the Nantucket Atheneum, the island’s only library.