Corporate Governance

Richard R. Hough III is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Silvercrest Asset Management Group. Mr. Hough joined Silvercrest in 2003 and became a partner in 2006. He has served on the firm’s Executive Committee since 2007 with responsibilities for marketing and corporate strategy and development. Mr. Hough was Silvercrest’s president and chief operating officer from 2010-2013. Prior to joining Silvercrest, Mr. Hough worked as a policy analyst and was the founding national program director of Children’s Scholarship Fund. Mr. Hough is a member of the Board of Governors and executive committee of the Investment Adviser Association. Mr. Hough also serves as chairman of board of the Institute for Family Studies, and he serves on the boards of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation; New York Men’s Leadership Forum; Christendom College; Boy Scouts of America; and the advisory board of The New Criterion. Mr. Hough received a B.A in politics and philosophy from Princeton University.

Mr. Burns co-founded Isis Ventures Partners in 2002 and is currently one of its general partners and Chairman of its operating companies. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomson Financial Media, a company holding the banking, insurance and electronic commerce media assets of The Thomson Corporation. He also previously served as Chief Executive Officer and publisher of Institutional Investor, a leading media business for fund management and finance professionals.

Mr. Burns is currently a director of Interaudi Bank, an FDIC-regulated bank based in New York. He serves as Chairman of the bank's audit committee and is a member of its compliance committee. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Intelligent Security Systems, a leading provider of algorithmic software solutions for the global video intelligence industry. Mr. Burns has previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History and currently serves on the board of Carnegie Hall and the board of trustees of the David Rockefeller-founded Americas Society.

Mr. Burns was educated at St. John's College, Oxford University, where he received B.A. and M.A. degrees. He earned a Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Mr. Dunn is a member of our board of directors. In December 2015, he retired as Chairman of McLagan and CEO of Performance, Reward & Talent for Aon Hewitt Consulting Worldwide. He is a board member of the Phi Delta Education Foundation. Mr. Dunn has more than three decades of experience specializing in incentive and executive compensation and has several compensation committee relationships with publicly-traded companies.

He received a B.S. degree summa cum laude from the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University and an M.B.A. with highest honors from the Cornell University Graduate School of Management.

Albert S. Messina is a member of our board of directors as well as the firm’s Executive Committee. Mr. Messina joined Silvercrest Asset Management at its founding as a Managing Director and portfolio manager of equity and fixed income portfolios. Prior to Silvercrest, Mr. Messina was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he served in a similar capacity. He arrived at CSAM as a result of that firm's merger with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), where he had worked since 1983. Previously, he spent 14 years with Bankers Trust Company, where he advised private clients and oversaw the fiduciary department's Tax Services Division. Mr. Messina holds a B.A. in Economics from Brooklyn College. Mr. Messina is a member of the Board of Directors of The Royal Oak Foundation, serving on the Investment and Programs Committees. He serves as co-President and Chairman of the Board of ArtWatch International. Mr. Messina is also on the board of The Training Institute for Mental Health.

Darla M. Romfo is a member of our board of directors. Ms. Romfo is a lawyer and a CPA who has had experience working in all three sectors of our economy—private, government and not-for-profit. After working in private practice as an attorney in tax law, Ms. Romfo worked closely as Counsel to two former United States Senators (Senator Kent Conrad and Senator John Breaux) in their roles as members of the Senate Finance Committee, as Legislative Director to each Senator, and with Senator Breaux in his positions within the Senate Democratic Leadership.

Since 1999, Ms. Romfo has served as President and Chief Operating of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, a national not-for-profit dedicated to providing partial scholarships to low-income children to attend private school. Ms. Romfo is a frequent speaker on education and parental choice, and is currently on the boards of Drexel Fund and Brilla College Prep Charter Schools. She also serves as a member of the Commission on Presidential Scholars. Ms. Romfo received a B.A. degree in Political Science and a B.S.B.A. degree in Accounting from the University of North Dakota. She subsequently received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.