LOS ANGELES, November 10, 2009 — City of Hope has appointed Lynn Beckemeyer, executive vice president of development for Meruelo Maddux Properties (MMP) Inc., and Selwyn Isakow, founder and chief executive officer of The Oxford Investment Group Inc., to its national board of directors.
“We are fortunate to have Mr. Beckemeyer and Mr. Isakow join our board,” said Terry Peets, chair, City of Hope board of directors. “They are both accomplished executives in their fields and will provide invaluable insight and expertise in helping City of Hope meet its strategic goals.”
Beckemeyer has served as executive vice president of development and as a member of MMP’s board of directors since January 2007. He was instrumental in the strategic planning and underwriting of MMP’s $500 million initial public offering (IPO). He oversees work relating to development, design, construction and asset stabilization for the enterprise including asset financing and asset management. Currently, he is completing the construction of a 35 story $150 million mixed-use development and he recently received entitlements for a 43 story $200 million mixed-use project. Beckemeyer served as senior vice president of development for MMP’s predecessor business from 2006 until MMP’s IPO.
Before joining the predecessor business, Beckemeyer served as vice president of worldwide corporate operations and real estate with The Walt Disney Company from 2001 to 2006 and in various real estate and management positions with Walt Disney from 1994 to 2001. Prior to that Beckemeyer managed the development, design and construction of projects in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and Dallas. A registered architect and licensed contractor, Beckemeyer earned a degree in architecture and construction science from Kansas State University and an AMDP Real Estate from Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, the Urban Land Institute, the Kansas State Alumni Association and the Harvard Alumni Association.
As founder and chief executive officer of the Oxford Investment Group, a private equity investment and corporate development firm whose portfolio companies have had over 10,000 employees with total revenues over $2.5 billion, Isakow led the acquisition and development of more than 70 companies across multiple industries and continents. Additionally, Isakow personally designed strategies and negotiated funding and banking arrangements for portfolio companies and analyzed thousands of businesses for potential investment.
Isakow is also the founder and chairman of San Diego Private Bank, where he recruited management, members of its board of directors and its Community Advisory Board. Prior to founding Oxford Investment Group and San Diego Private Bank, Isakow founded Bloomfield Hills Bancorporation, which operated three private banking operations, and was executive vice president for Comerica Inc., where he headed its retail banking and consumer loan divisions.
Isakow earned his masters in business administration from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Graduate School and has an undergraduate and two post-graduate degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.