2013 Board Leadership for the St. Louis Public Library Foundation Elects Clayton Resident as Chair

The St. Louis Public Library Foundation has elected Jean-Paul Montupet, a recently retired Emerson executive, as chair (view photo at http://tinyurl.com/cjoea4g).  Robert G. Guller, managing member, BEB Management, will serve as vice-chair; Annie C. Schlafly, community volunteer, will serve as secretary; and Joseph E. Rechter, chief financial officer, Lowenhaupt Global Advisors, LLC, was elected treasurer.

The St. Louis Public Library Foundation has elected Jean-Paul Montupet, a recently retired Emerson executive, as chair (view photo at http://tinyurl.com/cjoea4g).  Robert G. Guller, managing member, BEB Management, will serve as vice-chair; Annie C. Schlafly, community volunteer, will serve as secretary; and Joseph E. Rechter, chief financial officer, Lowenhaupt Global Advisors, LLC, was elected treasurer.

Jean-Paul Montupet joined the SLPL Foundation Board in 2010 and was elected vice-chair in Fall 2011. He retired last month as the business leader of Emerson’s Industrial automation segment. He also was president of Emerson Europe and an advisory director to Emerson’s board of directors. Montupet joined Emerson in 1981 as director of development and North American operations for Leroy-Somer. In 1990, he was named executive vice president of Emerson. He served as chief executive officer of Emerson Electric Asia Pacific from 1993 to 1995. He was a member of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) board of governors from 1993 to 2008. He also currently serves on the boards of directors for PartnerRe Ltd., Lexmark International, Inc., Assurant, Inc., WABCO Holdings, Inc. and IHS, Inc.,  as well as the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Mo. He holds an MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Paris, France, and attended the Harvard Business School’s International Teachers Program.

Currently the St. Louis Public Library Foundation is working to complete the $20 million Central To Your World philanthropic campaign (www.C2YW.org) to support the $70 million restoration and revitalization of downtown’s Central Library, which re-opened on Dec. 9. Central Library features an 83 percent increase of space for public use, expanded children’s and teen rooms, a lower-level 244-seat auditorium and other amenities, including a café, scheduled to open soon.