WASHINGTON — The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Board of Trustees welcomes its new chair, attorney Lynden Melmed, and new secretary, law professor Cristina M. Rodríguez, who assume their offices this month. Cecilia Malmström and Malcolm Brown remain vice chair and treasurer, respectively, as the board moves into MPI’s 25th anniversary year. “It is a particular honor to become chair as MPI enters a milestone year,” said Melmed, who is a partner with BAL (Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP). “MPI’s voice is more essential than ever for the immigration policy conversation in the U.S. and internationally.” Melmed serves on the management committee of BAL, a global immigration firm, and oversees the firm’s government strategies practice. He previously served as chief counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to that, he was special counsel to Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), who at that time was chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship. Rodríguez, who is the Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School, will become dean of the law school as of February 1. Melmed assumes the chairmanship from Roberta S. Jacobson, a former U.S. ambassador and assistant secretary of state, who will remain on the board. “All of us at MPI thank Roberta greatly for her skillful service as chair and we are delighted that we will be able to continue to rely on her strategic counsel and vision,” MPI President Andrew Selee said. “And we look forward to working with Lynden and the trustees to ensure that MPI is best positioned to inform policy conversations with pragmatic ideas and deep comparative knowledge in ways that can help achieve outcomes in the best interests of all sectors of society.” For more on the Board of Trustees, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/about/trustees.  | 
