Meet our Board of Directors

Budi Tek is a Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur, philanthropist, and collector. Born in Pemalang, Indonesia, Budi grew-up in Singapore and became a successful entrepreneur in the food industry. Budi’s obsession with contemporary art led him to build the Yuz collection that houses important works from both the East and West. In particular, the Chinese contemporary art from the 1980s and 1990s in the Yuz collection is one of the most significant in the world. For Budi, art is a sensory experience that is more important than the object itself, as such, he generously exhibits, lends, and donates works from Yuz collection to other institutions around the world to increase understanding of contemporary Chinese art. He has sponsored exhibitions and artist projects at internationally acclaimed museums to bring Asian contemporary art and culture to the world stage and to promote communication between Eastern and Western culture. In 2007, Budi established the Yuz Foundation with the aim to popularize international and Chinese contemporary art through ideas, collections, museums, sponsorship and academic projects. In 2008, the Yuz Foundation established the first private museum in Jakarta, Indonesia and in 2014, the Yuz Museum was established in Shanghai, China. Budi is the recipient of many honors, including being named an Officer of the Legion of Honor by French government.

Justine Alexandria is Deputy Director of the Yuz Museum. The Yuz Museum was opened in May 2014 and has presented widely acclaimed exhibitions including “Myth/History I & II”, “Twin Tracks: Yang Fudong Solo Exhibition”, “Rain Room”, “Alberto Giacometti Retrospective”, “Andy Warhol: Shadows”, “Overpop”, “Sun Xun: Prediction Laboratory”, “KAWS: Where The End Starts”, and “Zhou Li: Shadow of The Wind”, and other emerging artist exhibitions at the Yuz Museum Project Space of Art. Alexandria has worked closely with the Yuz team to achieve the vision and mission of the museum including public education, expanding and exploring the Museum’s exhibition programs and collections, working with international and Chinese artists through its residency program, and outreach to the community and government through introducing the Chinese audience into international contemporary art. Prior to her role at the Yuz Museum, Alexandria worked for an agriculture company based in Jakarta and headed the president’s office to serve the Board of Directors to develop, facilitate, coordinate, communicate, and manage change within the company. Alexandria received her undergraduate degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA.

Michelle Tek is Director of the Hong Kong Yuz Foundation and Co-Founder of the Yuz Museum. Michelle has a long-standing interest in contemporary art and built the Yuz collection alongside her husband, Budi Tek. Michelle has spearheaded collaborative initiatives between the Yuz Museum and other institutions and foundations worldwide. As part of these efforts, the Yuz Museum, represented by Co-Founder Michelle Tek, and Foundation Giacometti (Paris), represented by Director Catherine Grenier, held a signing ceremony in May 2015 that brought the first retrospective exhibition of Giacometti’s work to China. The signing ceremony, at the Beijing State Guesthouse, was witnessed by the Vice Premier of China Madam Liu Yan Dong, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the French International Development Minister Mr. Laurent Fabius. Michelle is also active in philanthropy as one of the initiators of China Rural Kids Care (CRKC), which provides free medical insurance service for rural children in China. Michelle donated art work to the CRCK charity auction and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation which aims to protect the world’s last wild places.

Patti Wong is one of the most experienced executives working in the Asian art and auction market today. She has extensive experience dealing with clients throughout the Far East, and has represented major Asian collectors at most of Sotheby’s important auctions worldwide over the past 26 years. Based between London and Hong Kong, Ms. Wong held the post of Head of Private Client Services department in London before her appointment as Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia in 2004. She has been instrumental in the significant expansion of Sotheby’s client base in Hong Kong and South East Asia, building access to some of the most powerful buyers in the Eastern world. Ms. Wong was also appointed Chairman of Sotheby’s Diamonds, a global retail venture established in December 2005, providing international clients with exclusive access to important diamonds and fine diamond jewelry on the private market year-round. Ms. Wong was educated in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, and received her Bachelor’s degree in Monetary Economics from the London School of Economics, followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Asian Arts at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University.

Dr. Ralph Hruban is Director of The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, and the Baxley Professor and Director of the Department of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Hruban has written more than 750 scientific papers, 80 book chapters and reviews, and seven books. He is recognized as the most highly cited pancreatic cancer scientist in the world and a leading expert on pancreatic cancer pathology. Dr. Hruban is an elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and serves on the Board of Directors of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. He is also the founder of the The National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry at Johns Hopkins, and the creator of webpages and apps on pancreatic cancer for both physicians and patients. Dr. Hruban has received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to pancreatic cancer care, research, and education.

Dr. Nicholas Roberts is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Roberts studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge before completing a Ph.D. in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins University. After receiving his doctoral degree, he completed fellowship training in the Departments of Oncology and Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Roberts is a member of the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center and his research focuses on understanding inherited forms of pancreatic cancer and translating this knowledge into improvements in patient care. Dr. Roberts is the author of numerous original scientific journal articles, reviews, and book chapters. His work has been published highly regarded scientific journals such as Science Translational Medicine and Cancer Discovery, including his seminal studies assessing the utility of whole genome sequencing to predict disease risk and the identification of ATM as a pancreatic cancer susceptibility gene. Dr. Roberts’s research has also been covered in periodicals such as in The New York Times and Time Magazine. He is the recipient of a prestigious National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute Career Development Award.