Board of Managers

During the 1970’s and 1980’s Landon managed a land development and technology transfer group on behalf of a privately held trading company whose presence in Saudi Arabia was sponsored by a member of the Kingdom’s royal family. Subsequently, as Vice President of Continental InterAmerica Corporation and eventual Founder of the Midas Financial Group, Inc., he continued merchant banking and corporate finance on behalf of a diverse domestic and international clientele. During the 1990’s, his financing group owned and operated numerous domestic U.S. companies and real estate assets including one of the largest independent franchise groups of Blockbuster Video which was sold to Viacom in 1995.

Concurrent with his business career, Mr. Thorne served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 2002 at the rank of Colonel with service in Vietnam, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He also had diplomatic assignment as a Reserve Military Attaché to Rome, Italy, and is conversant in several foreign languages. Mr. Thorne has held seats on the Boards of numerous businesses, governmental and charitable institutions to include Secretary of the Navy Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board, Trustee, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and Chair, Lowcountry (SC) Work Force Investment Board. He has written widely disseminated op-ed articles on topics related to international policy and business. Mr. Thorne is a graduate of Yale University.

He and his wife, Leslie, live on a sporting plantation in coastal South Carolina. Landon is an avid outdoors-man. 

Landon is descended from Jonathan (GGG-GF) via Samuel (GG-GF), Edwin (G-GR), Landon (GF), Landon, Jr. (F).

Jeff specializes in creating financial plans for affluent individuals and families. His philosophy is premised on a holistic value proposition. Jeff has developed a business model which focuses on multi-generation asset management, trust services and estate planning for his clientele. Jeff is active in a variety of civic engagements. He currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees for the Old Eagle School, an historic site in Strafford, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1788, the Old Eagle School is a unique landmark on the Main Line of Philadelphia.

Jeff maintains an exemplary level of professional certifications and has also served on the CFP® Curriculum Advisory Board for The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Jeff holds his B.S. in Finance and is a Certified Financial Planner™, a designation awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. He is also a Chartered Financial Consultant, a designation awarded by The American College. Jeff resides with his wife, Tracey, and three sons in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Jeff is descended from Jonathan Thorne (GGG-GF) via William Thorne (GG-GF), Lydia Thorne Taylor (G-GM), Mildred Taylor Davison (GM) and Eleanor Davison Sloan (M).

John is a graduate of The Hotchkiss School, Harvard College, and Harvard Law School. He is married to Linde R. Behringer, and they have five grown children. Their main home is in Sammamish, WA, near Seattle, but they also have a residence in Porlezza, Italy and live part of every year there. Over the years they have also spent time in China, France, and Jordan. John is a world-ranked freestyle frisbee player, competing annually in tournaments in the US and Europe.

John is descended from Jonathan Thorne (GGG-GF), via Edwin Thorne (GG-GF), Chester Thorne (G-GF), Anita Thorne Corse Stone (GM), and Diana Colden (Corse) Titcomb (M). He was born in 1950.

Peter was a founding partner of Adviser Investment Management, an advisory firm that has grown to $2 Billion in assets under management, and he continues to invest in and actively participate in the early stages of start-up companies, focusing primarily on web-centric businesses. Since the mid 1990’s Peter has served as lead investor for a multi-family investing office, and has worked diligently to preserve and grow the purchasing power of its capital using asset allocation, return attribution, and manager selection techniques. Peter also represents his family group’s interest in various investment partnerships.Starting in 2009 Peter has partnered with niece, Dune Thorne, to test and evolve a family office technology platform that enables efficient and effective tracking of actionable investment information. Peter served as a Trustee of the Hotchkiss School for ten years and has remained on the Investment Committee for its endowment. He currently serves on the Board of the Cambridge School of Weston and on its Investment Committee and on the Board of the Yale Club of Boston. Other Boards include Schepens Eye Research Institute, a Harvard Affiliate, the Boston Food Bank, and the Common Fund Capital Venture Capital Advisory Board.

Peter is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Business School. Peter and his wife, Katherine Gross, oversee the Charlotte Foundation that supports education reform initiatives primarily in urban public schools in Boston. It is named after Charlotte Thorne who co-founded and ran one of the first high schools for freed slaves in Alabama in the late 19th century.

Peter is descended from Jonathan (GGG-GF) via Samuel (GG-GF), Edwin (G-GR), Landon (GF), Edwin (F).

He has held a Master Federal Bird Banding Permit for 68 years. Oak was born in 1928 in New York City and grew up on Long Island. He attended Yale University earning a B.S. in Biology, an M.S. in Conservation, and then received a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Colorado. He was the first representative of The Nature Conservancy in Colorado (1954), and he also founded Thorne Ecological Institute and Thorne Films, Inc.

in 1954. The film company produced over 800 educational film titles from 1954-1971 that were widely distributed to school systems across the USA and internationally. Thorne Ecological Institute helped found the Colorado Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES), the Keystone Science Center, the Audubon Society of Greater Denver, the Colorado Chapter of the Sierra Club and what is now called the Our Colorado. Oak is a member of the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE).

Oak purchased the famous Valley Ranch in northwest Wyoming (southwest of Cody) in 1969 and ran it until 1987. Valley was the oldest guest ranch in Wyoming, homesteaded in 1892. The ranch did not work out financially, and Oak returned to Boulder, Colorado in 1987 where he helped found and taught in the Environmental Studies Department at Naropa University. Oak is currently a member of the External Board of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, is on the Leadership Council for the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Yale Alumni Schools Committee. He is also on the Advisory Board of the American Music Research Center (AMRC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which contains the archives for many famous musicians and composers, such as Glen Miller, Perry Como, Norman Lockwood, and Dave Grusin, as well as housing an extensive sheet music collection from the 1800s and 1900s.

Oak is descended from Jonathan (GG-GF) via Samuel (G-GF), Edwin (GF), Francis (F).

She currently lives in Bridport, VT with her husband Charles (Charlie).  They have two grown children. She graduated from Brown University. Dinah is descended from Jonathan Thorne (GGG-GF), via Edwin Thorne (GG-GF), Chester Thorne (G-GF), Anita Thorne Corse Stone(GM), Nancy Lamb (Anita Thorne Corse) (M).

Jim grew up in Fairfield, CT and currently lives in Trumbull, CT with his wife Debra. He has 2 sons, Jared, living in Boulder CO and David, living in Brooklyn, NY.

Jim is a graduate of the Taft School and UNC Chapel Hill with a BS in Business Administration. Jim is descended from Jonathan Thorne (GGG-GF) via William Thorne (GG-GF), Lydia Thorne Taylor (G-GM), James B. Taylor, Jr. (GF) and James B. Taylor, III.

Oakleigh served as Chairman and CEO of eCollege.com [NASDAQ: ECLG], a leading provider of outsource services to the postsecondary education industry, from May of 2000 until July 2007, when the company was sold to Pearson PLC. Prior to founding Thorndale Farm in 1996, he served as CEO of Commerce Clearing House, Inc. (CCH) a leading provider of tax and business law information, software, and services.

Thorne led the sale of CCH for $1.9 billion to Wolters Kluwer, a Dutch publishing company, in January of 1996. Thorne was the fourth generation of his family to be associated with CCH. His great, great grandfather purchased the company’s predecessor, Corporation Trust Co. in 1902, establishing a 94-year commitment to CCH by the Thorne family. Prior to joining CCH in 1986, Oakleigh received his MBA from Columbia University. Before business school he was a newspaper reporter at the Boston Globe and the Baltimore News American. He received his MS in journalism from Boston University in 1980.

Oakleigh, a resident of Millbrook, NY, is a member of various non-profit boards, including the Dutchess Land Conservancy and the Dutchess Day School. He is an avid polo player and Boston University Terrier hockey fan; his other hobbies include fishing, shooting, and skiing. Oakleigh is descended from Jonathan (GGG-GF) via Edwin (GG-GF), Oakleigh (G-GF), Charlotte P. (GM), Oakleigh L. (F).