Commissioners

Commissioner John Gustafsson

John C. Gustafsson is a retired lawyer who has extensive experience leading organizations whose mission is preserving and sharing the architecture and history of the City of New York.  He is the former Chairman of the Board of the Historic House Trust of New York City, where he currently serves on the Audit & Finance and Governance & Nominating Committees.  He is the former President and Chairman of the Board of the Staten Island Historical Society, a position he held from 2004-2011.  He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Devereux Foundation and he chairs the Finance Council at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church (Staten Island) where he is a member of the Holy Name Society, a Lector and Eucharistic Minister.  In addition to his formal affiliations and responsibilities with these organizations, he has 20 years of experience in non-profit leadership and governance, advising and consulting in a variety of capacities for numerous other non-profits.

Before retiring in 2006, Gustafsson was a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group of the California-based law firm of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, where he was the Administrative Partner of the Firm’s New York office.  Prior to that, Gustafsson spent 7 years as in-house counsel at Honeywell International.  At the time he left Honeywell, Gustafsson was General Counsel of the $4 billion Automation and Control Products business.  Prior to his tenure at Honeywell, Gustafsson spent 10 years in private practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where he focused on multi-jurisdictional complex litigation.

Gustafsson is a member of the New York State bar, the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York, the District of Arizona, and the United States Supreme Court.  Gustafsson received his B.A. in Philosophy (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Columbia University in 1983 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude) in 1987. A first-generation American, Gustafsson and his wife Mary Beth reside in his native Staten Island.