Four New Members Join the Babson Board of Trustees

The Babson College Board of Trustees has formally welcomed four new accomplished members to its ranks: Rebecca Shaghalian Larkin ’91, Shikhar Malhotra ’04, Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25, and Patty Pytlik ’11, MBA’25. All four were installed recently at the board’s annual October meeting. 

Al-Otaibi and Pytlik are the new recent graduate trustees, succeeding Martha Buckley MBA’23 and Corey O’Neill ’22, who successfully served their two-year tenures. The other trustees who have completed their tenures are Ettore V. Biagioni ’80, Michael S. Lorber ’01, and Amanda G. Strong ’87. 

The new trustees join at a meaningful and impactful moment for the College. Babson was recently ranked the No. 2 Best College in the United States by The Wall Street Journal for the second year in a row, and the No. 1 undergraduate school for entrepreneurship for the 29th consecutive time by U.S. News & World Report. Babson also recently earned a quartet of No. 1 rankings from LinkedIn in its inaugural ranking of the best 50 colleges in the country, placing seventh overall. Babson ranked No. 1 for the strongest alumni network in the country, for the largest share of alumni who become founders or entrepreneurs, for fueling business development careers, and for alumni working internationally. 

Meet the newest members of the Babson Board of Trustees: 

Rebecca Shaghalian Larkin ’91 

Larkin is a former partner at Goldman Sachs and current board member for Cincinnati Incorporated. At Babson, she was captain of the women’s soccer team and president of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Larkin held several leadership positions in the Equities Division of Goldman Sachs, including Head of Global Institution Sales, Head of Equity Derivatives, Head of International Cash Sales, and Head of U.S. Distribution for Cash Sales. Larkin also has served on the boards of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Advisory Council for the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell, and the Armenian Church Eastern Diocese Endowment Fund. 

Shikhar Malhotra ’04 

Malhotra is the chair and CEO of HCL Healthcare, one of India’s largest corporate health solutions providers, serving over 500,000 customers annually. He also serves on the board of HCLTech, a global technology leader with a market capitalization of over $50 billion. As a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation (SNF), Malhotra has been instrumental in advancing its mission of nation-building through education and leadership. He is also the founder and chair of Shiv Nadar Schools and the chancellor of Shiv Nadar University. Deeply committed to wildlife and conservation, Malhotra co-founded The Habitats Trust in 2018 to protect India’s natural habitats and species.  

Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25

Al-Otaibi, who was the undergraduate Commencement speaker in May, is the founder of Interlix Staffing, a firm that helps companies scale by connecting them with highly skilled remote professionals and technology talent based in Latin America. She is also the founder of Rootless Social, a community for founders and creators who are not defined by their past roots but by the future they are building. Based in New York City, Al-Otaibi is heavily focused on sales and business growth, actively engaged in the Babson community, and a LinkedIn content creator sharing insights on entrepreneurship, talent, and the future of work. 

Patty Pytlik ’11, MBA’25 

Pytlik is the founder of Peak Return Ventures and a dynamic leader with more than 15 years of institutional real estate private equity experience, having held investment roles at firms including Goldman Sachs. Over the course of her career, she has led more than $2.4 billion in transactions across multifamily, industrial, hospitality, life sciences, and mixed-use assets. At Babson, Pytlik was recognized as a 2025 Babson Entrepreneurship Award recipient, Beta Gamma Sigma High Honors inductee, and a CWEL Leadership Scholar. She remains deeply engaged with the Babson community, contributing to the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship and serving on the leadership team of the Women in Business club.  

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Tagged Campus, Leadership, Alumni

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