Distinguished
Accredited Estate Planners®
  
Award received November 2008
Jo Ann Engelhardt
Bessemer Trust

Jo Ann Engelhardt is Managing Director and the Regional Compliance Liaison in the Palm Beach office of Bessemer Trust, a private wealth management firm. Prior to joining Bessemer Trust, Ms. Engelhardt was President and CEO of Merrill Lynch Trust Company (Florida) and served as Chief Trust Officer of Citicorp Trust in Palm Beach, Florida. In New York she was law clerk for the Hon. Millard Midonick, senior New York County Surrogate Court Judge and was an Associate in the trusts and estates department of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Barnard College of New York City cum laude; a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law of New York City; and a Master of Laws in Estate Planning and Tax from New York University School of Law.

Ms. Engelhardt is a member of both the American and New York Bar Associations. She is Co-Chair of the American Bar Association's Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section Special Committee on In-House Counsel, Vice-Chair of the Diversity Committee and Sponsorship Committee, is a member of the Synergy Summit, the Investment Committee, and the Community Outreach Committee, and serves on the Section's governing Council.

She also serves on the Executive Committee of Professional Advisors of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties and is President-Elect of the Palm Beach Tax Institute. Ms. Engelhardt serves on the Board of Trustees of the Poinciana Day School and on the Board of the USS Saratoga Foundation. She also serves on the Professional Advisory Committee of the Jewish Federation and on the Corporate Partners Executive Committee of the Kravis Center. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has lectured for New York University, the American Law Institute-American Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the Attorney-Trust Officer Liaison Conference of the FL Bar/FL Bankers Association, and the ABA. She is the author of several articles on trust and estate topics and has been published in the ABA Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Journal; Trust and Estates Magazine; and others. In 2007, she was named by Global Investor Magazine as one of the "20 Highly Regarded Women in Wealth" and in January, 2009 she will present at the Heckerling Institute.

In addition to a JD and LL.M., Ms. Engelhardt holds Series 7, 63, and 24 licenses.

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