Garnett L. Keith, chairman of SeaBridge Investment Advisors, L.L.C., in Summit, New Jersey, has been elected a Trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest philanthropy.

Keith and eight colleagues established SeaBridge Investment Advisors in July to provide investment advice on globally diversified portfolios to individual clients. The company has offices in Atlanta and Seattle as well as in Summit.

During the previous two decades, Keith worked at the Prudential Insurance Company in Newark, most recently as vice chairman and chief investment officer. He supervised global investment activities for Prudential’s insurance, pension and mutual fund portfolios, and established investment activities in nine foreign countries. Earlier, he headed Prudential’s corporate finance and pension activities.

Prior to joining Prudential, Keith was president of Irwin Union Corporation, a regional bank holding company in Columbus, Indiana. Before that, he was vice president and general manager of Irwin Management Company, also in Columbus, supervising investment activities for a private investment company. He assumed that position after managing portfolios in venture capital, real estate and marketable securities at the company. Keith moved to Indiana from New York, where he worked for several years at Irving Trust Company.

A 1957 graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, Keith served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He received his MBA with distinction in 1962 from Harvard Business School, where he concentrated in finance. Married with two adult children, he is a trustee of Drew University, on the advisory board of Ivan Allen College at Georgia Tech and active in other community endeavors.