Whoopi Goldberg elected to Oscars governing board

Actress Whoopi Goldberg, a member of The View daytime talk show, has been elected to the board of governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The governing body, which oversees the Oscars, announced the governors election results late Thursday, which included Goldberg, who will represent the actor's branch. Goldberg won a best supporting actress Oscar in 1991 for Ghosts and was nominated for best actress in 1986 for The Color Purple.

Boys Don't Cry director Kimberly Peirce was also elected to the director's branch. Seven out of the 10 new governors announced on Thursday are women. 

Over the past two years, the film academy has taken strides to increase diversity in its membership, most recently announcing 774 new members on Wednesday. The class is of composed of 39% women (marking a 359% increase in the number of women invited to join from 2015 to 2017) and 30% people of color (a 331% increase since 2015).

The academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms. 

Those elected to the Board for the first time are:

Whoopi Goldberg, Actors Branch

Mandy Walker, Cinematographers Branch

Isis Mussenden, Costume Designers Branch

Wynn P. Thomas, Designers Branch

Kimberly Peirce, Directors Branch

David Linde, Executives Branch

Christina Kounelias, Public Relations Branch

Thomas R. Sito, Short Films and Feature Animation Branch

Teri E. Dorman, Sound Branch

Larry Karaszewski, Writers Branch

Incumbent governors reelected to the board include:

Lora Kennedy, Casting Directors Branch

Kate Amend, Documentary Branch

Michael Tronick, Film Editors Branch

Kathryn L. Blondell, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch

Charles Bernstein, Music Branch

Albert Berger, Producers Branch

Returning to the Board after a hiatus is Richard Edlund, Visual Effects Branch