The Yale Corporation has appointed three new members to serve as trustees on the University’s highest decision-making body.

Fareed Zakaria ’86, Donna Dubinsky ’77 and Jeffrey Bewkes ’74 have each been nominated to a six-year term to fill existing and upcoming vacancies in the Corporation. Zakaria will begin serving at the Corporation’s next meeting in February, while Dubinsky and Bewkes will join the body at the start of the University’s next fiscal year on July 1, according to a University press release.

The appointments were based on a consideration of how the individuals’ backgrounds might contribute to the Corporation, Yale President Richard Levin said.

“We weighed a number of factors in choosing this particular trio of new fellows,” Levin said. “We looked at a list of 40 or 50 individuals over the last year or so and traded off what we thought of the individuals and the ways their backgrounds might be useful.”

Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and the host of the PBS series “Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria.” A prominent political commentator, Zakaria is also the author of the 2003 New York Times bestseller “The Future of Freedom” and serves on the President’s Council on International Activities.

Zakaria said he views his new position on the Corporation as an opportunity to show his gratitude to Yale and to assist the University in its focus on globalization.

“I feel an enormous debt of gratitude, which I am glad to be able to repay in some small measure,” Zakaria said. “I will be able to help Yale in its mission to engage more fully with the world well beyond America’s borders. I see that as one of the things that President Levin has correctly identified as an important mission at Yale, and I hope that I can help with that in some way.”

Dubinsky is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Numenta, Inc. and previously co-founded Palm Computing and Handspring, Inc. She is a member of the University Council, which advises the president and officers of the University on academic and administrative issues.

Dubinsky said she thinks her business background will allow her to give advice on issues of risks and technology.

“I’m an entrepreneur, so I hope that I will be able to add value in entrepreneurial thinking, whether that is by helping inspire people to do great things, evaluating strategic risks, or thinking through appropriate application of technology,” Dubinsky said in an e-mail. “Yale was a true life-changing event in my life, so I feel honored to be asked to participate in the governance of the institution, and help make it a life-changing event for others as well.”

Bewkes is the president and chief operating officer of Time Warner, Inc. and is on the executive committee of Yale’s current fundraising campaign. He could not be reached for comment by press time.

The new fellows will replace Successor Trustees Susan Crown, whose term on the Corporation ends in June, Holcombe Green Jr., who left the board last June, and former Vice President for Finance and Administration John Pepper. Pepper’s seat was left open when he became vice president, but was filled on a temporary basis by a one-year extension of Linda Mason’s term last year.

The Corporation consists of 10 Successor Trustees, who elect their own successors and are eligible for two six-year terms, as well as six Alumni Fellows elected by Yale alumni, who are eligible for one six-year term. The president of the University, as well as the governor and lieutenant governor of Connecticut, serve as members ex officio.