Walter M. Vail has been elected to the board of the Island Affordable Housing Fund.

A resident of Oak Bluffs, Mr. Vail moved here in 2008 after more than 50 years as a summer resident. He has a distinguished career in housing-oriented activities, including serving as president of Merrill Lynch Huntoon Page, president of BankEast Mortgage Company, and president of the Mortgage Corner, a subsidiary of Centerbank Mortgage. He was a founder of Beacon Mortgage Company in Manchester, N.H.

He was president of the New Hampshire Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association, and served on the FNMA northeast advisory committee, and the town of Hopkinton (N.H.) zoning board. He has also been active in Dartmouth College fund-raising activities, including serving as his class president, and was on his class executive committee for 41 years. He was chairman of his reunion giving campaign in 1984 and 1998 and served as class agent for 51 years. On Island, he has served as president of the East Chop Beach Club and the East Chop Tennis Club.

Bob Wheeler, copresident of the fund, said “Walter has been a close friend of mine for almost 40 years, and I have always admired his vitality and his willingness to give of himself for others.”