FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 29, 2009

Contact:

Julie Gavin | 602.257.0335 x25 jgavin@azhumanities.org

ARIZONA HUMANITIES COUNCIL
ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS

(Phoenix, AZ) – Arizona Humanities Council is pleased to announce the election of seven new members to its Board of Directors: Paula Hilby, Shirley McKean, Bruce Meyerson, Merrilyn Ridgeway, Michael Vincent, John Ware, and Ronald Austin Wells.

• Paula Hilby has extensive credentials and expertise in a variety of fields. Hilby owns a company which specializes in investment portfolio management. She was a staff attorney for Arizona Public Service. During Governor Babbitt’s administration, she served as assistant for Intergovernmental Programs and then managed the Board & Commission appointments. Thereafter, she worked as a Loaned Executive to Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard, where she worked on water resource and conservation issues. In addition, she has served a Director of Housing and Development for Native American Connections, Inc. Her academic credentials include an M.P.A. and M.S.W. from ASU, a J.D. from University of Memphis; and a B.A. in English Literature from Rhodes College.

 

• Shirley McKean’s background includes a rich mix of professional experience in training and technology, community involvement, and politics. Since 1999, McKean has worked for Salt River Project and is currently the Training Analyst of Transmission and Generation Operations. She holds a Master’s Degree in anthropology from the University of Northern Colorado and a B.A. in with a minor in history from Wright State University.

• Bruce Meyerson has served on the Arizona Humanities Council Board of Directors as a gubernatorial appointee for the last 3 years. He is widely recognized for his expertise in mediation, he currently is Of Counsel to Miller LaSota and Peters, LLC. His impressive legal background includes service as General Counsel to ASU and Judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals. From 1974-1982, he was Executive Director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. He currently serves as Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution. Bruce received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and the B.A. from ASU.

 

• Merrilyn Ridgeway is a retired librarian and teacher, who, for the last three years, has served with distinction as a gubernatorial appointee to the AHC Board of Directors, most recently as the chairperson of the Development and Marketing Committee. Her fifteen years in teaching and librarianship included positions as Librarian for grants and service development at Phoenix Public Library, School Library Consultant with the Arizona Department of Education, and teacher in the Peoria and Dysart Unified School Districts. She received both her B.A. in Art and English and her Master’s in Education with a Library Science major from ASU.

• Michael Vincent is Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Northern Arizona University. Prior to his current position at NAU, his academic appointments included positions as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the University at the American University of Paris; and Dean of the Graduate School at Wichita State University. As a Professor of French, his academic credentials include an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; a Diplôme, degré annuel -- Mention très bien from Université de Paris-Sorbonne, and the B.A. from Saint John's University.

 

• John Ware is a Southwestern anthropologist and archaeologist whose teaching and research focus on the Native American cultures of the northern Southwest, where he has worked for 40 years. He has directed major archaeological survey and excavations projects in Chaco Canyon, the Galisteo Basin, the Ojo Caliente Valley, and the northern Santo Domingo Basin of New Mexico, and he has conducted ethnographic research among the Yavapai and Navajo of Arizona. His current research focuses on the evolution of Pueblo Indian social-ceremonial organizations, Basketmaker-Early Pueblo community development, and late prehistoric Pueblo farming systems. He has taught anthropology and archaeology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, the College of Santa Fe, the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (1981-84), Santa Fe Community College, Colgate University’s Native American Study Group in Santa Fe, and Colgate University.

• Ronald Austin Wells is the principal of The Wells Group, LLC: Consulting Services in Philanthropy, an enterprise serving philanthropic organizations and specializing in Board leadership development, governance, strategic planning, resource development, and program evaluation. Prior to establishing his practice, he served as Executive Vice President of  the Phelps Stokes Fund in New York; executive Director of the Connecticut Humanities Council, and Professor and Head of the Department of Humanities at the United States Coast Guard Academy. He received the Ph.D. and M.A. in English from University of Connecticut and the A.B. in English/ Psychology from Queens College at City University of New York.  

 

These newest members join a board of 21 members which is chaired by Kim Fernandez and vice chaired by Dr. Neal Lester. The Arizona Humanities Council Board oversees the distribution of funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities to local community-based institutions, actively promotes public humanities programming in urban and rural communities, and advocates actively to preserve the Nation’s and the State’s commitment to make the humanities accessible and relevant to our fellow-citizens.

About the Arizona Humanities Council – www.azhumanities.org

                The Arizona Humanities Council, founded in 1973, is an independent nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Stories convey our histories, traditions, social mores, beliefs and insights about what it means to be human. The Arizona Humanities Council creates opportunities for sharing these diverse stories through critical thinking and public discussion, to better understand and appreciate one another, so that we can make informed decisions about our collective future. Support for grants designated as We the People (WTP) projects has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  AHC supports public programming in the humanities that promotes understanding of human thoughts, actions, creations, and values. AHC works with museums, libraries, and other cultural and educational organizations to bring humanities programs to residents throughout Arizona.

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