Check out the wonderful people who are involved with the Academy: OUR FALL 2009 COURSE FACILITATORS

(Listed alphabetically)

Fredrick R. Abrams, M.D. (Doctors on the Edge) is currently the Director of The Clinical Ethics Consultation Group, a medical consultant to the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, an Adjunct Professor of Ethics at the Iliff School of Theology, and also a volunteer faculty for the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at UCHSC. In 2003 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Center for Bioethics and Humanities of the UCHSC. In 2006 he was selected to receive the Isaac Bell and John Hayes Award for Leadership in Medical Ethics and Professionalism from the Board of Trustees and Foundation of the American Medical Association.

In 1983 he became the founder and director of the first community hospital based center for study and teaching of bioethics, the Center for Applied Biomedical Ethics at Rose Medical Center in Denver, which provided the training in the 1980s for all the original Colorado hospital ethics committees. In the mid 1980s, he was a leader in the passage of Colorado’s first “Living Will” law and participated in its revisions during the next decade.

He has served as founding Executive Director of the Colorado Governor's Commission on Life and the Law, Executive Committee of the Colorado Collaboration for End-of-Life Care, Steering Committee-Hospice of Metro Denver. He served on the national advisory board of: Institutional Ethics Committees of the American Society of Law and Medicine, National Advisory Board on Ethics in Reproduction, the ethics committee of the Denver Medical Society, the Colorado Medical Society, founded the ethics committee of Rose Medical Center, and co-chaired the Joint Ethics Committee of the Colorado Columbia-Health One System. With the Denver Department of Social Services, he organized a curriculum and initiated instruction with the intention and result of establishing the Denver Community Ethics Committee.

Dr. Abrams was Executive Director of the Denver University/ Colorado University Health Ethics and Policy Consortium and Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado in Denver. He was Project Director of the Robert Wood Johnson-supported "Colorado Speaks out on Health" project in 1987 that held over 400 meetings with Coloradoans to discuss ethical issues in healthcare. He developed and teaches courses in the Essentials of Biomedical Ethics, assisting hospitals, long term care facilities and communities to create ethics committees for continuing education of facility staff and for public outreach. Over the past 25 years, he has conducted over 1500 workshops, lectures and conferences for medical, nursing, legal, clergy, and teaching professionals, and for the public on ethical issues.

John Anderson (The Great Equations) was in technical sales and support in the computer industry for 30 years. Retirement allowed him to resume an undergraduate interest in physics and the history of science.  He has facilitated several science classes including “Feynman Physics Fest”, “Particle Physics for Non-Scientists”, "Survey of 21st Century Physics", and "The Man Who Changed Everything: JC Maxwell".  He escaped to Colorado 20 years ago after a score of years in the New York/New Jersey area, including 7 years on Wall Street.  He has a degree in physics from Yale. In addition to lifetime learning, John and his wife Pat love to ski, bike, W. S. Churchill, and travel.

Janet Landis Barrett (Post-Racial America) worked as a registered nurse for 17 years. In 1994 she recognized her own issues around racism. She stopped her liberal arts education at CU and began her education about racism. Janet started organizing anti-racism workshops in 1995 and  founded DARRT (Denver Anti-Racism And Reconciliation Team) in 1997. Around that time she was invited to work with the national Racial-Ethnic Ministries of the Presbyterian Church (USA). She was on the writing team for the “Facing Racism” document that was presented to the General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas in 1999. Janet has continued learning and teaching about racism, more recently including facilitating discussions on immigration reform.

Kathy Boyer (Writing your Life Stories) has conducted LIFE STORY workshops for libraries, summer camps, churches, community centers, and with the Academy.  As a child, Kathy developed a love of the personal story as she listened to adults recall the tales of their childhood.  Now a retired teacher, Kathy works with individuals to record their memories on audio-tape.  As a workshop facilitator, she offers inspiration and ideas to groups of people who want to begin a written collection of their own short stories.

While teaching math in the public schools, Glenn Bruckhart (Math to Keep Your Mind Sharp) became fascinated by how different people learn mathematics and what got in the way of those who had trouble learning it.  This led to his work with teachers to better understand the learning process, the nature of mathematics and how to make mathematics accessible to all learners.  This work was pursued through a number of organizations, including the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, the National and the Colorado Councils of Teachers of Mathematics, and with courses taught for many of the colleges and universities in Colorado. Most recently he served as Senior Mathematics Consultant for the Colorado State Department of Education.

Bennie Bub, MD, FRCS, (Brain Games, Human Behavior & Neurobiology, Computer Tips) is a South African neurosurgeon who is board certified in three different specialties on three continents.  His teaching career began when, as a medical student, he taught physics at a technical college in return for free car maintenance courses.  After receiving his MD at the University of Cape Town he became a general surgeon gaining his FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) in the UK.  Having been captivated by the complexities of the brain, he now began his neurosurgical studies in London at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases and Epilepsy.  Thereafter he became a Teaching and Research Fellow at Harvard College as well as a resident in the Harvard Neurosurgical Service at the Boston City and Massachusetts General Hospitals.  Concurrently, he studied violin performance in the Boston Conservatory of Music under Reuben Gregorian. This Boston sojourn was followed by completion of his neurosurgical certification at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

Then began his years of busy neurosurgical private practice simultaneously teaching as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Cape Town.  During this period he founded the first multidisciplinary clinic in South Africa for the management of intractable pain.  Immigration to the USA in 1976 was followed by training and board certification in Anesthesiology.  He then joined a practice in Denver from which he retired after more than 20 years.  In the early nineties he was founder and CEO of a successful database company, which provided credentialing of physicians for health insurance companies.  Since retirement he has indulged in his love of music, travel and voracious reading, all the while striving to stay au currant with the neurosciences.

Greg Carpenter (Music Sampler) serves as Executive Director of Opera Colorado. Prior to joining Opera Colorado, he worked for three years as the Manager of Development with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. His previous work experience also includes two years as the Arts and Events Manager with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland and as a professional opera singer from 1986 to1998. He sang leading and supporting roles at Glimmerglass Opera, Central City Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Theatre of North Virginia, Cleveland Opera and Lyric Opera Cleveland. He is currently the Chairman of the fundraising committee for the National Performing Arts Convention; member of Curious Theatre Company’s special events committee; and a member of OPERA America. He received a Bachelor of Music from Wittenburg University; a Master of Music from Michigan State University and was a Post-Graduate Studies/Doctor of Musical Arts Candidate at the University of Maryland School of Music.

Recently honored by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation for his contributions to “the state and beyond,” Dr. Henry Claman (Experts & Entertainers) is a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. In 1966 Claman published a crucial paper showing that irradiated mice given a mixture of bone marrow and thymus cells produced more antibody after immunization than those given either cell type alone.  His discovery of the relationship between T-cells and B-cells changed the course of AIDS and immunology research.  He is the Director of the Medical Humanities program at UCD.  The program integrates the arts, literature, reflective writing, etc. into the medical education curriculum.

Patricia Cox (Write to Save Your Life)is a graduate of Texas Christian University and received her Masters in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Denver.  She taught for the Denver Public Schools and the Cherry Creek School District.  Being the mother of three daughters and grandmother of eleven gives her joy and focus.  After working with children most of her adult life, she found challenge and purpose working as Parish Coordinator for Wellshire Presbyterian Church. She has enjoyed teaching memoir writing classes because of the richness of history shared by all participants.

Reverend Tom deBree (Post-Racial America) is an ordained clergy person in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a Minister member of Denver Presbytery. He presently is part of the Spiritual Care Services Department at the University of Colorado Hospital, working on a team of ecumenical and interfaith Chaplains.  He has degrees from Amherst College and Princeton Theological Seminary.  Tom continues to work on a book linking human spiritual values, the interfaith movement and the evolution of revolutionary democratic ideals.

Bill Dorn (A Miss Marple Sampler) is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Denver, where he was a faculty member for 30 years. He has taught both credit and non-credit courses on a number of classic fictional detectives and is the author of five books about Sherlock Holmes, including a Sherlockian cook book. Bill is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars (the premier American Sherlockian organization) and The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, as well as Colorado’s own club, “Dr. Watson’s Neglected Patients.”

Art Elser (Writing & Journaling, Celebrating Nature's Wonders) has been a volunteer naturalist for over five years and a professional writer and writing teacher for 40 years. As a naturalist at the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora, he observes and records nature and writes articles and reports. “I've had the good fortune to write about nature,” he says, “and want to help others have that opportunity also. In Illusions, Richard Bach writes, ‘You teach best that which you most need to learn. That's why I want to help you learn. When we write about something, we learn more about it. I need to learn.”

A career public school teacher with a bachelor's degree in speech and music and a master's in communication theory and psychology,  Sherma Erholm (Bombarded with Persuasion) now enjoys facilitating lively discussions among adults eager to gain and share knowledge.  Since the majority of books for popular consumption on the subject of persuasion are “how to” books focusing on increasing the abilities of the sender, she sees a need for receivers to cultivate insight into the increasingly sophisticated techniques in use by those wishing to bring about any kind of change in our thinking or behavior.

Abe Flexer (US Poverty) escaped from New England to Colorado in the late 1960s and never left for more than a few weeks at a time.  Trained as a microbiologist, he began his professional life studying sexual behavior in the fungi.  After retiring from a career of teaching and administration at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he and his wife Bobbie (retired from a teaching and research career, also at CU Boulder) began to travel and to take classes at the Academy.  These classes stimulated a latent interest in economics (which he sees a branch of biology), particularly issues of urban poverty in the US.

Rebecca Gorman (Experts & Entertainers) holds a B.A. in Drama and English from Dartmouth College and an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University. A working playwright, Rebecca is an English professor at Metro State College of Denver, where she teaches playwriting and screenwriting, Cinema Studies, and the Graphic Novel.

Ellie Greenberg (Celebrating Women over Sixty) has been interested in the adult life cycle since she developed and led the University Without Walls in the 1970s. Over the last 40 years, she has had the privilege of designing and leading many more programs for adults, such as: PATHWAYS to the Future for 40,000 US WEST non-management employees in 14 states, Project Leadership focused on non-profit board leadership, and MAPP-the Mountain and Plains Partnership-online Masters degree programs for health professionals in underserved areas. She has raised more that $20 million to support adult education projects and various organizations.

Ellie has been the author, co-author, or editor of nine books, four pamphlets, 85 published articles and more than 230 unpublished papers. Her most recent book is the two-time Denver Post Best Seller, A Time of Our Own: In Celebration of Women Over Sixty, which she co-authored with Fay Wadsworth Whitney.She holds earned degrees from Mount Holyoke College (BA), University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA), and University of Northern Colorado (EdD) and has received two honorary doctorates and numerous awards. She has co-founded women’s organization, served on many boards and commissions, and learned politics through the civil rights and women’s movements. She cares about learners and learning, and is committed to creating “access to opportunities” for others.

Reverend Larry Grimm (Post-Racial America) has an A.B. degree from Grinnell College and a D.Min. degree from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond.  He has served a variety of Presbyterian Congregations, including a multicultural congregation in Northwest Denver.  Larry is presently serving as Chaplain for Hospice of St. John in Lakewood.  He also consults with pastors on their leadership position in the congregation using family-natural systems theory as a frame of reference. He facilitates planning events, teaches classes on racism and the bible, and offers leadership to those who want to improve their spiritual practices. He says, “The best work we can do is work upon ourselves.”

Fascinated with the sights and sounds of the pipe organ since childhood, Jim Hanson (Music Sampler) began playing the organ at age 13 and developed a second, 50-year career as a liturgical organist. His organ teachers were Dr. Rupert Sircom, MacPhail School of Music and Dr. Joyce Kull, Denver. He served several years on the Board of the Denver Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and as organist for various churches in the Denver area, including 14 years at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Littleton. After two years of retirement, he found that he missed his music, leading him to accept his current post as organist/choral director at Evergreen’s Christ the King Catholic Church, nestled among the pines of Colorado.

Judy Helfer (Bridge: Beginners & Never-Evers) has retired from over 40 years of teaching.  She now spends many enjoyable hours playing bridge with her friends.  Besides playing bridge, she enjoys sharing and teaching the game with others—in the hopes that they will enjoy playing the game, too!  It is a wonderful way to spend social time with friends and meet lots of new people.  Judy is a Life Master and certified Bridge Director.  She has been trained in the Audry Grant method of teaching bridge.

Onsite Consulting, Inc. owner Scott Henke (Computer Tips) has been a consultant for 27 years, training computer users and repairing computers. He taught classes through Denver Community Schools for 11 years and worked for 13 years as a Technology Coordinator at Hamilton Middle School, helping students learn computers and the Internet.  His company, Onsite Consulting, offers PC training, PC and network troubleshooting, repair, virus and spyware solutions, free offsite backup, remote emergency help and many other computer services. The company recently received the 2008 Business of the Year Award.

Ginny Hoyle (Falling Awake, A Haiku Workshop) divides her time between grandmothering (two girls, 6 and 3) and poetry. She was the First Place winner in the 2009 Writers Studio competition judged by poet Mark Irwin for Arapahoe Community College, and she was a national finalist in MARGIE’s Strong Medicine poetry contest (2007). Through collaboration with artist Judy Anderson, her poems have been featured in installations at Ironton Studios (2005) and the Museum of Outdoor Art (2007). The Ironton show included Haiku Journal, a collection of haiku written between 2000 and 2003. The piece was also included in the Best of Colorado exhibition at DIA, 2006/2007.

Connie Hyde (The Culture of the Thirties) spent her college and graduate days immersed in literature, but, after a final year in the rare book room at Duke University library with 16th century folios, decided that her intellectual life needed more human dynamic. She spent the next several decades practicing commercial real estate law (and raising children, who, according to Connie, taught her more about the psychology of negotiation than all the law books in the world). Recently retired, Connie has returned enthusiastically to her first loves of literature, history, politics, music and art (and, of course, gardening). “I am fascinated by the people and ideas that have shaped our world and the way that literature, music, and art interact with history and politics. The modern world is so complex and perilous that we, as thoughtful adults, have to be alive to the historical currents that brought us to the present.”

Art (Arthur) Jones (Spirituals)is a clinical professor of culture and psychology at the University of Denver, with a split appointment at the University of Denver Women’s College and the Divisions of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. He is also a trained singer. Art has had a longstanding interest in the intersection of issues of psychological experience, ethnicity, race and culture. Since the early 1990s he has been immersed in scholarly research into the cultural and psychological history and functions of the spirituals tradition. He is the founder and chair of The Spirituals Project (www.spiritualsproject.org), an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based on the campus of The University of Denver, with a mission of preserving and revitalizing the music and teachings of the spirituals. His book Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals, first published in 1993, was the winner of a First Book award from the Catholic Press Association of America. He is also the co-editor, with his brother Ferdinand Jones, of The Triumph of the Soul: Cultural and Psychological Aspects of African American Music (2001). In addition to singing in the 70-voice, multi-ethnic, multi-generational Spirituals Project Choir, Art has performed numerous solo lecture-concert programs on spirituals throughout the United States. He is currently immersed in a research project focusing on the pioneering work of Roland Hayes (1887 – 1977), the first African American concert singer to gain international acclaim, and an important interpreter of spirituals in formal concert performance.

Conrad Kehn (Music Sampler) is a performer, composer, improviser, educator, writer and artist. He serves as a lecturer of Music Theory, Composition and Music Technology at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, where he directs the Lamont Composers Concert Series. He is the founding Director of The Playground, a chamber ensemble dedicated to modern music. An award winning composer, His style spans all genres touching on electro-acoustic music, multimedia works, graphic scores, aleatory, and experimental rock, but still remains grounded in the western music tradition. His music has been performed across the US including Issue Project Room (NY), Audio Inversions (Austin, TX), Pendulum New Music Series (CU-Boulder), and the Summer New Music Symposium at Colorado College. As a vocalist, he specializes in improvisation, contemporary music, and the use of electronics. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Commercial Music and Recording Technology from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music (1996). He also has a Master’s Degree in Composition from Lamont (2000) where he was named the Outstanding Graduate Student in Composition and the Outstanding Graduate Student in Commercial Music. He is currently pursuing an MBA at the Daniels College of Business focusing on Entrepreneurship and Non-profit Management.

Jim Kneser (Dissecting Current Economic Issues, Slum Dogs & Millionaires) is in his twelfth year of leading economics classes as a volunteer, where he has led over 40 classes with over 2,000 class members.  Kneser has an undergraduate degree in economics from Ripon College and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School.  He is also a CPA and worked in private equity specializing in mergers, acquisitions, speculative markets, and corporate finance.

Bridge nut and art groupie Sally Kneser (Computer Tips, Beginning Bridge: Play of the Hand) is always ready to learn something new and help teach others. “I love to learn, and it’s so much more fun with friends around.” Sally is a Life Master in bridge and enjoys explaining the basics to others. As the Academy’s Director, Sally tackles operational and tactical issues in running the nonprofit. While volunteering with the Junior League, Sally chaired several committees, including the Facilitators. When not enjoying herself at the bridge table, she attends two book clubs and stops to smell roses in her gardens.

Bill Korstad (Impacting the Developing World) is a software entrepreneur from Denver who spent three years as a volunteer for the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) on USAID-funded economic development projects in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and North Africa.  As a member of the Rotary Club of Denver, he recently traveled to the Congo (DRC) on a humanitarian project.  These experiences inspired further study on the subject both independently and in classroom settings.  He has taught three Cities & Regions classes: Congo, Romania, and Morocco.

Priscilla Linsley (Post-Racial America) has been self-employed as a consultant for Colorado non-profit organizations, specializing in grant writing, for more than 20 years.  Her volunteer and community involvement includes four terms as President of Uptown on the Hill registered neighborhood association and she is a member of the Uptown Partnership and Inner-city Community Development Corporation boards.  She is currently Co-Chair of the Peace & Justice Task Force, Montview Boulevard PCUSA.  She has participated in volunteer and service projects in Nicaragua, Vietnam, and Mexico and organized two work trips to New Orleans.  She has facilitated several courses for OLLI (formerly VIVA).  Other teaching experience involves literacy tutor training for the “Lifers Group” at Rahway State (NJ) Prison.

JD MacFarlane (Financial Buccaneers & Regulatory Failure) is a graduate of Harvard and Stanford Law School, managed a small partnership and sole practitioner law practice from 1964-70, and then served as a Colorado State Representative, Colorado State Senator, Chief Deputy Colorado Public Defender, Colorado Attorney General, and the Denver Manager of Public Safety. As a manager in many of those roles, he developed a special interest in the impact of government on the economy, as well as economic theories regarding the interplay of federal, state and local tax policies. Currently he is studying the economic bubbles of the last two decades and their relationship to the virtually unregulated financial markets of the era, focusing on the role played by esoteric asset-backed security structures and credit default swaps in the global economic collapse we are experiencing.

Lois Martin (Experts & Entertainers) came to Denver by way of Philadelphia and Nebraska. She was a major in journalism at the University of Nebraska, before she moved to Pennsylvania while her husband was in medical school. She has been editor of internal publications for Campbell Soup Co. and Leeds and Northrup, both in the East. After the arrival of her four children, she founded the Aurora Sun Newspaper where she worked for 20 years as publisher. She was founding moderator of the Aurora Hospital Association, President of the Aurora Hospital District, Business Person of the Year for the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, and elected to the Benson Hall of Fame for Community Leadership.

Robin McNeil (From Monteverdi to Schubert) began his study of piano at DePauw University at the age of four, taking lessons with Irene Soltas. He has a Bachelor of Music in Perform­ance from Indiana University and a Master of Music in Performance from the University of Illinois. He began his teaching career at the University of Illinois and then went to the University of South Dakota where he was Chairman of the Piano Department.

He has performed over three hundred concerts throughout the United States and has written many musicology book reviews for Choicemagazine of the American Library Asso­ciation and Publisher’s Weekly, in addition to being an experienced music critic for newspapers. He is also a published poet, and the Denver composer, David Mullikin, has used his poems for art song texts.

In the past, Mr. McNeil has been thoroughly involved in arts management as the Executive Director of the Fine Arts Center of Clinton (Illinois), State Treasurer of the Association of Illinois Arts Agencies, and member of the Long Range Planning Committee of the Central Illinois Cultural Affairs Consortium. Mr. McNeil has been the Executive Director of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra Foundation.

Outside the sphere of music, Robin has raced Alfa Romeo and Ferrari automobiles and flown WW II vintage aircraft. He is a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Mr. McNeil now lives with his wife in Littleton where he teaches privately and continues to do research on the French composer, Théodore Gouvy. Mr. McNeil is President of the Piano Arts Association,  and an Honorary Member of the Institut Théodore Gouvy of Hombourg-Haut, France.

Longtime art enthusiast Joanne Mendes (DAM Great Art) has recently retired from a career spent organizing programs in art history in London and at the Denver Art Museum, for which she developed and coordinated adult courses and lecture series for over a decade. Her passion for art was ignited when she and her petroleum engineer husband, Bob, moved to England, where she soon put her education degree to good use as co-director of Modern Art Studies, a company associated with the Institute of Contemporary Art. Joanne likes nothing better than to put people in touch with the most knowledgeable art experts available and currently continues to organize art-related education and travel opportunities for the DAM Contemporaries, one of the Denver Art Museum's support groups.

Reverend Amy Mendez (Post-Racial America) has been ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) since 1997. She graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Masters degree in Divinity.  She was Associate Executive for Hispanic Ministries at the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii.  Rev. Mendez served as Associate Pastor at West End Presbyterian Church in Manhattan New York City and Head of Staff at Fort Washington Heights Presbyterian Church in Manhattan New York City. She also teaches Social Justice and Immigration issues. Currently she is serving as a pastor at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Thornton.

Walt Meyer (Islam from Muhammad to Osama) is a retired “technocrat”, having spent 22 years in the weather field of the US Air Force and almost 20 years as a program manager for a defense contractor. He has been married to his wife Karyl for 44 years and has three grown children and four grandchildren.

Walt’s interest in Islam stems from the post -9/11 realization that those in the West have little understanding of the Muslim faith, contributing to many false characterizations of the Muslim people. Shortly after 9/11 he attended a workshop on Islam presented by Jim Gonia, Pastor at Atonement Lutheran Church in Denver. He had an excellent background on the subject, having served in Madagascar among the Muslim people. Walt has since done considerable reading on the subject and has presented a series of classes on Islam to his church on two occasions. He feels that this subject is of vital importance today.

Walt has a BS in Chemistry from Capital University, a PhD in Atmospheric Science from the University of Washington, and he is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Minnesota Management Academy. He has served on many boards and task forces within the Lutheran Church and he is a member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, sponsored by the Graduate Theological Union of the University of California at Berkeley. Walt served as Adjunct Professor of Meteorology at Saint Louis University for one year, has taught numerous Bible study classes, and has found teaching to be one of his passions.

A lifelong community activist, Dana Miller (Experts & Entertainers) is a member of Transition Denver.  The worldwide Transition Movement is a grassroots movement aimed at empowering local communities to be more sustainable, resilient and vibrant.  Transition Denver offers events, films and community get-togethers to share information about how to live a simpler, wiser and more energy efficient life.  Transition Denver has recently partnered with the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Mile High Business Alliance and the Living Earth Center to create the Grow Local Colorado Campaign.  For more information, visit www.growlocalcolorado.org, www.transitiondenver.org and www.transitioncolorado.ning.com.

Bradford Mudge (Experts & Entertainers) is a professor in the English Department at the U. of Colorado at Denver. In addition to teaching courses in 18th- and 19th-century literature, he has lectured on the political influence of the cartoon in 18th-century Britain, at The Lab at Belmar.

The Reverend Paul Neshangwe (Post-Racial America) holds a new position as “Pastor in Partnership” for Denver Presbytery.  He has begun a probe to investigate the possibility of starting a new church development to meet the needs of African immigrants as well as building on the established presbytery partnership between the Presbyteries of Denver and Zimbabwe.  Prior to joining Denver Presbytery in December of 2008, Paul was most recently the minister of Lomagundi Presbyterian Church in Chinhoyi. During his service to this congregation, Paul strengthened and grew his congregation by focusing on peacemaking and racial issues.  He has a great passion for new church development and with this session was able to start several new outlying congregations.  He also feels passionate about the lack of medical care in Zimbabwe, and together with his congregation, they began the successful Lomagundi Clinic, serving patients who come from both near and far for medical treatment not available in other parts of the country.

While in Zimbabwe, Paul served on many Presbytery of Zimbabwe committees and most recently was the Moderator of the Presbytery, a two year term.  He served as the Convener for the Justice and Social Responsibility committee as well as participating in many other Presbytery committees. Rev. Neshangwe has also served the denomination in Zimbabwe on many General Assembly committees including as Convener of Christian Education.

Rev. Neshangwe was intimately involved in national and religious organizations in Zimbabwe. He served as chairperson of the Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Committee for the Zimbabwe Council of churches for three, 2 year terms.  He was the chairperson of the Church in Society and Election Monitoring Advisory Board for the Zim Council of Churches. Paul served as National Executive Committee member of Christian Care, was the Chairperson of the HIV/AIDS Standing Committee, and Chairperson of Personnel & Recruitment Committee.  In addition, Rev. Neshangwe was a member of the National Task Force of the National Constitutional Assembly, representing religious organizations, was a member of the Christian Alliance, and Chairperson of Community Development and Participation Trust

Paul is married to Lydia who is currently a student at Denver Seminary.  The couple plans to stay in the Denver area until Lydia completes her education, upon which time they will return to Zimbabwe to devote their energy and talents to the great need there.  The couple has two sons, T.C. and Melusi.

Always eager and interested to learn more about European art, especially painting of the Renaissance period, Laura Pardee (Art of the Northern Renaissance, Part 2) regularly visits museums and galleries in Europe and the United States.  She was a French language and literature major in college and took several art history courses as well.  She served as a docent at Winterthur Museum in Delaware before moving to Denver.

Ralph Plimpton (Does Economics Trump War?) was a manager and Vice President of Human Resources with Arco and Amoco until the early 80’s. Until retirement in 2003 he founded and operated an outplacement consulting firm serving corporate clients in 17 states in the Mountain States and the West. During that period he and his associates worked with thousands of individuals in developing their best skills and capabilities in the process of finding new opportunities or careers.

Sheila Porter (Impacting the Developing World) returned from travels and volunteer efforts in Africa and Cambodia with many questions about the real impact of international efforts on emerging countries. Her interest in Genocide and the ‘darker’ human emotions have earned her the Academy designation as the patron saint of solemn subjects. With an undergraduate degree in art history, a PhD in Psychology and 30+ years as a clinical and forensic psychologist, she has joined those interests to also study and lecture on the impact of artists’ psychological makeup on their artistic production. Sheila has said, ‘I always return to the study of art & artists because it is good to remember that the world had always produced beauty in spite of itself’. Recently retired, Sheila divides her time between the Academy, where she chairs the Curriculum Committee, doing psychological evaluations of victims of torture seeking political asylum for Healthright International and her grandchildren who make her laugh and look to the future.

Sharon Rouse (Sketching & Watercolor Painting) is a retired art teacher, has taught adult watercolor and sketchbook classes and presented short watercolor workshops.  She uses her sketchbooks and journals to record ideas for future paintings.  Her work has been accepted into various shows and is in private collections.  In addition to her art, she is a docent at the Denver Art Museum and a supervisor for art student teachers at Metropolitan State College.

Laura Rubin (The Play’s the Thing: Unrehearsed Drama) is a retired public school speech therapist, who has facilitated play reading groups for seven years in Jacksonville, Florida and Denver, Colorado.  Laura has enjoyed international and domestic travel with the meeting of new people. 

Robert Rust (Experts & Entertainers) is an appraiser/dealer of Antiquarian Books and Arts and Crafts Era Art & Antiques in Denver and western New York state, with more than 25 years of experience. He has co-authored and contributed to over a dozen books on the Arts and Crafts era and has written articles about this important movement in Decorative Arts History for various magazines, newsletters and journals focused on antiques.

Vee Sabel (Great Decisions in America’s Current Foreign Policy) is a confirmed foreign policy junkie and world traveler. She loves to hear the opinions of others and gain new perspective on issues. She is a skilled facilitator having been trained by and worked with Michael Doyle and Peter Strauss in their worldwide consultancy, Interaction Associates. While with them, she specialized in issues involving information flow and management structure. She has also worked with nonprofit boards throughout the United States on similar matters. Locally she is a member of the Institute for International Education, the Englewood Rotary Club, the Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Art Museum, and numerous other nonprofit groups. Vee is also a designer with the Allred Architectural Group and often lectures at Arapahoe Community College.

Otti Seiden (Shortcuts to Finishing & Publishing Your Book) is a local author with over 30 published books, 5 historical novels and over 25 non-fictions. Virtually everything he has ever written has been published by over a half-dozen publishers.  “It’s not that I’m such a great writer,” he asserts, “but I know my niches, my readers and the publishers that reach them.  Following my formula, I believe anyone can get profitably published.  I’ll show you how to product research your project, your reading market, then get your first draft finished in a matter of weeks and in the second draft polish it into a publishable manuscript.  Then I’ll show you how to find and sell your work to a publisher who wants it.  If I can write a publishable book anyone can!”

Lorraine Sherry's (The Garden as a Fine Art) previous careers included radar systems analysis for The MITRE Corporation in Bedford MA, and evaluation of educational technology grants for RMC Research Corporation in Denver. Dr. Sherry has written more than three dozen articles in peer-reviewed professional journals and seven book chapters on e-learning and instructional technology.  Since she retired in 2005, she has pursued her "true loves" of choral performance, perennial gardening, world travel, and collecting antique maps. She is a Colorado Master Gardener; has taught a course in "World Gardens as an Art Form;" and has written two City of Westminster grants to beautify the public areas of her townhome subdivision.  Her personal website is located at http://home.comcast.net/~lorraine.sherry/index.htm.

Joseph S. Szyliowicz (Experts & Entertainers) is a Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver. He is the past President of the Turkish Studies Association and has received numerous grants and awards for his work in Turkish studies.  He is author, co-author, or editor of a half dozen books and reports and more than two dozen book chapters, scholarly articles, and "op ed" pieces, many of which deal with various aspects of development in Turkey ranging from the politics to religion to education to technology transfer.  He has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs in Denver as well as on The McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, the Voice of America, and National Public Radio. 

He has served as a consultant and reviewer to many governmental agencies such as the Office of Technology Assessment, the National Science Foundation, and the Transportation Research Board.  He was a member of the Scientific Committee for the International Railroad Conference held in Istanbul in 2008 and in May of that year, he was an invited speaker at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Ankara.

The Academy’s liaison with the Denver Art Museum, Denise Turner (DAM Great Art) joined the museum as a volunteer in 2000 and is an outstanding and popular docent. She has worked with both student and adult programs as a docent and currently serves on the Education Council Board. She has been working with the current docent class by doing demonstrations and mentoring. Her love of art was reflected when she taught 6th grade, junior high and high school literature and language arts because she incorporated units on movements in art, music, and literature at all levels.

Paulette Wasserstein (Contemporary American Short Stories of 2007) has always loved sharing “a good read.”  Her career in public education, teaching high school English, afforded her the endless opportunities to open student thinking by way of the printed word.  In the early 1990’s after many wonderful years of teaching reading and writing at Cherry Creek High School and adult education at the U of P departments of Communication and Masters of Education, Paulette was inspired to contribute to education on state and national levels.  With a PHD in Educational Leadership, she was contracted to work as an independent consultant with many school districts and administrators to create challenging curricula and to provide teacher training K-12 to raise literacy levels for students.

President of The Weinberg Group, Inc., in Denver, Michael D. Weinberg (Experts & Entertainers) works with individuals, families and businesses and their professional advisers to design and fund estate and business continuity plans, as well as to place clients’ unwanted or unneeded insurance policies in the life settlement market. His more than 40 years of experience includes serving as a tax attorney with the IRS and as an adjunct professor at the U. of Minnesota Law School.

John White (Music Sampler), former Fulbright-University of Vienna Distinguished Chair in Humanities, received the BA Magna Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota and the Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, and Performers Certificate in Cello from Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. His composition teachers were Howard Hanson, Bernard Rogers, Nadia Boulanger, and Ross Lee Finney.  Now living in Westminster, CO, White’s music is frequently performed at concerts of the Society of Composers, Inc., The College Music Society, and over the years by many ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Oklahoma City Symphony, Akron Symphony, Madison Symphony, and numerous university and community ensembles.

For many years White taught composition, theory and violoncello at the University of Florida where he is Professor of Music Emeritus. In early and mid-career he was Professor of Music at Kent State University in Ohio and Whitman College in Washington. He has served as Visiting Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. White's music is widely published. Recent publications include Palindromes for Native American Flute (J.P. Publications), Time and the Water for Horn and Piano (R.M. Williams Publishing) and Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble.  The St. Martin’s Chamber Choir of Denver, Timothy J. Krueger, artistic director, has also premiered and recorded many of his choral works.  In 2008, he was awarded first prize in the Choral Composition Contest of Segorbe Spain, for his Credo Trifarium.

Colleen Willette (Experts & Entertainers) earned a BS in Nutritional Chemistry, MS in Secondary Education, MA in Adolescent Psychology and is certified in Celtic Herbal Healing. She grew up in Canada and northern New York, where foraging for “green stuff” was a way of life. The love of wild crafting and now the more civilized art of growing herbs has always been a part of her life. A member of the Guild at the Botanic Gardens, she concocts new herbal blends for the holiday sales. She also teaches classes across the Denver metro area on the growing and use of herbs as food, medicine, cosmetics and household cleaners.

One of the Academy’s most accredited and popular facilitators, Rear Admiral Richard (Dick) E. Young (Presidents, Political Parties & the Electoral College) is a recognized expert on Pearl Harbor and military history in general. Dick has a BA from the University of Michigan and graduated with honors from the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School, after which he was ordered to the destroyer, USS MADDOX (DD731) where he served two tours in several official capacities.  After leaving active duty, he obtained his JD from the University of Michigan and was Assistant Editor of the Michigan Law Review.  His years in Denver have been no less impressive.  He practiced law and remained active in the Naval Reserve as well as in numerous civic and political organizations.  His awards, citations and commendations are literally too many to mention but his greatest pride and pleasure are his wife Lorie, to whom he has been married over 50 years, and his four grown daughters.