Check out the wonderful people who are involved with the Academy: OUR FALL 2010 COURSE FACILITATORS

(Listed alphabetically)

Dr. Bernhard Abrahamsson (Experts and Entertainers) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and joined the Swedish Merchant Marine at an early age, sailing on both Swedish and Israeli ships and earning his unlimited Master's License (Sea Captain).  He reached the rank of commander in the Swedish Naval Reserve before becoming a US citizen.   After leaving the sea, he completed a Ph.D. in economics and worked at the International Monetary Fund.  He next pursued an academic life focusing on international relations and maritime affairs. He has taught, done research, and consulted in the US and abroad. He joined the faculty of the (then named) Graduate School of International Studies at DU, where he also served a lengthy term as Interim Dean.

Dr. Fred Abrams (Doctors on the Edge: Will Your Doc Break the Rules for You?) 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.

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 more than 1500 workshops, lectures and conferences for medical, nursing, legal, clergy, and teaching professionals, and for the public on ethical issues.

John Anderson (Black Holes Explained) 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 at the Academy and OLLI, including “The Great Equations,” “Feynman Physics Fest” and “Particle Physics for Non-Scientists.”  He escaped to Colorado 20 years ago after a score of years in the New York/New Jersey area including seven years on Wall Street.  He has a degree in physics from Yale.  If he doesn’t answer the phone, he’s probably out biking or skiing.

Susan Blake-Smith (Chatting in Español) is an early member of The Academy who spent 25 years living in Mexico City, making her uniquely qualified to teach conversational Spanish. Susan has a BFA in journalism from SMU and enjoyed a successful career in marketing and sales in the travel industry. She has served on several non-profit boards in Denver and chaired many fundraisers over the years. She remembers scrambling up the Pyramid of the Sun on grade-school field trips and looks forward to imagining how history (particularly US history) might have been different had Hernán Cortez not defeated the mighty Aztecs.

Gil Boggs (Ballet: Dance) began his dance career with the Atlanta Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theater in New York in 1982 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1991. Boggs was a member of the company for 17 years. Boggs also performed with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, and made several guest appearances around the world. During his career with ABT, he was recognized as both an accomplished virtuoso and one of the company’s most popular performers. Throughout his career, Boggs has worked with such noted choreographers as Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins and Merce Cunningham and has an extensive performance repertoire of both classical and contemporary works. He has staged ballets for ABT, Twyla Tharp and Royal Birmingham Ballet in England.

Kathy Boyer (Writing Your Life Stories: Getting Started; and Writing Your Life Stories: Finishing Your Project), 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.

Dr. Bennie Bub, MD, FRCS (Human Behavior & Neurobiology, Are We Hardwired? Part 2), 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. 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 courant with the neurosciences.

Greg Carpenter (Opera Colorado Takes the Stage) is the General Director of Opera Colorado, responsible for overseeing artistic and administrative operations of the company and guiding a staff of eighteen full-time employees.   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.  He was the Artist and Events Services Manager with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland.  From 1986 to 1998 Greg sang leading and supporting roles at Glimmerglass Opera, Central City Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Theatre of North Virginia, Cleveland Opera and Lyric Opera Cleveland.

Dr. Don Cooper (CU Science Sampler), CU Psychology and Neuroscience professor (Behavioral Genetics and
Behavioral Neuroscience) and Institute for Behavioral Genetics fellow, was chosen to speak at the President’s Teaching Scholars Conference in March 2010, on the Anschutz Medical Campus. The broad topic of his talk was learning and brain science, how brain development influences student behavior, the development of learning and problem-solving, individual differences in learning, and what faculty should know about how the brain works.

Patricia Cox (Write to Save your Life: Beginning Memoir Writing) has been writing to save her life, practically all her life.  With a B.S. in Education and an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling, she taught for the Denver Public Schools and Cherry Creek Schools while raising three daughters.  She has taught memoir writing for many groups and has recently published a memoir about her late husband, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease:  We Keep Our Potato Chips in the Refrigerator.

Carri Currier (Computer Tips: BYO Questions & Problems) has been involved with computers since the late 1960s when she started work as a programmer.  As the owner of a computer consulting company, she customized off-the-shelf software for her industry. Since retiring in 2006 she has devoted her time to art but uses computers extensively for the numerous board positions in which she serves.  Carri is referred to as a “super user,” meaning she has used a computer a great deal “so I know a “little” about a “lot” of things.”  She brings logic and problem-solving skills to any situation.

Carri is a cat lover, and enjoys gardening, travel and the culinary arts.  She is dedicated to recycling and using renewable resources.

Lisa Eller Davis (Experts and Entertainers) brings to her clients more than 30 years of experience in the healing arts. She began meditating at age 15, and stepped onto a yoga mat for the first time at age 18. Since then, Lisa has studied with different Masters of meditation and the life path of yoga, including physical postures, controlled breathing, mind-body awareness and ethical practices on and off the mat. After many hundreds of hours of study and practice over the years, Lisa recognized the call to teach. She received her Yoga Teacher Certification from the Prana Yoga and Ayurveda Mandala. As a registered member of the International Yoga Alliance, which sets the standards for certification, Lisa pursues learning and deepening her skill sets in an order far exceeding CEU requirements of the Alliance. Lisa’s style combines compassion with humor. She encourages students and clients to listen to their body’s wisdom. In addition to her formal training, she is familiar with the power of these processes after a total knee replacement in 2008. “There is nothing more fulfilling to me than helping people become more comfortable in their bodies and their lives.”

Dr. Sona Dimidjian (CU Science Sampler) received her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Washington in Clinical Psychology. A recipient of numerous awards in the treatment of depression, her research focuses on both the treatment and prevention of depression, with a specific focus on perinatal depression.  She has a strong interest in the clinical application of mindfulness, including both Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. She has conducted numerous courses and workshops on mindfulness-based treatments for clinicians and has a longstanding mindfulness and yoga practice.

Bill Dorn (Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot 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.”

Dr. Barney Ellison (CU Science Sampler) is an experimental organic chemist at the University of Colorado. He teaches undergraduate courses in Freshman Chemistry and Organic Chemistry and a seminar in Valence for graduate students. His research program is centered on the chemical physics of organic molecules.

Since 1999 Ellison has become interested in the chemistry and spectroscopy of organic aerosols. To understand the fundamental steps in the "atmospheric processing" of organic aerosols, he studies the oxidation of organic radicals and hydrocarbon films in a high-vacuum surface chamber.

The University of Colorado promoted Ellison from Assistant Professor to a tenured Associate Professor in 1983; he was promoted to the rank of full Professor in 1988. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, and is married to chemist and patent attorney Dr. Sally A. Sullivan. They have two children, Nicholas and Samantha.

Dr. Paula Enrietto (Experts and Entertainers) is the Executive Director of The Lodge at Balfour. Paula has a longstanding commitment to advocacy for the elderly and an intimate knowledge of medical and social issues facing seniors. She has an extensive background in scientific research and business development that brings a unique, analytical perspective to the long-term care industry. Previously, Paula was an Associate Professor at The State University of New York at Stony Brook, where her work was funded by the National Institutes of Health. She also was a staff scientist at Genomica Corp. and Director of Biology at Kenna Technologies. In each of these roles, Paula developed extensive skills in analyzing the changing healthcare field. Paula received her doctor of philosophy from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and completed her training at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, where she was awarded a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health. She is the author of more than 45 publications and an invited speaker at several national conferences.

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: Are You a Target?) 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.

Dr. Delphine Farmer (CU Science Sampler) earned her MS from the Silver lab in 2001, finishing her Ph.D. in the Cohen Group http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/rccgrp/; in the Department of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, where she worked on eddy covariance fluxes of reactive nitrogen oxides in the Sierra Nevada.

Dr. Farmer is currently a post-doctoral researcher working with Prof. Jose-Luis Jimenez at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a NOAA Climate and Global Change Fellowship, studying interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere, using novel instrumentation in field studies.  Dr. Farmer is interested in how emissions with plants interact with air pollutants, and how these interactions affect local air quality and climate.

Dr. Noah Fierer (CU Science Sampler) earned his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California – Santa Barbara in 2003.  He is currently Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Dr. Fierer’s research interests include microbial ecology and biogeography, as well as terrestrial ecosystem ecology and the impact of global change factors on microbial communities and processes. 
His current research includes the biogeography of soil microbial communities at continental and regional scales and the impact of nutrient additions on carbon and nitrogen cycling in soil.  It also includes understanding the factors which influence the structure and diversity of archaeal, fungal, bacterial, and viral communities in the soil environment.

Ryan Green is participating in Opera Colorado's “Young Artists” program. Over 400 individuals auditioned for the 5 positions this year. On October 5 the group will perform “Romeo and Juliet”. This is a free event for all members.

Ellie Greenberg (Celebrating Women Over 60: Choices! Choices!)  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.  Ms. Greenberg has served on many boards and commissions, and learned politics through the civil rights and women’s movements.   She cares about learners and learning, and enjoys creating “access to opportunity.” She finds it exciting to be able to now share what she has learned with you through The Academy.

Rebecca Gorman (Shakespeare for Everyone!) holds a BA in Drama and English from Dartmouth College and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.  She is in her sixth year on the English faculty at Metro State University, where she teaches Drama, Writing, and Cinema Studies courses.

Christie Hageman is participating in Opera Colorado's “Young Artists” program. Over 400 individuals auditioned for the 5 positions this year. On October 5 the group will perform “Romeo and Juliet”. This is a free event for all members.

Charles Hall (The Wealth & Poverty of Nations) keeps active both mentally and physically.  Bike trips along the Highline Canal and cross-country skiing offer opportunities to enjoy Colorado's beautiful outdoors.   Reading, leading classes, and chatting at coffee group keep his mind sharp. Before retiring, Charles worked as an attorney in private practice and later as in-house counsel for a commercial finance company. He subsequently was regional manager for the finance company in Denver. He has facilitated 15 courses in life-long learning programs.

Dr. Andrew Hamilton (CU Science Sampler) joined the faculty at the University of Colorado in 1986. He is currently a professor in the Department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences, and a Fellow and Chair of JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics).

Dr. Hamilton has worked in a variety of fields of astrophysics, including supernovae, cosmology, and most recently black holes. His scientifically-accurate general relativistic visualizations of black holes have appeared in several TV documentaries, and can be experienced in the digital dome show, “Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity” at Gates Planetarium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Sue Haskell (Pathways to Spirituality) has her Master’s in Business Marketing from the University of Denver.  She was involved in real estate and relocation businesses for 30 years in management and ownership.  While business was her vocation, her avocation has always been spirituality and the search for Truth.  She has studied everything from Reiki to Course in Miracles and many, many more teachings, giving her a good overview of the numerous facets of spiritual enlightenment.  Before going into business she taught in a junior high school.  She also instructed many real estate classes for the Colorado Association of Realtors and twice taught a class for VIVA called The Power of Myth.

Dr. Leigh Holman (Opera Colorado Takes the Stage) has been a frequent opera lecturer including presentations of the pre-curtain lectures at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the Opera 101 series on KVOD. She holds a graduate Opera Performance degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Southern California. She has directed or assisted directing more than 25 professional and academic operatic and musical theatre productions with a variety of opera institutions such as Portland Opera, Nashville Opera, National Opera, Wildwood Opera, Opera Theatre of Fort Collins, University of Colorado, University of Arkansas, Eastman Opera Theatre and others. Some of her productions include il barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel and Gretel, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, La Traviata, Falstaff, The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Tender Land, Amahl and the Night Visitors, La Cenerentola, The Sound of Music, Trial by Jury, Iolanthe, The Island of Tulipatan, La Curandera, Noye's Fludde, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Side by Side by Sondheim, Red, Hot and Cole and many operatic and musical theatre scenes programs spanning from the Baroque period to contemporary American works.

Becca Jacobson (Ballet: Dance) is Colorado Ballet’s Education Programs Manager and Principal Teacher. She administrates, teaches, and trains teachers for the Dance Renaissance after-school program in 15 schools, as well as numerous dance education programs in the Denver metro area.  Becca has her B.A. in Religious Studies and World Dance and Culture from the University of Colorado, and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy and a certification in Play Therapy through Regis University. She is also active with two local professional dance companies, developing her skills as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She is a Teaching Artist with Think360 Arts and a member of the ArtReach Programs Advisory Committee.

Dr. Pieter Johnson (CU Science Sampler)’s research focuses on two pervasive and inter-related forms of biological change: disease emergence and species invasions. Both have important consequences not only for individuals and populations, but for entire ecological communities and ecosystem processes. Invasions and disease also have costly economic and health repercussions for human societies.  Dr. Johnson uses long-term data, ecological experiments and modeling approaches to examine the factors that drive disease emergence and biological invasions, and how changes in disease and invasion levels, in turn, affect community interactions and ecosystem processes in aquatic environments.

His current research program is directed at three inter-related focal areas: (i) Cross-scale drivers of disease emergence; (ii) The functional role of disease in ecosystems; and (iii) Interactions among invasions and habitat alteration. All have immediate relevance to both fundamental questions in ecology and applied conservation issues.

Dr. Art (Arthur) Jones (Experts and Entertainers) is currently a clinical professor of culture and psychology at The Women’s College of the University of Denver. He received his Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology from the University of Iowa (Iowa City) in 1974 and has had a longstanding interest in the intersection of issues of psychological experience, ethnicity, race and culture. He has focused much of his professional and community work on the importance of racial and cultural issues in understanding and ameliorating mental illness, and he has published numerous professional articles dealing with this issue. Since the early 1990s he has also been immersed in scholarly research into the cultural and psychological history and functions of the spirituals, which are the sacred folk songs created and first sung by African peoples enslaved in America in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. He has used his skills as a trained singer to conduct lecture and concert programs on spirituals throughout the United States. This work has deepened his understanding of how cultural and racial issues have a profound impact on mental health. 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. In 1998 he founded 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. He is currently writing a book about 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. Art is particularly interested in the keen psychological and cultural intelligence that Hayes brought to his pioneering (and unheralded) work as a concert artist.

Jim Kneser (Dissecting Current Economic Issues) is in his twelfth year of leading economics classes as a volunteer; he has led over 40 classes with over 2,000 class members.  Jim 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.  Jim enjoys researching the facts behind the news and comparing current economic news to historical events.  Participants will be encouraged to bring in their own research on breaking news. He is also a bridge nut and art groupie.

Sally Kneser (Bridge:  Intermediate 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.  In addition to managing the Academy’s business, she has volunteered as the “keeper of the files” for several nonprofits.  When not enjoying herself at the bridge table, she attends two book clubs and stops to smell roses in her gardens.

Cherity Koepke (Opera Colorado Takes the Stage), Director of Education and Community Programming for Opera Colorado, was drawn to music at an early age. A lyric soprano, she began singing at the age of 15 and has performed such roles as Guinevere (Camelot), Maria (The Sound of Music), Adelaide (Guys & Dolls), Eponine (Les Misérables) and Katherine (Taming of the Shrew). She attended and the University of New Mexico, where she earned her degree in Child Psychology. Koepke also studied theater, focusing on directing, improvisation and musical performance. She has directed numerous productions, including Inherit the Wind, My Fair Lady and Romeo and Juliet. In 2002, she worked as a volunteer for Santa Fe Opera's student-produced opera project. One year later, Koepke was hired by the Santa Fe Opera as an artist-in-residence and served as Director, Librettist and Vocal Coach, guiding students as they created, produced and performed their own original opera. During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Koepke performed with the Santa Fe Opera at the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Disney Theater in Albuquerque

Barb Lundy (Poetry Workshop: Challenging Your Muse) gave herself poetry for her 50th birthday, picking up a dream she’d lost sight of while raising her children and nurturing her career.  In the intervening decade, she has had nearly 100 poems published in JAMA, the Potomac Review and The MacGuffin. Barb was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in poetry in 2005. Barb is listed in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, is a member of the Colorado Authors League and enjoys sharing her love of the craft through teaching, readings and as a member of three writing groups. Writing has always been part of her income-generating jobs and she taught writing for many years at Arapahoe Community College. Barb currently works with people with traumatic brain injuries and intellectual disabilities.

Len Marino (Cinema: Behind the Scenes), now retired from a career in advertising and marketing, has never abandoned his first love, the cinema.  A movie theater next to his mother’s shop served as his babysitter starting at age five, and an uncle who worked for a camera and projector company introduced him to old comic films: he was hooked for life!

Lois Martin (Experts and 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 (Ballet: Dance) 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 Choice magazine 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.

Bob Mendes (Winning Wars in the 21st Century) is a retired oil and gas engineer with a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering. He spent 35 years working in the oil business in both technical and managerial jobs.  Bob also is a founding partner in a start-up oil production company, and is active in the sailing club at the lake where his sailboat is moored.

Bob traveled the world in his career in the oil industry, finally retiring to the best place of all, Colorado.  Among his interests is military history, and he enjoys sharing this important subject with other Academy members.

Longtime art enthusiast Joanne Mendes (DAM Great Art: The Asian Collection) 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 more than 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.  She recently completed training on the Asian collection.

Dr. Walt Meyer (Legacy of the Crusades) 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. Walt and wife Karyl have been married 46 years and have three grown children and four grandchildren.

Walt has had a long interest in the Crusades, which was rekindled by his teaching of a prior class at the Academy on Islam, since the Crusades have had considerable impact on relations between Islam and the West. He has done considerable reading on the Crusades and continues to find it to be a complex and intriguing subject.

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 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.   Dr. Meyer served as Adjunct Professor of Meteorology at Saint Louis University for one year and he has taught numerous Bible study classes.  Through these experiences, and through the Academy, he has found teaching to be one of his passions.

Adrian Miller (Experts and Entertainers) graduated from Smoky Hill High School (1987), Stanford University, (A.B. 1991) and Georgetown University (J.D. 1995). A serious foodie, he serves as a Senior Policy Analyst for Gov. Bill Ritter, Jr.

Ben Moore is participating in Opera Colorado's “Young Artists” program. Over 400 individuals auditioned for the 5 positions this year. On October 5 the group will perform “Romeo and Juliet”. This is a free event for all members.

Anne O'Connor (Ballet: Dance) is Colorado Ballet’s Director of Education & Outreach. In ten years, the Department has reached more than 600,000 students, teachers, parents, people with disabilities and lifelong learners in more than 23 Colorado counties. A certified Colorado educator with degrees in Literature and Secondary Education, O'Connor creates and teaches standards-based arts and arts-19integrated curriculum and interactive workshops. O'Connor has contributed to Dance/USA's Emerging Leaders Taskforce, was a selected member of the Colorado Department of Education Standards Review Subcommittee for Dance, co-chairs the Denver Public Schools Arts Resource Council, and served on the Planning, Curriculum, and Leadership committees for Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy.

Ralph Plimpton (How Successful Cultures Get That Way) was a manager and Vice President of Human Resources with Arco and Amoco until the early 1980s. 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. This will be the fifth course Ralph has taught at the Academy. His specialty (and passion) continues to be cultures and how they differ in their ability to produce positive results for the peoples of the world.

Dr. Sheila Porter (Disaster Giving: Do We Know What We Are Doing?) returned from travels and volunteer efforts in Africa and Cambodia with many questions about the real impact of international efforts on emerging countries. The string of recent worldwide disasters and the huge outpouring of charitable donations raised a few more questions worthy of discussion.  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.  Dr. Porter 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, she 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 (Get out Your Watercolors!  Explore – Create) 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: New Selections) is a retired public school speech therapist, who has facilitated play reading groups for seven years in Jacksonville, Florida and Denver.  Laura has enjoyed international and domestic travel with the meeting of new people.

Barbara Rush (Pathways to Spirituality) graduated from Colorado Christian University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Christian Leadership/Organizational Behavior and from Holmes Institute with a Master’s Degree in The Study of Higher Consciousness, as well as a Ministerial Degree in Global Religions.  She has been blessed with having the opportunity to live in eight different countries and has traveled extensively to over 42 countries around the world.  Barbara’s Special Focus Ministry has been called “Global Outreach Ministries,” for her passion and dedication to being part of the greater cause of our Global expansion of ONENESS throughout humankind.

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.  Ms. Sabel is also a designer with the Allred Architectural Group and often lectures at Arapahoe Community College.

Cyndi Sauvage (Chatting in Español) is a 15-year veteran of the publishing industry and has been involved in every aspect of writing, editing and producing a wide variety of magazines, books and newspapers (commercial and trade) in Colorado and New York City.   She is a worldwide traveler to over 75 countries, and lived for several years in Spain. She speaks Spanish and French, is learning Chinese and was the original author of Karen Brown's Country Inn Guides to Spain and Portugal. A lifelong learner, she is always enrolled in a class or two that captures her interest. She is also a part-time teacher, freelance writer, editor and language tutor based in Denver, where she is a member of the Denver World Affairs Council and the Institute of International Education. Cyndi received her BA in Spanish and French from the University of Colorado--Boulder, where she also taught Spanish while pursuing a graduate degree in Latin American Literature.

Lea Schreiber (Experts and Entertainers) is a former high school and college chemistry teacher, small business owner and software marketing executive, now retired. Lea will explore how she deals with memories through painting her "safe places" and writing. She is a Hidden Child Holocaust survivor.

Lorraine Sherry's (The Garden as a Fine Art, Part 2) 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.

Milt Shioya (Bridge: Beginning Play of the Hand) is an avid bridge play who has proven himself at the bridge table with more than 1000 master points, and thus a Silver Life Master.  He retired from being the Tournament Assistant for the Denver Sectional Tournaments.  He has taught sessions on Introduction to Duplicate Bridge and has traveled widely to compete in regional and national tournaments.  Milt enjoys classical music, traveling, fine dining, hiking, and a good joke.

Ralph Stern (Western Concepts of God Through Time) has spent the past 40 years reading about theology, theodicy and comparative religion.  In 1985 he entered Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, a liberal school.  Following a year of study, he decided that he wanted more intensity and transferred to the Jewish Theological Seminary, which is conservative, and received a master’s in Jewish Philosophy.  By the time he left JTS in 1991 to become the executive director of the Allied Jewish Federation here in Denver, he had completed two-thirds of the course work needed for a doctorate.

Julia Tobiska is participating in Opera Colorado's “Young Artists” program. Over 400 individuals auditioned for the 5 positions this year. On October 5 the group will perform “Romeo and Juliet”. This is a free event for all members.

Brad Trexell  (Opera Colorado Takes the Stage) is the Director of Artistic Planning for Opera Colorado in Denver.  Previously, he was Artistic Administrator at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, handling planning and casting for the new opera house which opened in 2004, as well as for the old Royal Theater. He was Artistic Administrator for San Francisco Opera from 2000 to 2005.  From 1984 to 2000 he filled various artistic planning, production and stage directing positions at San Francisco Opera, the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Texas Opera Theater and Theatre Tesseract (Milwaukee).  He has served as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Seattle (Northwest Region), San Diego (District) and San Francisco (Pacific Region), as well as for the Tucker Awards, the Dallas Opera Guild vocal competition, and the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition.

Adam Ulrich is participating in Opera Colorado's “Young Artists” program. Over 400 individuals auditioned for the 5 positions this year. On October 5 the group will perform “Romeo and Juliet”. This is a free event for all members.

Dr. Leaf Van Boven (CU Science Sampler) is a psychological scientist who studies the interrelation between
judgment, emotion, and decision making in everyday life. His research has three foci:  Emotional causes and consequences of judgment and decision making; Folk psychology: intuitions about psychological processes; and Hedonic Psychology.

Dr. Van Boven, along with Dr. Thomas Gilovich, examined whether increased happiness is associated more with spending your money on goods (that latest dress or impressive new smart phone) or an experience (going out for a meal, buying a ticket for a concert, or booking a vacation). The results clearly indicated that buying experiences made people feel better than buying products. Why? Goods tend to lose their appeal by becoming worn-out and out of date. In contrast, our memory of experiences easily becomes distorted over time (you edit out the terrible trip on the airplane and just remember those blissful moments relaxing on the beach), and also promote one of the most effective happiness-inducing behaviors – spending time with others.

Dr. Van Boven’s “59 Seconds Tip”: Buy experiences not goods. Go to a concert, movie, unusual place or strange restaurant: Anything that provides an opportunity to do things with others or tell people about it afterwards.

Despite his busy medical practice at St. Anthony Hospitals Senior Health Center, Dr. David Wallack (Impressionism, Part Deux) has spent more than sixty hours studying the impressionists in the last year.  Born and raised in New York City, he grew up in sight of Yankee Stadium and just a subway ride away from great art museums. David got his first introduction to art history at Columbia College and continues to indulge his love for art at museums in cities across the U.S. and around the world. Like art, baseball has remained a lifelong interest (fixation?) for him, so don’t be surprised when he drops baseball statistics into the conversation.  “I maintain an active outdoor lifestyle, and despite time constraints, I try to follow interests in reading (primarily contemporary novels and biographies), sports trivia, and film and art appreciation.”

Dr. Paulette Wasserstein (Contemporary Short Stories:  New Series!) 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 1990s 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, Dr. Wasserstein was inspired to contribute to education on state and national levels.  With a Ph.D. 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.

One of the Academy's most accredited facilitators, Rear Admiral Richard (Dick) E. Young (Pearl Harbor & Midway to Tokyo Bay:  Critical Decisions) will be back to help us navigate the "what ifs" for the colorful and fascinating Teddy Roosevelt who famously described his successor, Taft, as a "a flubdub with a streak of the second-rate and common in him."  Dick's knowledge of both military history and politics make him ideally suited for an exploration of this period in our country.  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.

Mary Zinn (Relationships: Your Challenges & Effective Problem Solving) has more than twenty years in the dispute resolution field as a practitioner, trainer and curriculum designer. Her presentations are known to be engaging and enlightening.

Ms. Zinn's international work includes Capital Sisters International (Microcredit) and Seeking Common Ground’s Building Bridges for Peace program (Middle East). Her statewide work includes leading the campaign for Colorado’s Conflict Resolution Month each October and co-producing a quarterly radio program on Conflict Resolution Issues at KGNU in Boulder.

Ms. Zinn provides services of mediation, facilitation, conflict and anger management education and use of collaborative problem-solving models to neighbors, families, congregations, schools, agencies and businesses.

Her professional organization memberships include Association for Conflict Resolution, Colorado Council of Mediation and Mediation Organizations, and Mediators Beyond Borders.