Check out the wonderful people who are involved with the Academy: OUR SPRING 2012 COURSE FACILITATORS

(Listed alphabetically)

Dr. Fred Abrams (Doctors on the Edge: Will Your Doc Break the Rules for You?) is currently medical consultant to the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, Adjunct Professor at University College at DU. In 2003 he was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Center for Bioethics and Humanities of the UCHSC. In 2006 he received the Isaac Bell and John Hayes Award for Leadership in Medical Ethics and Professionalism from the American Medical Association.

In 1983 he founded and directed 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 then provided the training in the 1980s for all the original Colorado hospital ethics committees as well as the Community Ethics Committee sponsored by the Colorado Department of Health. In the mid-1980s, he was a leader in the passage of Colorado’s first “Living Will” law.

Fred was Executive Director of the Denver University/ Colorado University Health Ethics and Policy Consortium, Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at UCD and Adjunct Professor of Ethics at the Iliff School of Theology. He directed the Robert Wood Johnson-supported "Colorado Speaks out on Health" project reporting the opinion of thousands of Coloradoans on ethical issues in healthcare and later, the opinions of Colorado doctors on euthanasia. 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 staff and public. In the past 30+ years, he has conducted more than 2000 workshops, lectures, classes and conferences for medical, nursing, legal, clergy, and teaching professionals and for the public on ethical issues.

With more than 30 years’ experience as a psychologist, trainer of adults, speaker and author, Maria Arapakis (Computers, iPads, etc.) has presented thousands of programs around the world on leadership development, life balance and conflict resolution.  Maria bought her very first Mac 25 years ago and, ever since, she has thoroughly enjoyed mastering the many ins and outs of the miracle that is a Mac.  Maria loves encouraging men and women (including those timid with technology) to “make nice” with their Macs. Let her help you become more productive and comfortable with yours!

Dr. Bonnie L. Benda (Experts & Entertainers: Exploring Prehistoric Religion) retired after 16 years of teaching religion and philosophy at Metropolitan State College of Denver.  In addition to introductory courses in these areas, she also taught such things as World Mysticism, Women’s Spirituality, Feminist Ethics, and Beliefs and Believers.  Bonnie also served for thirty years as a United Methodist minister.  She received her Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology and her Doctorate from a combined program at the University of Denver and Iliff.  She is a member of the American Academy of Religion.

Steve Bernard (The Bill of Rights in American Life) was a prosecutor for twenty-eight years, and now is a judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals, where he has presided for over four years.  He has frequently considered constitutional questions during his career.  The Constitution is the document upon which our system of government is based and Steve believes that education about this seminal document is essential to an understanding of our system of government, and to understanding the rights of citizens.

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 sharing her love of Mexico and its beautiful language.

Micki Boling (Experts & Entertainers: Conscious Uncoupling) received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Alaska Pacific University, a certificate in the Agents of Nonviolent Change Program at Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service in Oakland, California, and a certificate as a “Conscious Uncoupling” coach trained and certified by best-selling author and psychotherapist Katherine Woodward Thomas and educator Claire Zammit.  Micki possesses a rare combination of sensitivity, wisdom, and communication skills that make her an outstanding group process facilitator.  She is devoted to assisting people to claiming their own power through life transitions.  She has been a group leader, facilitator and teacher for more than 30 years, working with a variety of people in a myriad of educational settings from AIDS education to healing racism to transforming relationships. 

Ted Borrillo (Denver’s Elitch Theatre – A Nostalgic Journey and Making Poetry Part of Your Life) is a retired attorney. He was Chief Deputy District Attorney in Denver, taught criminal procedure and constitutional law at the DU Law School, and was a defense counsel in his private practice of law.  He has had an abiding interest in the criminal justice system resulting from his interest in the Bruno Hauptmann trial and his execution for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby.  Hauptmann lived in the Bronx not far from Ted’s home. Ted has visited Flemington, New Jersey, the site of the trial, the cell where Hauptmann was kept, and has spoken with David Wilentz, the prosecutor of Hauptmann. He has taught at the Colorado Police Academy and at the National College of District Attorneys in Houston.  Ted is also a published poet who has already made poetry a rewarding part of his life.

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.  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.

Glenn Bruckhart (The Meaning of Life – a very short Introduction) and his family moved early in his working career from Pennsylvania to Colorado, where there were real mountains to climb.  Glenn taught math and physics, did teacher workshops across the country and even helped develop student learning evaluation tools such as CSAP.  After retirement Glenn’s passions turned from mountain climbing to biking and from Math to philosophy, religion and their intersections.  He now chairs the Academy’s Religion and Philosophy subcommittee, so please share any ideas you have for future classes in this area with him.

Georgi Contiguglia (In the Beginning… There Was Art: Stone age to the Renaissance) was Curator of Decorative and Fine Arts and then President and CEO of the Colorado Historical Society.  At CHS she curated the annual Artists of America exhibition.  She has a Masters Degree in art history, and, early in her career, worked at the Brooklyn Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum.  She taught art history in New York and is currently teaching art history at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins.

After 25 years of managing Sears Roebuck stores followed by 15 years of owning and operating a top printing company with his wife, Roger Collins (The First Americans: Then & Now) retired.  Roger dedicated himself to learn as much as he could about the First Americans, their history, culture and lifestyles.  In 2011, Roger traveled to over 30 powwows following the “powwow trail.”   During the past 10 years, he has traveled to over 35 states from Connecticut to California visiting Indian reservations to learn their history and culture.  Roger is now attempting to combine that treasure chest of information in a presentation to share with others.  He has over 800 books, over 50 DVD’s and countless CD’s related to Indian culture.  He has gathered a collection of Indian artifacts and has developed stories explaining their meaning, use and value.  Roger has worked with boy scouts in helping them earn their merit badges regarding Indian Lore and has also talked to school children and adult groups sharing and explaining Indians as he understands them.   He says “passionate,” his wife says “obsessed” about his exciting hobby.

Ted Couch (America and the Great Depression) was, for several years, a writer and reporter for United Press and for CBS Radio in Chicago. He then began a 30-year-career in public relations and public affairs for the Bell Telephone System in Chicago, New York, and Denver. He later served as speechwriter and consultant for the CEO's of U S WEST, the American Indian College Fund, and the Johns-Manville Company.  He says he has been in love with history "for as long as I can remember."  Ted has found that with retirement the best was yet to come. He has been active with the Academy since its founding. He has facilitated several history courses, and this will be his second class as a facilitator for the Academy.

Patricia Cox (Write to Save your Life) 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.  Patricia is a member of the National League of American Pen Women, Inc.

Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre (Experts & Entertainers: Why Do They Come?) joined the Iliff School of Theology’s faculty in 2005 as a professor of social ethics. The focus of his academic pursuit has been social and political ethics within contemporary U.S. thought, specifically how religion affects race, class, and gender oppression.  He has published numerous books in both English and Spanish, chapters for edited books, articles for scholarly journals, entries for dictionaries and encyclopedias, and op-eds for newspapers and news-journals.  He has received several national book awards and is a frequent speaker at national scholarly religious events and meetings. Miguel was elected vice president of the Society of Christian Ethics in January, 2011 and is in line to lead the society in 2013. He is the first Hispanic to be elected to this post. He has served on the editorial board for the Society’s Journal of Religious Ethics. Presently he is the co-chair for the Ethics Section of the American Academy of Religion. Additionally, he has served on the board of directors in organizations such as: Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity; Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival; West Michigan Strategic Alliance, and former vice-president of Latin Americans United for Progress.

Marcy Heidish Dolan (American Literature: Currents in Conscience) is an award-winning author of thirteen published books, many of them novels, as well as numerous short pieces.  One of her novels,A Woman Called Moses, was made into a television movie starring Cicely Tyson.  Ms. Dolan is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Creative Writing and other honors.  A seasoned instructor, she has taught at Georgetown, George Washington, and Fordham Universities.  She loves to learn from her students as much as loves to facilitate the learning process.  Ms. Dolan is at work on her fourtheenth novel.

A career public school teacher, Sherma Erholm (Egypt since WWII) holds a bachelor's degree in speech and music, and a master's in communication theory and psychology.   A desire to understand and share the evolution of Egypt's political and cultural complexities during the past 60 years motivated her to facilitate this course.

Mark Foster (American History through Fiction) is Professor Emeritus in history at the University of Colorado at Denver where he taught for 33 years. He has written twelve books.  They include five biographies (most notably on Henry J. Kaiser, Carl G. Fisher and Quigg Newton.  He has two books assessing the impact of the automobile on American culture and three books on the history of baseball.  He has been honored as both teacher of the year and researcher of the year at UCD.  In 2006 he was awarded the University of Colorado Medal, and he was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in 2001.  His hobbies include marathon running, fitness training and historical reenacting. 

After 35 years as an educator, Linda Gordon (Chatting in Espanol, Intermediate / Advanced) retired just this year as a principal. She lived in Mexico City for ten years, serving as director of an English as a Second Language school. She’s excited to work with eager Spanish learners!

Jane Heath (Let’s Paint! Fun with Watercolors) is an experienced teacher who has a passion for painting with water color.  She is a member of the Park Hill Art Club. A few years ago, she volunteered at the Denver Art Museum.  She has been in juried Art Shows and sold in a number of different art venues. Her style is varied and always interesting. Many local artists and national artists have been her instructors. Her  favorite instructor is Don Andrews. Jane believes that painting in water color is a wonderful hobby to be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. She will share her enthusiasm with her class.

Onsite Consulting, Inc. owner Scott Henke (Computers, iPads, etc.) 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 received the 2008 Business of the Year Award.

In order to stay engaged in lifelong learning, Dr. George Ho (Making and Sharing Sound End-of-Life Choices) discovered the Academy through its writing courses during the Spring term 2010.  He now welcomes the opportunity to apply his knowledge, experience and talent to helping members of the Academy navigate the health care system through information and self-exploration.  After full retirement, he also plans to volunteer in the area of hospice work and nature preservation (Bluff Lake and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal).  He lives in Stapleton with his wife Katherine, and they have three successful and married children and six grandchildren (four of whom live in Colorado).

Ginny Hoyle’s (Falling Awake: A Haiku Workshop) poems have appeared in a handful of journals, including Copper Nickel, MARGIE, Pilgrimage and Wazee. Through collaboration with noted book artist Judy Anderson, her work has been featured in exhibits in New York, San Francisco and Denver. Next up is an installation at Walker Fine Art, Denver, 300 W. 11th Avenue, Denver, opening March 25. From 2000 – 2003, she kept a personal journal with entries written in haiku—and fell in love with the form, which teaches practitioners to see the world more sharply, with heightened appreciation.

Conrad Kehn (Writing Music: Composing Workshop) is a performer, composer, improviser, educator, writer and artist. He serves as a lecturer of Music Technology and Music Theory at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. 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. In 2010 he completed an MBA at the Daniels College of Business focusing on Entrepreneurship and Non-profit Management.

Jim Kneser (Dissecting Current Economic Issues + Macro Made Easy and Thinking Like an Economist & Why You Should, Part 2 and Mahler Made the Tragic Beautiful) is in his fourteenth year of leading classes in economics, public policy, and high art music. He has led more than 60 economics and public policy classes with more than 3,500 class members and has facilitated more than fifteen classes in music, focusing on the Germanic tradition from Bach to Mahler and from sonatas to opera. 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 placing current economic and public policy issues in proper historical context, explaining the fundamental economic principles that apply, and allowing class members to draw their own conclusions on the proper course of action. Past participants have consistently praised his classes, emphasizing that he “thrives on questions and discussion” and commenting that he is “One of the finest teachers I have ever seen in a classroom—including the graduate level—brilliantly informed!" and that “In all my years of teaching economics at the college level, I have never seen anyone explain the subject as clearly as Jim does."

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.

Dan Lynch (Religious Liberty & the Constitution) wrote the book Our Fading Religious Liberties: Government Using Religion, because of the increasingly dangerous alliance between government and religion.  As a lawyer who has handled a number of religion/state cases, Lynch became fascinated with the subject.  His thesis is that the Constitution has created a system in which all governments are powerless as to religion.  Unlike some separationists, Lynch argues that the best defense of religious liberty is not Jefferson's mantra about "separation of church and state," but the fact that the Constitution expressly denies all power as to religion to the government.

Len Marino (Experts & Entertainers: Icons & Legends) was born in Boston, MA in a conveniently forgotten year. He was an art major and worked for an advertising agency for 20 years, followed by work for a corporation in international marketing. His interest in film started when he was about 5. His mother owned a dress shop located right next to a theater. He would come home, go to the shop, and the theater became his babysitter. His uncle worked for Keystone camera and projector so Len showed old comic films. Len has taught the Cinema class previously in New York and in Colorado.

Lois Martin (Experts and Entertainers) came to Denver by way of Philadelphia and Nebraska. She majored 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.

Jane Masterson (Heartsaver CPR) holds the titles of RN (Registered Nurse), ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support), TNCC (Trauma Nursing Core Course), and American Heart Association CPR Instructor. Beyond all those letters and experience, Jane is a fun-loving, delightful person who will engage you in the CPR experience. Her twenty-three years in ER medicine includes experience locally at Swedish, Porter, and St. Anthony Central Hospital, Level I Trauma Center, and Flight for Life. She received her education at Creighton University, St. Joe's School of Nursing, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Dr. Larry Matten (Putting Your House in Order and More Science Fiction) started teaching science when he turned 21.  Most of his teaching experience was as a Professor at Southern Illinois University.  He has taught more than 10,000 students in his large general biology and general botany courses.  He was major advisor for 5 Ph.D.’s and 15 Master’s students.  His area of interest has been on early land plants.  Larry has published extensively, received numerous grants, been the president of his national professional organization, is a past editor of the international journal Palaeontographica, and has had two species of fossils named in his honor.  He retired from academia after the death of his wife of 36 years and changed careers.  He received his law degree in 2000, passed the bar and went into private practice as an Elder Law Attorney in the firm of Solem, Mack & Steinhoff, P.C.  His practice specialized on estate planning that includes: powers of attorney, guardianships, conservatorships, wills, trusts, and probate.  He also represented clients having Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security issues. Larry is a trained mediator/arbitrator and is currently doing arbitrations for the Better Business Bureau.  He has recently retired from the practice of law and has returned to his first love, teaching.

Robin McNeil (Great Chamber Music) 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 more than 300 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, Robin 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. Robin 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. Robin now lives with his wife in Littleton where he teaches privately and continues to do research on the French composer Théodore Gouvy. He 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: Pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial) 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 DAM’s Asian collection.

Dr. Walt Meyer (The Crusades: Their History & Legacy)  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 a long-held 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.   He 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.

Dr. Jim Mingle (The Explorers of North America) has spent the years of his retirement following his passion for the outdoors.   Over the past ten years, he has canoed some of the great rivers and wilderness areas of Canada and the U.S., walked hundreds of miles in Great Britain, and led volunteer service trips in America’s national parks.  Jim earned his PhD from the University of Michigan and served for many years as the director of a national association of university administrators.  He has been teaching at the Academy since 2004.

Sandi Ogin (Writing Your Ethical Will) has recently retired from a career in teaching Reading and Writing  to students of all ages, from Elementary School, through the College Level.  Until very recently she also was the Coordinator of the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, and recruited, trained and supported literacy tutors who helped at risk students in our urban schools.  Her passions include painting, participating in many sports such as biking, hiking and golf, traveling to far and away places, recently learning to play bridge and most of all her family, including her spouse, children and grandchildren.  This  is what inspired her to begin the process of writing an Ethical Will,  and she is now wanting to share with others, this remarkable project.

John Paull (Delights of Nature: Pass It On!) is an experienced teacher, principal, science consultant, trainer, and author with more than 45 years of classroom experience from pre-K and elementary through to the post-graduate university level. Initially a teacher in elementary and middle schools in Leicestershire, England, John went on to head two UK schools for 18 years, and was a consultant for the national curriculum in environmental education and science.  He then came to the U.S. where, for the past 15 years, he directed teacher preparation programs and taught master’s classes at the University of Colorado Denver. He is currently a Site Professor in the University’s Teacher Education Program, based in an inner city middle school.

Pat Pascoe (Experts & Entertainers: Helen Ring Robinson: Colorado Senator & Suffragist) represented a Denver district in the Colorado Senate for twelve years ending in 2003. In the legislature she was especially interested in education and in improving the lives of women and children, sponsoring bills on preschool, child care, truancy, and bilingual education. She passed bills on temporary marital maintenance and spousal protection.  Providing freedom of press for students, creating an organ donor registry, and reducing wood smoke pollution were the subjects of other successful bills.  She chaired the Public Policy and Planning Committee and the Education Committee in the Senate, as well as the Democratic Caucus.  After teaching at the high school and college level, she earned her MA and PhD in English from the University of Denver. She was married to the late Monte Pascoe, attorney.  Their three children live in Denver.

Pat's articles have appeared in The Denver Post, The Rocky Mountain News, Denver Magazine, Denver Business and Headfirst. For several years she was a regular Leading Voices commentator on KUVO. The Society of Professional Journalists awarded her first place in the editorial division in 1986.

After several trips to Africa including a recent one, Sheila Porter (How Women Are Changing Africa: a Film Series) has been on a quest to discover what factors could have a positive impact on Africa’s future.  A series of award winning documentary films highlight the ways African women are changing their cultures using methods ranging from political activism to hip hop music.  A retired clinical and forensic psychologist, she continues to do psychological evaluations of torture victims from around the world who are in the process of seeking political asylum  This work and her study of Genocide has led her to embrace  the study of  positive  solutions to  those problems that have previously been viewed as hopeless.

Dr. Alison Schofield (Experts & Entertainers: Dead Sea Scrolls) is a University of Denver Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and Judaic studies, specializing in the Dead Sea Scrolls. She received a doctorate in the area of Judaism in Antiquity, and her Masters Degree is from the Johns Hopkins University in Near Eastern Studies: Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic languages. Alison’s additional fields of interest include the religious and cultural influences of ancient Israel, Egypt and Babylonia and her primary research languages are Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Ethiopic.  Alison has published many articles in various esteemed journals.  She has also been featured on the History Channel, Travel Channel, and PBS Colorado particularly for her work with the Scrolls. Her current project concerns the wilderness as place and experience in the Bible and early Judaism and her teaching interests include the Bible as literature, early biblical interpretation, diaspora, religion and migration, body and sexuality studies, archaeology of ancient Israel and Jews in the ancient world. In her spare time, she enjoys backpacking, playing guitar, soccer and equestrian sports.

Educated in London and Kansas, Eileen Sharkey (Financial Literacy: 21st-Century Survival Skills) has a practical and global view of finance and presents the changing tenets of money management in an easy-to-understand manner.  During 2010 she presented Managing Money During Hard Times at Denver’s first Financial Planning Day with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Surviving and Thriving the Economic Roller Coaster for the Denver Eclectics, What You Need to Know for a Secure Financial Future to Inspiring Minds, and several other seminars.  She has presented financial education courses through AARP, CO State University Cooperative Extension, the Institute for Creative Aging, CO Alliance of Geriatric Care Managers and many other organizations.  Some of the boards that she has served on include the Denver Ballet Guild Endowment Trust, the College for Financial Planning Board and the CO Women’s Estate Planning Councils.  She was honored by Wealth Management as one of the nation’s 50 most influential women in finance during 2010. She contributed to Your Book of Financial Planning and The Vintage Years and is frequently interviewed by regional and national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Lorraine Sherry's (Sacred Music) training and experience has been in science, technology and research/evaluation of instructional technology.  However, Lorraine’s passion in life has always been music – primarily singing – beginning with her first solo in first grade.  At home with her family in New York City, musical training and performance was as valued as higher education.  Listening to the Metropolitan Opera performances on the radio was considered as important as attending church on Sundays.  Taking diction training at the Met enabled her to attend the Saturday opera matinees for free.  Lorraine sang in school plays and concerts and was selected for Allstate Choir while in high school.  She was elected president of the Opera Workshop at Vassar.  She has been a member of many choirs including the Gregorian Chant choir at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Poughkeepsie, the Vassar Glee Club and Madrigal Group, the Radcliffe Choral Society and Masterworks Chorale in Boston (we sang at Symphony Hall with major conductors including Carlo Maria Giulini), First Presbyterian Church Choir in Winter Haven Florida (choir member & soloist), Boca Magna Cantores in Lakeland Florida  (16 voice semi-professional chorale), Central Florida Bach Festival, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral Chancel Choir in Denver, and the Boulder Bach Festival and Boulder Messiah Chorale.

Although she majored in physics while attending undergraduate and graduate schools, she minored in music and took a one-year graduate course in the music of J.S. Bach at M.I.T. from Klaus Liepmann.   She has worked with many of the local musicians and choir directors who will serve as guest presenters in this Academy course.  She has supported symphonies, choirs, early music societies, and chamber music groups wherever she lived.  Her personal website is located at http://home.comcast.net/~lorraine.sherry/index.htm.

Milt Shioya (Bridge: Advanced Intermediate Bidding) 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 serving as 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.

With a diverse background in counseling, writing, and teaching, Barbara Stainman (Experts & Entertainers: How to Make the Most of Your Retirement), M.S., M.S.W., has worked with individuals in transition for over 10 years. Her Denver-based business grows out of a desire to help others discover and use their strengths, values, and accomplishments to feel confident and reach their goals. As someone who has moved frequently, she readily understands the challenging emotional, theoretical, and practical issues around life transitions. Barbara has various degrees and national certifications, including being able to administer the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers-Briggs Interest Indicator, two of the most effective assessments for career decision-making.  Most recently, she became certified as a Retirement Coach through Retirement Options and now helps mature workers plan for a meaningful, satisfying retirement or semi-retirement.

Steve Stazel (Experts & Entertainers:  Ethics & Morality) has been teaching Ethics & Morality since the late 1970's, primarily with the Colorado Association of Realtors. He has taught throughout Colorado as well as nationally.  His presentations cause the attendees to look at their own concepts of what is Moral/Ethicall. What is the difference? Is there any difference? Why do we have two different words?  Participants gain a better awareness of what their own Ethics/Morality might be. When we hear a contrary view regarding religion, culture, or politics is that person’s stand from a moral or ethical position?

In addition to teaching children and graduate courses for K-12 teachers (which included one she created called, “Storytelling in the Classroom”), Kathleen Visovatti  (Once Upon a Time: Gathering, Crafting, and Telling Family Stories) became a professional storyteller, and told tales in schools, libraries, bookstores, historical societies, art centers, and festivals. She was an annual teller of ghost stories at the Illinois Storytelling Festival for many years, and was featured at the national Jonesborough Storytelling Festival in Tennessee.  Nowadays Kathleen is retired, but she tells stories to her six grandchildren often, and looks forward to telling tales with you.

Dr. Paulette Wasserstein (Contemporary American Short Stories: Repeat) 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 University of Phoenix departments of Communication and Masters of Education, Paulette 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 K-12 teacher training to raise literacy levels for students.

Connie Willis (Experts & Entertainers: The People’s War) is an American science fiction writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for Blackout/All Clear (August 2011). She was inducted to the Science Fiction Museum and Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009.  Connie's first published story, "The Secret of Santa Titicaca," appeared in Worlds of Fantasy in 1971. After receiving an NEA grant in 1982, she left her teaching job and became a full-time writer.  She is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, the short story "Fire Watch" (found in the short story collection of the same name), and the two-volume novel Blackout/All Clear. All but one of the Oxford University Time Travel tales have won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award.

One of the Academy's most accredited facilitators, Rear Admiral Richard (Dick) E. Young (How the United States Got Its Shape: It Wasn’t by Dieting) is ideally suited for an exploration of this period in our country, given his extensive knowledge of both military history and politics.  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 more than 50 years, and his four grown daughters.