Our Board

John M. Barry

John M. Barry's books have received more than twenty awards. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America won the 1998 Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historian for the best book on American history, while The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History won the 2005 Keck Award from the National Academy of Sciences for the best book on science or medicine. A member of the advisory board to the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, he also chaired a bipartisan working group on flood control for the Louisiana Congressional delegation after Hurricane Katrina. He is Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Tulane-Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research. Barry also won the September Eleventh Award from the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Pathogens, and consults regularly on pandemic influenza and bioterrorism.

Donna Brazile

Donna Brazile is a weekly contributor and political commentator on CNN. She also appears regularly on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and is a frequent contributor to National Public Radio’s “Political Corner.” Brazile chairs the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute, contributes to Roll Call newspaper and Ms. Magazine, and serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland. She was born in New Orleans and is the first African American to lead a major presidential campaign, when she chaired Al Gore’s 2000 campaign against George W. Bush. She was named one of Washingtonian magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women and is the recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Award for Political Achievement. She is the founder and managing director of Brazile and Associates LLC, a political consulting and grassroots advocacy firm based in the District of Columbia, and the best selling author of Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics.

William J. Byron

William J. Byron, S.J. is research professor in the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola College in Maryland. He served as dean of arts and sciences at Loyola University in New Orleans from 1973-75 and returned many years later to serve as interim president of that institution in the academic year 2003-2004. A Jesuit priest, he is past president of the University of Scranton (1975-1982) and the Catholic University of America (1982-1992). Father Byron holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Maryland and is the author of ten books, including Quadrangle Considerations and A Book of Quiet Prayer. He writes a syndicated biweekly column for the Catholic News Service.

James Carville

James Carville is one of America’s best-known political consultants. His winning streak began in 1986, when he managed the gubernatorial victory of Robert Casey in Pennsylvania. In 1987, Carville helped guide Wallace Wilkinson to the governor’s seat in Kentucky. Carville continued his winning streak with wins in New Jersey with Frank Lautenberg elected to the US Senate. But his most prominent victory was in 1992 when he helped William Jefferson Clinton win the Presidency. James Carville is also an author, actor, producer, talk-show host, speaker and restaurateur. His titles include We’re Right, They’re Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives; And the Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr; Buck Up, Suck Up… and Come Back When You Foul Up; Had Enough? A Handbook for Fighting Back; his children’s book, Lu and the Swamp Ghost; and 2006’s Take it Back. Most recently, Carville is hosting XM radio’s “60/20” weekly sports show. Carville also co-produced the highly anticipated remake of the 1949 Oscar award-winning movie “All The King’s Men”.

Jack Davis

Jack Davis joined Chicago Metropolis 2020 as vice president in January 2007, to help advance the regional planning organization’s recommendations for enhancing Chicago’s economic growth and quality of life.
 
Davis has been an editor or publisher at newspapers in New Orleans, Chicago, Virginia, and Connecticut.  He worked for Tribune Company for 23 years -- as  metropolitan editor of the Chicago Tribune; editor and later publisher of  the Daily Press in Newport News, Va.; president of Tribune Interactive; and from 2000 through 2006,  president, publisher and CEO of The Hartford Courant, America's oldest newspaper. In New Orleans, before joining Tribune, he was an editor of the alt weekly Figaro and a reporter, columnist and editor for The States-Item and The Times-Picayune. He has written about preservation, architecture and urban design and guided editorial-page positions and news coverage on those topics.  Fats Domino once visited Davis' Pontalba apartment.
 
Davis and his wife Mimi divide their time between Chicago and New Orleans, where he is a principal adviser  for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, of which he is a trustee.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College in American History and Literature, he studied in India under a Knox Fellowship from Harvard, was a Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford and completed the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern's Newspaper Management Center.

Robert Dawson

Hon. Robert K. Dawson is President and founder of Dawson & Associates, Inc. Mr. Dawson was Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House where he was responsible for about one fourth of the annual domestic budget of the United States, including all budget and policy issues for the Agriculture, Energy and Interior Departments, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In 1981, Mr. Dawson was appointed by President Reagan as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and in 1985 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works where he headed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. From 1974 until 1981, he served as Administrator of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Mr. Dawson began his career in government in 1972 as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Representative Jack Edwards. He is a graduate of Tulane University and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.

Stephen DeBerry

Chief Investment Officer
Head of Strategy & Innovation
Kapor Enterprises, Inc.

As Chief Investment Officer at Kapor Enterprises, Inc. (KEI), Stephen manages a broad portfolio of investments spanning early stage technology to global equities, with a focus on driving social impact. As Head of Strategy & Innovation Stephen is responsible for setting direction and building collaboration between a host of organizations in the KEI network, including: Kapor Enterprises, the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, The Level Playing Field Institute and several portfolio entities.

Previously, Stephen was Investment Director at Omidyar Network, a $400 million mission-based investment firm. Some of his investments include: CircleLending (acquired by Virgin), InnoCentive and Prosper. Before Omidyar, Stephen was a senior manager of business development at Interval Research, the research lab established by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen.

He currently serves on the boards of Friends of New Orleans and The Association of Marshall Scholars. Stephen earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with highest honors from UCLA, and holds a master’s degree in social anthropology, as well as an MBA from Oxford University. He is a British Marshall Scholar and a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

Gloria Dittus

Gloria Dittus is one of the nation’s top public relations experts. She is known for solving corporate challenges by building communications campaigns that integrate public affairs programming and marketing strategies. In December 2005, Dittus Communications became part of Financial Dynamics, a leading business communications and consulting firm with offices in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. She has been featured in prominent publications including Ad Age, PR Week, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and George magazine. Dubbed a “PR maven” by Wired magazine, Gloria is the Washington area’s 1999 “PR Woman of the Year,” 2000 “Washington Business Woman of the Year,” and 2004 “Public Affairs Executive of the Year.” In 2005, Gloria was named to Washington Business Journal’s list of “25 Women Who Mean Business.”

James R. Doty

James R. Doty, M.D. is a neurosurgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist presently a Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Tulane Health Sciences Center and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council. He maintains a close relationship with his alma mater recently endowing a chair for the new dean of the medical school and a scholarship for socioeconomically disadvantaged medical students at Tulane. He has recently been named a 2008 Health Care Hero by the New Orleans City Business Newspaper for his contributions to health care in New Orleans.

In addition, to holding patents on a variety of medical devices, he has also started numerous health related companies and remains an advisor to a variety of healthcare related venture capital firms. Dr. Doty is the former CEO of Accuray, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAY) and also the Founder and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, a multi-disciplinary consortium of scientists examining the neural bases of compassion and altruistic behavior. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Dalai Lama Foundation and the USC Brain and Creativity Institute. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Fogarty Institute of Innovation.

Mark C. Drennen

From 1996 to 2004, Mark served as the CFO/CEO for the State of Louisiana under Governor M.J. “Mike” Foster, Jr. In this position, Mark managed a diverse range of public policies and projects. Overseeing the Division of Administration, he was charged with managing the state’s $16 billion dollar operating and capital outlay budgets as well as state contracts purchasing programs and the state health insurance program. Prior to this position, Mark served as president of PAR (Public Affairs Research Council) for eight years and played an important part in the development of the fiscal reform recommendations for the Council for Fiscal Reform. He was also active in the statewide movement to educate Louisiana citizens. Prior to his PAR experience, Mark served as the Legislative Fiscal Officer for the Louisiana House and Senate. In this position he was responsible for analyzing the Executive Budget and advising the Legislature on all fiscal issues. As president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., Mark brings considerable experience and talent to creating 30,000 jobs and $1billion in new payroll. Mark received his undergraduate and graduate education at the State University College in Buffalo and the University of Florida. He and his wife Marion have four children.

Clark Kent Ervin

Clark Kent Ervin is the Director of the Homeland Security Initiative at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. He is a CNN analyst and commentator on security and intelligence related matters. Mr. Ervin is also the author of a new book on homeland security, “Open Target: Where America is Vulnerable to Attack.” Prior to joining the Aspen Institute in January, 2005, he served for nearly two years as the first Inspector General of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Before that, at the beginning of the George W. Bush Administration, he served for nearly two years the Inspector General of the United States Department of State. During the President’s tenure as Governor of Texas, Mr. Ervin, a native Houstonian, served as the Assistant Secretary of State and, later, as a Deputy Attorney General. Prior to his service in state government, Mr. Ervin served as a White House aide in the George H. W. Bush Administration. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and of Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, Mr. Ervin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association of American Rhodes Scholars.

Elliot J. Fabri

Elliot J. Fabri, with over 30 of experience in the factory-built housing industry, founded New Era Building Systems in 1992, a modular home producer in Pennsylvania. Under his leadership, New Era, Castle Housing, and Carolina Building Solutions, have sold over 12,0000 homes throughout the Northeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. In 2005, Champion Enterprises, Inc. acquired the three companies. After the hurricanes, Fabri led Champion’s participation in the devastated Gulf Coast region rebuilding effort, acting as a liaison with designers, developers and builders. From 1999 until 2004, he served as President of the Automated Builders Consortium, a non-profit group dedicated to assisting with the rebuilding of the blighted major cities in the United States. Fabri played a lead role in the Manufactured Housing Institute’s (MHI) Urban Design Demonstration Project to address housing affordability in urban and suburban areas by working with local government officials and developers to bring manufactured housing into these areas. Fabri has been the recipient of several industry awards, including MHI Industry Person of the Year and the James R. Price Award for Achievement in Housing both in 2001. Fabri is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and resides in Clarion Pennsylvania.

Arjun Gupta

Arjun Gupta is the Founder and Managing Partner of TeleSoft Partners, a venture capital firm focused on high-tech companies. Over the last decade, he has overseen investing in, and helping build ~60 companies, resulting in ~32 acquisitions and IPOs to date. At TeleSoft, Arjun manages capital commitments of $625+ million and has established corporate partnerships with Alltel and Bechtel in the US, Deutsche Telekom in Europe and Comverse in Israel. Earlier in his career, he was a software engineer at Tektronix, and later was a technology specialist at McKinsey, where he led top management projects for Apple, AMD, AirTouch, Siemens and Vodafone. In addition, Arjun heads his family foundation which supports community projects in education, medical research and the arts. He received his MBA from Stanford University, a MS and BS in Computer Science, Phi Beta Kappa, from Washington State University, and a BA (honors) in Economics from St. Stephen's College. Arjun is a Henry Crown Fellow and Trustee of The Aspen Institute.

Taylor Hackford

In addition to helming the iconic feature hits, An Officer and a Gentleman, Against All Odds and the cult thriller Dolores Claiborne, Taylor Hackford has directed  The Devil's Advocate, White Nights, Everybody’s All American, and Proof of Life.  He developed and produced La Bamba, the most successful Latin themed feature film in history. His documentary work is equally as acclaimed with Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock n’Roll and the Oscar winning documentary When We Were Kings. Taylor Hackford began his career pioneering Rock n’Roll performances on Public television, so it is no surprise that his most recent project — 15 years in the making — is RAY, a dramatic film portrait of Ray Charles, starring Jamie Foxx. RAY was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.  It also was nominated for DGA and Golden Globe Awards.  The film garnered Jamie Foxx the Best Actor accolade for 2004. Taylor Hackford is a 30 year member of the DGA and currently serves as the 3rd Vice President.

James Honoré

James L. Honoré is Executive Vice President of Worldwide Post Production for Sony Pictures. Mr. Honoré is responsible for the final post production quality on all films belonging to the Sony Pictures family, including Columbia TriStar Pictures, the theatrical product of Sony Pictures Classics, Screen Gems and feature films acquired by Columbia TriStar Home Video. Mr. Honoré has more than 40 years in the business and 1300 films under his belt including Men in Black 1 and 2, Jerry Maguire, Spider-Man 1 and 2, and the soon to be released The Da Vinci Code. He is a native of New Road, Louisiana and now a long time resident of Studio City, California.

Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of The Aspen Institute. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of Time Magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and of Kissinger: A Biography (1992) and is the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986). Isaacson was born on May 20, 1952, in New Orleans. He received a BA in history and literature from Harvard College and an MA in philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He began his career in journalism at the Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune/States-Item. He joined Time Magazine in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor and editor of new media before becoming the magazine's 14th managing editor in 1996. He is the vice-chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and on the Board of Directors of UAL Corp, Reader's Digest Association, Tulane University, The National Constitution Center, and chairman of the board of Teach for America. He lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, DC, and in Aspen, Colorado.

John Larroquette

John Larroquette was born in New Orleans. He spent his first 21 years there and has deep roots in the city. He was a musician as a child and later worked for Decca records and was able to hang around some of his childhood heroes like Pete Fountain and Al Hirt. He started acting only after a stint in the Navy and a few years as a radio disc jockey. He is a five time Emmy winner. Four of them were consecutive for his role as Dan Fielding in the long running sitcom NIGHT COURT. He has been married to Elizabeth for 30 years and they have 3 children.

C.C. Lockwood

C.C. has published 12 books over his 30-year career as a natural history photographer. His work has been featured multiple times in National Geographic Magazine and other national publications. He received the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams award for outstanding conservation photography. Most recently C.C. was honored as Louisiana Legend by Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Conservation Communicator of the year by Louisiana Wildlife Federation, and a Distinguished Alumni by LSU. Throughout his career, C.C. Lockwood has established himself as one of the nation's outstanding nature and wildlife photographers and as the premier chronicler of the natural wonders of Louisiana and the Gulf Region, including the Yucatan Peninsula. Currently CC is finishing up a book entitled Atchafalaya Basin Revisited and covering hurricane damage to the Louisiana Coast. Lockwood's photographs are held in many personal, museum and corporate collections. He is also in the process of completing the latter half of a four-year public awareness project dubbed "The Marsh Mission" which includes a book, exhibit, web page and lecture tour. C.C. Lockwood is a graduate of L.S.U. (Louisiana State University) and a man who is more comfortable spending weeks at a time in the swamps, marshes, forests and canyons of America's wilderness than he is sleeping under a roof with the air-conditioner humming away.

Mike Medavoy

Mike Medavoy is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Phoenix Pictures. He has been involved in the production of more than 300 feature films, including 16 nominees for Best Picture Academy Awards, seven of which have won. During his heralded career he has served as an agent to the likes of Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola, as Chairman of TriStar Pictures and as a Co-Founder of Orion Pictures. He has brought to the screen classics like "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," "Rocky," "Platoon," "Dances With Wolves," "Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia," and "The Thin Red Line," just to name a few. Mike was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles by former Governor Jerry Brown and was appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan as Commissioner on the Los Angeles Board of Parks and Recreation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Tel Aviv, the Board of Trustees of the UCLA Foundation, and the Board of Advisors at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. In 2002, Governor Gray Davis appointed Mike to the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center's Executive Advisory Board. Mike has received numerous awards such as the 1992 Motion Picture Pioneer of the Year Award and the 1999 UCLA Neil H. Jacoby Award, which honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to humanity. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mike was honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in 2005 when he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Richard Moe

Richard Moe is the seventh president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Moe graduated from Williams College in 1959 and received a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1966. He held administrative positions in government at the city, state and federal levels and practiced law in Washington, D.C., before assuming the presidency of the National Trust in 1993. Established in 1949, the nonprofit National Trust is the leader of America’s vigorous and growing historic preservation movement. It has approximately 270,000 members, publishes the award-winning Preservation magazine, and has six regional offices and 26 historic sites from coast to coast. As president, Moe leads the organization in its mission to save the nation’s diverse historic places and create more livable communities for all Americans. A member of the board of the Ford Foundation, Moe was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1998 and the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2005 and was named an honorary member of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 2003. He is co-author of Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl, a study of the causes of urban decline and the use of historic preservation as a tool for revitalization, published in 1997; and author of The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers, a Civil War history published in 1993.

Amy Pascal

Amy Pascal serves as Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group and Vice Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). She is responsible for overseeing all motion picture development and production on behalf of the legendary studio. Under Ms. Pascal’s guidance, Columbia Pictures has enjoyed sustained success with such blockbusters as 2006’s The Da Vinci Code, which achieved the biggest international opening weekend in history, and Spider-Man®, which recorded the industry’s biggest domestic opening weekend. Since 2002, Sony has released more No.1 box office films (35) and generated more cumulative domestic ticket sales than any other studio, grossing over a billion dollars each year for the past four years. Ms. Pascal was a studio executive at Columbia from 1987 to 1994, after which she was named President of Production for Turner Pictures where she remained for two years. She rejoined Columbia in 1996 as President. Earlier in her career, Ms. Pascal served as Vice President of Production at 20th Century Fox. Before joining Fox, she worked for producer Tony Garnett at Kestral Films, an independent production company affiliated with Warner Bros. In addition to her achievements in filmed entertainment, Ms. Pascal serves on the AFI Board of Trustees as well as the Executive Board of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in International Relations.

J. Stephen Perry

J. Stephen Perry has been president of The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOMCVB) since August 2002, bringing a new vision to the CVB's activities. He has re-tooled the structure of the Convention Sales Department, focusing efforts on shoring up meeting business in the short term to meet the challenges brought about by changes in market forces. In addition, he has sought to leverage the city's tourism industry to serve as an engine for economic development in the region, promoting New Orleans not only as a first-class leisure destination but also as a prime place to live and work. Before taking the lead of the NOMCVB, Perry served as Louisiana Governor Mike Foster's Chief of Staff from the time the governor took office in January 1996. In that capacity, he shepherded a number of major reforms and initiatives for Gov. Foster. Perry helped put together the governor's economic development package, including financing for Phase IV of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center as well as incentives to keep the New Orleans Saints in the Crescent City and lure the NBA's Hornets to New Orleans. He brings many years of legislative and executive branch service combined with non-profit foundation, private sector business management, and sales and marketing experience to his position at the NOMCVB. Mr. Perry holds B.A. degrees in History and Russian Area Studies from LSU, with time at Moscow State University in the Soviet Union, an M.A. in Anthropology from LSU, and he completed the Senior Executives Program in State and Local Government offered by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Julia Reed

Julia Reed was born in Greenville, Mississippi in 1960. Since 1987 she has been a writer at Vogue, where her profile subjects have ranged from George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and John Kerry to Robert DeNiro, Barbara Walters, and Oscar de la Renta. She is a contributing editor at Newsweek, and a contributor to The New York Times. She also is a regular commentator on MSNBC and CNN. A collection of her essays about the South, "Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena," was published by RandomHouse in April 2004. The paperback edition, which includes new essays, was released in April 2005. She is currently at work on a book about New Orleans post-Katrina, which will be published by Harper Collins in the summer of 2007. She lives in New Orleans with her husband John Pearce, an oil and gas attorney who is the managing partner at Montgomery Barnett.

Harry Shearer

Harry Shearer is a writer, actor, and director, voice of more than a dozen "Simpsons" characters, co-creator of and co-star of "This is Spinal Tap". His books include: "Man Bites Town", "It's the Stupidity, Stupid", and the forthcoming "Not Enough Indians". He is the creator and host of the nationally-syndicated weekly radio hour, Le Show. Harry was born in Los Angeles He graduated from UCLA with a degree in Political Science and attended the urban government graduate program at Harvard University. Harry has resided in New Orleans for ten years and is married to singer, songwriter, and pianist Judith Owen.

Tommy G. Thompson

Tommy G. Thompson, the former Health and Human Services Secretary and four-term Governor of Wisconsin, is Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. At Deloitte and Akin Gump, Secretary Thompson is building on his efforts as HHS Secretary and Governor to develop innovative solutions to the health care challenges facing American families, businesses, communities, states and the nation as a whole. These efforts focus on improving the use of information technology in hospitals, clinics and doctors offices; promoting healthier lifestyles; strengthening and modernizing Medicare and Medicaid; and expanding the use of medical diplomacy around the world. Secretary Thompson served as HHS Secretary from 2001 to 2005 and is one of the nation's leading advocates for the health and welfare of all Americans. Secretary Thompson has dedicated his professional life to public service and served as Governor of Wisconsin from 1987 to 2001. Secretary Thompson made state history when he was re-elected to office for a third term in 1994 and a fourth term in 1998.

Mike Tidwell

Author and filmmaker Mike Tidwell predicted in vivid detail the Katrina hurricane disaster in his 2003 book Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast. He is now at work on a follow-up book, to be published on the first anniversary of Katrina, titled: The Ravaging Tide: How Future Katrinas Will Be More Frequent, More Ferocious, and More Fatal to America’s Cities. Tidwell has written a total of five nonfiction books centered on the themes of nature and travel. These include Amazon Stranger (detailing efforts to save the Ecuadorian rainforest) and In the Moutains of Heaven (travels to exotic lands across the globe). Tidwell has won four Lowell Thomas awards, the highest prize in American travel journalism and is a former grantee of the National Endowment for the Arts. Tidwell’s most recent documentary film – “We Are All Smith Islanders” – details the dangers and solutions associated with global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. In 2003, Tidwell received the Audubon Naturalist Society’s prestigious “Conservation Award.” A native Georgian, he now lives in Takoma Park, Maryland with his eight-year-old son Sasha.

The Rev. Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J.

The Reverend Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., is president of Loyola University New Orleans. Wildes entered the Society of Jesus in 1976. He was ordained a priest in 1986. He holds advanced degrees in theology from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in philosophy from Fordham University and Rice University. He received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 1993; his dissertation was on the foundations of bioethics. He serves as associate editor of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, associate editor of the Philosophy and Medicine book series, and as co-editor of the book series Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture. He was also a founding editor of the Journal of Christian Bioethics. Wildes was a member of the Department of Philosophy and a Senior Research Scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University where he also held a secondary appointment in the Department of Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Wildes has delivered a number of invited lectures and papers and has written widely on bioethics and public policy. He has authored the book Moral Acquaintances: Methodology in Bioethics published by the University of Notre Dame Press (2000) and is the editor or co-editor of four books. He continues to write and lecture on bioethics. He has lectured at Tulane Medical School, LSU Medical School, and given grand rounds at Ochsner Clinic Foundation. He is also currently developing a new book on organizational ethics in health care. Wildes is a member of the Boards of Loyola University Chicago, Xavier University in Cincinnati, and is chair of the Board of the Association of Louisiana Independent Colleges and Universities. He also serves on the Board of GNO, Inc.

Denise M. Byrne

Denise M. Byrne is a management consultant specializing in organizational development and capacity building. She has over 17 years of experience working with foundations and U.S. based nonprofit organizations as well as NGOs in Africa and Latin America. Her client list includes: MedStar Health, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, Fairfield County Community Foundation, United Way, Save the Children and Yale University museums. Prior to being a management consultant, Denise worked at the Yale Peabody Museum as Membership and Development Officer, and Cartier, Inc. as Assistant to the Vice President of Finance. Denise has an MBA in nonprofit management and marketing from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in geology with a minor in French from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. She is a native of Puerto Rico and is fluent in Spanish and French. She lives with her husband, Peter A. Reiling, and their two children, Dylan and Eva Luna, in Arlington, VA.