Amelia Ribnick Kleiman, MBA, JD, Texas Regional Director of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem since 2011, is responsible for developing local Texas leadership, increasing awareness for one of Israel's world renowned medical centers and significantly enhancing Shaare Zedek's profile and fundraising efforts throughout the state.

Previously with Baylor College of Medicine, Amelia served as a Director of Development helping to grow BCM's donor support by actively cultivating and soliciting major gift prospects. Prior to BCM, Amelia was the Principal of ARK Consulting, which assisted organizations, foundations, corporations, and individuals build legacies for the future through planned giving, fund-raising, and/or non-profit management assistance. Kleiman also served as Special Project Counsel for St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, Assistant Director of Development and External Relations for the Houston Zoo, Executive Director of the Center for Community Initiatives at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, and Executive Director of the Houston Jewish Community Foundation.

Kleiman received her BA in Political Science and Economics from the University of Denver in 1979, graduating with University and Economics Honors. She has been active as an alumni since leaving school, having served in various leadership roles with the greater Houston Alumni Chapter, as well as an interviewer and recruiter for the DU Office of Admissions. A founding Board member of the DU Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (AHSS) Dean's Advisory Board, and most recently Board Vice President, Kleiman assumes her term as President following the untimely passing of cherished DU alumni, Dave Briggs.

Kleiman, who also holds an MBA and JD from University of Houston, currently serves as Chair of National Philanthropy Day for the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Greater Houston Chapter. She previously served as President-Elect, VP of Community Outreach and Diversity, VP of Government Relations, and Assistant Secretary, and also held leadership roles with the local Planned Giving Council. A member of the State Bar of Texas and Women's B & P Connections networking organization, Kleiman also serves as Co-Chair of the Greater Houston Grantmakers' Forum. In addition to her professional affiliations, Amelia is an active volunteer with numerous non-profits, including the University of Denver, University of Houston Law Center, Hadassah, Jewish Family Service, JCC of Houston, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, among others. She also served for a number of years as a religious school teacher at her synagogues.

A third-generation native Houstonian and published author, Kleiman practiced law and ran a successful business before starting her non-profit career. With over 20 years in the non-profit field, Kleiman is a popular speaker in the areas of giving in diverse communities, planned giving, endowments, grant-making, marketing, corporate philanthropy, and community foundations. She has spoken extensively to a variety of groups, locally, regionally and internationally.

Kleimanis married to Eric Kleiman, a marketing consultant, and is the proud mom of Brett, age 16 and Jacklyn, age 10, who both attend Robert M. Beren Academy, as well as Jenna Michelle Kleiman, z'l. When not keeping up with her kids many sports activities, Amelia and her family love to travel, especially to visit baseball stadiums and National Parks around the U.S. 

Emmit McHenry is an entrepreneurial company builder. From an idea he has built teams with shared vision that have resulted in innovative companies. In a career that started as an IBM Systems Engineer and moved through the ranks in Corporate America, including a stint as Assistant Dean and Instructor at Northwestern University, he became the Regional Vice President of the largest region of a Fortune 100 Company. It was there that McHenry refined his management approach, demonstrating the ability to build high performance organizations, and laid the foundation for founding his first full time entrepreneurial venture: Network Solutions. The company commercialized the TCP/IP protocol for packet switched computer network interoperability and went on to become the manager of the global route domain for Internet and the domain name register.

McHenry has been a part of founding a number of technology and non-technology focused companies. His companies have received recognition for innovation, quality service, and community involvement and advocacy from NASA, IBM, AT&T, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corp, and Government and NGO's in the U.S. and Africa.

Personal recognitions include an Honorary Doctorate from Shaw University, the Marine Corps Sunset Parade Guest of Honor for his contributions to the Nations C4 Capacity, and the Chairman's Award from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Foundation. Emmit is a culture adventurer having traveled extensively in Africa, Asia and Europe. He is currently CEO, in partnership with his son Kurt, of Archura, a telecommunications systems integrator, and Chairman and CEO of Defense Manufacturing. He advises company founders on team building, governance, marketing...and being. 

A believer in life-long learning and the value of a liberal arts education, Boyd joined the AHSS Humanities Institute Board in 2008, which he says gave him a good insight to the DU of the 21st century. After mini careers in public health (Peace Corps Korea), social work (Youth Services Connecticut), and education (Kent Denver School), he spent almost three decades in sales management. In all instances he was in the "people business" and tried to consistently hone the skill of observing, listening and building consensus. He hopes to continue to do that with his involvement with the AHSS Advisory Board.

Terena Thyne Eisner is the Co-Founder and Editor of the travel website wandermelon.com. She also regularly writes travel and lifestyle feature articles for a variety of publications, including Harper's Bazaar, Coast, Elle, Arena, The Sun, Robb Report and others. Eisner was the Contributing Lifestyle Editor of Harper's Bazaar Singapore, and Lifestyle Editor of the luxury lifestyle magazine CREAM. She sits on the board of 826LA, a writing and tutoring center in Los Angeles and is an advisor of the Eisner Foundation.

Sehra Eusufzai is the Director, Brand System & Workforce Enablement at IBM. Working in brand strategy, marketing and corporate communications, she has held leadership roles supporting various IBM business units for the last decade, including more than three years in Bangalore, India, where she led regional communications and global industry marketing. Previously, Eusufzai worked in IT consulting, database marketing and external and internal relations, advising or working for federal government, professional services and telecommunications clients. Before gaining her MS at DU in strategic communications, she received her BS in materials science & engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Eusufzai now resides in New York City where she also serves on the Associates Board of the Asian American Writers' Workshop; the Congress Executive Committee for South Asian Women's Leadership Forum; and the advisory board of The Asia Society's 'Asia Circle' Young Patrons' group.

Constance Hammond, 47, was raised in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated in 1986 from the University of Denver with a BA in Mass Communications.
A 20-year digital media executive, Hammond is the CEO and Founder of Sharing Profiles, a company which includes the Resort Lifestyle Network (a group of resort-based websites). Owning and operating a self-funded, highly-interactive network of websites engages all her senses: seeing a vision from inception to reality, demonstrating taste when it comes to user interface and design, touching a community in a way that serves and empowers, hearing user feedback which formulates relevant products and solutions, and smelling success that triggers dogged determination to forge ahead with passion and purpose.

Prior to launching Sharing Profiles in 2009, Hammond spent eight years at CBS MarketWatch/Dow Jones/News Corp in enterprise sales to Fortune 500 companies, culminating in the 2007 Pinnacle Award for Sales Excellence worldwide.

Bragging rights include teaching a man how to read, winning a first class trip to Italy and following the Tour de France (by car).

Nora Heitmann was raised in Greenwood Village, CO, and attended the University of Denver. She graduated Cum Laude with honors in both political science and communications in 2000. After a year of working for Governor Bill Owens, Nora left the public sector to begin a sales career at Airborne Express. Consistently winning awards and top rankings, she was promoted to Senior Sales Rep after only one year. Heitmann stayed with Airborne until they were sold to DHL in 2001.

It was in 2001 that Heitmann began her career in freight forwarding. She worked for Quantum Logistics, one of Inc. 500's fastest growing companies. Quantum Logistics was bought and sold. Heitmann and the core group there remained with the organization when they became Forward Logistics Group in 2006 and are now Trans Trade, Inc. At Trans Trade, Inc., Heitmann has been the number one sales rep nearly every month despite maternity leave and only working two days a week. In 2008, her gross profit was more than $200,000 greater than the second ranking sales rep. In 2009, Heitmann won an award from ColoradoBiz Magazine naming her one of the top 25 most powerful sales people in Colorado.

In 2010, the University of Denver recognized her success and awarded her with the Ammi Hyde Award for Recent Graduate Achievement. An award reserved for the top alumni within 10 years of his/her graduation. In her free time, Heitmann is active in the Junior League of Denver and enjoys running marathons, tennis, fly fishing, wine and spending time with her husband, 4½ year old daughter and 1½ year old son.

Thomas J. Kulik was born in Denver, graduated from DU in 1973 with a BA in psychology, and from the Univ. of Colorado School of Medicine in 1977. He completed training in general pediatrics and pediatric cardiology at the Univ. of Minnesota Hospitals, followed by faculty positions in Minnesota, Boston Children's Hospital, the Univ. of Michigan Hospitals, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and is currently a senior associate in cardiology at Boston Children's Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

He has served on multiple national committees relevant to the provision of pediatric cardiac care, as well having had administrative positions at the Univ. of Michigan Hospitals, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and Boston Children's Hospital.

Kulik has done basic and clinical research regarding control of the lung's circulation, and research related to improving postoperative outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease.

Ian Mohr is currently Deputy Editor of Page Six at The New York Post. Before joining the daily column, he previously served as Box Office Editor of the Hollywood trade publication Variety and was New York Bureau Chief of The Hollywood Reporter. Mohr has also worked in film development and production as VP of Goldsmith-Thomas Prods., an independent company based at MGM Studios. As a production executive, he oversaw the Showtime pilot "Possible Side Effects," written and directed by Tim Robbins, and was involved in the development of projects for ABC, HBO, Walden Media and Summit Entertainment.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mohr majored in Creative Writing at DU, and was News Editor of The Clarion. After graduation, he worked as a copy clerk at The Chicago Tribune and was marketing manager of Pearson Television in Los Angeles. He has contributed as a freelancer to GQ, Gawker Media, Fashion Week Daily, Moxie Pictures, Warner Bros. Int'l Television and Sony Int'l Television. 

Michele Right is a third-generation Colorado native, and '70 graduate from the University of Denver, with a BA in Mass Communication. A reporter for the Denver Post, she also worked as sales office and catering manager for the Hilton Hotel chain. In addition to teaching remedial English to students at a Denver area high school, Michele has also been a docent in the Contemporary Art department of the Denver Art Museum.

An active community member, Michele was responsible for Colorado's first legislative mission to Israel. Michele served as Parent Council president of a Denver area private school, in addition to serving as a member of the school's Board of Trustees. She is presently Director of Communications for a small Denver-based distributing company.

David Savinar is the founder and executive director of Rain Agency INC, a Portland, OR, integrated advertising agency. Savinar has extensive agency and corporate experience in interactive, direct marketing, advertising and promotions. He has a record of successfully directing logistically demanding and time sensitive advertising and direct marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies and has international and multicultural advertising experience. His clients at Rain include the University of Iowa, Intel, Intuit, The Oregon Zoo, HSBC Bank, and many more. Before founding Rain, Savinar was the executive creative director at CyberSight where he created a 20-plus person interactive creative department in Portland and San Francisco. After receiving his BA in studio art from DU, he received his BFA from the Art Center College of Design in California. He has served and serves on numerous boards, including the Board of the Art Directors Club of Philadelphia, the Oregon Zoo Foundation Development Committee and Epilepsy Foundation of Philadelphia. He is president-elect for the Maryhill Museum of Art Board of Trustees.

Derigan Silver is an assistant professor in the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies at the University of Denver, where he is the director of the joint MA/JD program, and an adjunct faculty member in the Sturm College of Law. He teaches courses on the First Amendment, media law, Internet law, political communication and communication and society. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and law reviews on originalism, defamation law, social media, access to the judiciary (including access to terrorism trials), national security law, and student expression. His first book, National Security in the Courts: The Need for Secrecy v. the Requirements of Transparency, was published in 2010. He is also the author of a chapter in the widely used media law textbook, Communication and the Law, and two book chapters on social media and the law.

In early 2005, Simon was hired to establish the New Mexico branch of The Ronald Simon Family Foundation and to implement the newly formed Simon Scholars Program. He served as the branch's Executive Director between 2005 and 2011 and guided the program towards success. The program began with one partner high school and five students in 2005, and now serves five partner high schools and accepts 20 new students per year. What began as an experiment has changed the lives of so many students and has opened up doors that previously could have only been dreamt of.

Simon now serves as President/CEO of the Simon Charitable Foundation. In addition to operating its flagship Simon Scholars Program, the foundation will be establishing other programs that work towards the betterment of life for New Mexico's underserved youth. Steve has an undergraduate degree from The University of Denver and a graduate degree from Antioch, Santa Barbara. He is an avid traveler and has previously resided in California, Hawaii and Sydney, Australia. Simon has worked in the restaurant industry, Sales and Marketing, and as a Psychotherapist. Steve brings a global perspective to the local issues that face New Mexico.

Anne Waldeck earned her undergraduate degree in Economics from Tufts University and her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Anne received her CPA while working at Ernst & Young. Upon moving to Los Angeles, she worked in finance and investor relations at the Walt Disney Company and DreamWorks Studios. She also serves on the Executive Board at Maryvale Orphanage and Foundation, and is a Trustee at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.

Cole Wist hails from the small town of Paonia, in the heart of Colorado's Western Slope. He earned his undergraduate degree from DU and his law degree from Georgetown University. Cole practices law as a Shareholder with the national labor and employment law firm of Ogletree Deakins and was a co-founder of the firm's Denver office. Wist has over 20 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts across the country, and his primary practice areas are workplace safety and health and employment litigation.

Wist's professional activities include: the Colorado Mining Association, the Industrial Minerals Association, the Colorado Lawyers Committee, and Club 20. Wist has served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Task Force on Civil Justice Reform and as a Trustee for Mesa State College. For many years, Wist served as a mock trial coach for Regis Jesuit High School, and led a number of teams to success at the state and national levels.

During his undergraduate years at DU, Wist served as President of the student government and was active in his fraternity and numerous campus organizations. Building on the strong roots planted in his political science/public policy studies, Wist is a life long political junkie and remains involved in policy issues as a lawyer and private citizen. During hockey season, you will find him in his Section 20 seats cheering on the Pioneers.

Wist and his wife, Susan, live in Centennial. They have three daughters.

Rudy Alterio, Student Representative (2011-2012)
Melanie Herrera Bortz, Alumni Representative (2011-12)
David Briggs, President (2011-2012)
Noel Edghill, Alumni Representative (2011-12)
Sarah Gjertson, Faculty Representative (2011-2012)
Josh Wehe, Student Representative (2011-2012)
Craig Hirokawa, Student Representative (2012-2013)