Board of Trustees
The mission and vision of American Councils are achieved through the guidance, input, and expertise of the organization's executive management and Board of Trustees. All parties bring a wealth of global experience, knowledge, and an unwavering commitment to our shared success.
Board of Trustees
Robert M. Rhea
Chair of the Board
Partner, McKinsey & Company
Edith Falk
Vice Chair of the Board
Principal, Falk Consulting
Shannon Baldwin-Davis
VP, National Accounts, Schneider Electric
Dee Brown
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserves
Vice President of Transformation, NDC Inc.
Dr. David Chang
Former Chancellor, Polytechnic Institute
Chairman/CEO, GMEO, Inc.
Ms. Lisa Choate
President and CEO
American Councils for International Education
Grace Chung Becker
President, Judith Ehm Foundation
The Rev. Anne Derse, Amb. (Ret.)
Deacon and Minister for Community Engagement,
St. John's Norwood Episcopal Church
Violetka Dirlea
Global Client Partner and Solutions Leader, EY-Parthenon
Ambassador Karl Eikenberry
Ambassador and Lieutenant General, Ret., U.S. Army
Betty Sue Flowers, PhD
Former Director, Johnson Presidential Library
Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin
Mycal Ford
Risk and Compliance Specialist, McKinsey & Company
Dr. Thomas Jesús Garza
UT Regents and University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor, Slavic and Eurasian Studies Director, University of Texas at Austin
Gazmend Gjonbalaj
CTO/Partner, Spaxel
M. Hill Hammock
Chairman, Chicago Deferred Exchange Company
Kristin Hayden
Founder and President, Vision Powered Ventures
Robert C. Heath
State Department (Ret.)
Tiffany Hickerson
Partner, Kearny
Michael E. Hora
CEO, Hora Enterprises
Dr. Abol Jalilvand
Professor of Finance and Ralph Marotta Chair in Free Enterprise
Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University
Margaret C. Marsh
Senior Counsel, Akin Gump
Ambassador John Ordway
Ambassador (Ret.)
Dr. Alan Platt
Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor, Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Susan O. Rheney
Managing Director, Kerr Rheney Group, LLC
Independent Director, CenterPoint Energy
Nathan Ruiz
Senior Vice President of National Security, Govini
Dan Sundell
General Manager, Caterpillar Inc.
Mark Taplin
State Department (Ret.)
Dr. Olga Klimova
President, American Councils of Teachers of Russian (ACTR)
Director of Russian Program, University of Pittsburgh
Ambassador Richard L. Morningstar, Trustee Emeritus
Ambassador (Ret.)
Dr. Irwin Weil, Trustee Emeritus
Professor, Slavic Department, Northwestern University