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Neil Nakadate is the University Professor of
English at Iowa State University. He teaches courses on American
Literature since 1914, contemporary fiction, U.S. minority literatures,
rhetoric and writing. Dr. Nakadate is the author of seven books,
including Understanding Jane Smiley (South Carolina, 1999);
Writing in the Liberal Arts Tradition: A Rhetoric With Readings
(Harper & Row, 1990); and Robert Penn Warren: Critical Perspectives
(Kentucky, 1981). He is also interested in sports writing as
literature and poetry. Dr. Nakadate studied English at Stanford,
graduating with honors in Humanities and received M.A. and Ph.D.
degrees in English from Indiana University. |
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Vice-President
Fiona Valentine, of Sioux City, is the Coordinator of Public Relations at Western Iowa Tech Community College; coordinator of WIT's Institute for Lifelong Learning for older adults and residency programs featuring visiting artists and scholars. Ms. Valentine is a former development officer for private and non profit organizations in the Greater Siouxland area; former Director of Public Affairs and Special Events for Northwestern University's School of Communication; former college instructor, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK; B.A. (Sociology) Manchester University; M.Phil. (Sociology), Durham University; author of A Study of the Female Office Worker (Macmillian: St. Martin's Press, 1979); author of numerous articles on film, travel and other topics for local, regional and national publications. |
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Treasurer Tim Johnson, of Washington, is a 2001 graduate of the University of Iowa, with a major in studio art and additional course and field work in anthropology (with a focus on aboriginal culture and art work in Australia) and has a strong background in finance. Tim is the former president of the Washington Community Theatre Board and currently is a board member of that organization. He is a member of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, Washington Betterment Foundation, and has served on various other committees with the Chamber of Commerce, including Leadership Washington and the annual Educator's Breakfast. He is an active participant in the recently developed Great Places group and serves on the Diaconate Committee of his church. Tim grew up on a farm in Columbus Junction,
graduating from high school there in 1994. His family farms in rural
Louisa county, raising Mustangs transplanted from the American West. |
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Barbara O'Hea, of Peosta, was appointed to
the board of directors of Humanities Iowa by Gov. Chet Culver.
O'Hea is assistant to the president for Resource Development
at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta where she coordinates
college-wide special fundraising efforts, publications, community
relations and the development of a strategic plan for the college¹s
foundation. Prior to her position at Northeast Iowa Community
College, she was a health care consultant and employee benefits
manager. |
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Past
President Rosemarie Ward, of the Iowa Great Lakes and Des Moines, serves as Past President of HI's Board of Directors. Mrs. Ward was born in Fort Dodge, attended public schools in Fort Dodge and in Des Moines, graduated from St. Joseph's Academy high school in Des Moines and received a B.S. in Education from Drake in 1968. She was the past president of the Des Moines League of Women Voters, past chair of the City of Des Moines Planning & Zoning Commission and the coordinator of the Great Books Foundation in Des Moines. She served as chair of the Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, and was the coordinator of the Great Books Foundation at Lakes Art Center. She is currently on the Advisory Council Board of the Lakes Art Center. She is past chair of the City of Okoboji, Planning & Zoning Commission and a member of the Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance. |
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Director Michael Carey, from Farragut, is nationally known as Iowa's farmer-poet. He farms 800 acres in Farragut and is the author of five books of poetry, a teaching manual, and two historical plays. His work has been published in anthologies and magazines across the United States, Great Britain and Ireland. His life and work have also been featured by the Wall Street Journal, Time, and The Associated Press, as well as on Christian Science Monitor Television and Iowa Public Television's "Living in Iowa" and "Touchstone" programs. Most winters Michael travels the Midwest as a visiting poet-in-residence. In the summer, he teaches at the University of Iowa's Summer Writing Festival. In 1997, he received the Iowa Council of
Teachers of English Friend of Literacy Award, for his work with young
writers in the schools. He is also past president of the Omaha Chapter
of the Irish American Cultural Institute. Since 2000, he has been on
the Steering Committee and Artistic Committee of the Des Moines
National Poetry Festival. He also hosts Voices from the Prairie,
Humanities Iowa's weekly syndicated radio program featuring Iowa
poetry. Carey is founder and executive director of both Loess Hills
Books and Carrauntoohil Books featuring the best in regional fine arts
writing. |
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Director Judy is the director of the Bloomfield Main Street Association. From 1965-1998, she was a secondary school teacher in the Bloomfield public schools and taught one year and several summers on staff of Northwest Missouri State University, where she designed and coordinated gifted education programs. Currently, she supervises student teachers in Davis County for Iowa State University. Judy served two terms on the board of the Davis County Fine Arts Council and for 11 years on the board of the Bloomfield Historic Preservation Commission. She is the Davis County representative for the Iowa Barn Foundation and supervised History Day activities for Area Education Agency 15. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including being named the 1985 Iowa Reading Teacher of the Year, the 1998 Iowa History Day Teacher of the Year, and the 2001 Davis County Citizen of the Year by the Davis County Farm Bureau. She is a recipient of the Governor's Volunteer Award in Economic Development in 2000. For the last 15 years, she and her husband have worked to restore 260 acres of abused land, planting thousands of trees, establishing native prairie grasses and introducing other conservation measures. She teaches quilting classes and one of her quilts was selected for display at the National Quilt Guild Show. Judy received a B.S. in Elementary Education
from Northwest Missouri State University, an M.S. in Elementary
Teaching (Reading Specialization) from the University of Missouri, and
an M.S. in Elementary Administration and Supervision from Northwest
Missouri State University. |
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Director Sue Cosner is Vice President of Community
Initiatives with Iowa Area Development Group and manages the Ripple
Effect program in partnership with Iowa Network Services. She is the
former city manager of Panora with more than 26 years of local government
experience including work in redevelopment, rural and urban planning and
association management. Cosner also has taught in the department of
Community and Regional Planning in the College of Design at Iowa State
University. Until 2008, she served a 13-year gubernatorial appointment to
the City Development Board. |
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Tom is the special assistant to UI President
Sally Mason as well as the founder and director of the Iowa Project on
Place Studies. Tom is the author of the forthcoming book of essays titled, Under a Midland Sky from Ice Cube Press. He also is the editor of The Grace of Grass and Water: Writing in Honor of Paul Gruchow and Live Well, Live Wild, a collection of essays by Stephanie Mills and Bill McKibben. Dean also has been published in such scholarly
publications as American Literature Realism, Literature/Film Quarterly,
and American Nature Studies. Some of Dean's other published articles
include "The Breath of Midsummer" from the Wapsipinicon Almanac and
"Confessions of a Tornado Virgin" from Prairie Weather. He also wrote a
chapter in the book Letters to a Young Iowan titled "Permission to Love
Home." |
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Director Kate Gronstal, of Council Bluffs, has been appointed to the board of directors of Humanities Iowa by Gov. Chet Culver. Gronstal is a bridge engineer with HNTB Corporation in Omaha, Neb. She received her B.A. degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters of Public Administration from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. In addition to her work, she finds time to be involved in many community organizations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Bluffs Arts Council and the Nishnabotna Girl Scout Council. She also serves on the Advisory Council for the Catholic Charities Phoenix House, a domestic violence shelter in Council Bluffs. Gronstal is also a member of the Iowa
Engineering Society and serves as the chair for the MATHCOUNTs, Public
Relations & Eweek Committees of the Grenville M. Dodge Chapter. in
the Park program. |
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Director Janell Hansen is the general manager of Marne & Elk Horn Telephone Company of Elk Horn, Iowa. She received her B.A. from Buena Vista College and is a certified public accountant. She has served on the board of directors of the Iowa Telecommunications Association since 2003 and served as Chair in 2008. She is also on the Audubon County Endowment Fund. She is actively involved in many local community organizations in the Elk Horn and Kimballton area, has served in the past as president of the Better Elk Horn Club, and currently is president of the Tivoli Inns, LLC, which operates the Americinn of Elk Horn. |
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Director Burlington resident Jeff Heland is an insurance agent
and financial service advisor for the New York Life Insurance Company with
his office in Burlington. He is a member of the Southeast Iowa Association
of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Prior to this he worked as a railroad
machinist for the Burlington and Northern Railroad (1979-2000). Heland has
a long history of public service including: Solid Waste Commissioner of
Burlington (1990-1997), Burlington's Mayor Pro Temp (1990-1994), Mayor
of Burlington (1994-1996) and President of the Iowa League of Cities (1997).
Heland and his wife, Cindy, have two daughters, Allison and Dustin Jane. |
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Director Ken Lyftogt is a lecturer in the Department of History
at the University of Northern Iowa. Lyftogt teaches introductory and advanced
courses on humanities, American civilization and U.S. history. He specializes
in the American Civil War, and is the author of four books including "Iowašs
Forgotten General: Matthew Mark Trumbull" (University of Iowa Press, 2005), "From
Blue Mills to Columbia: Cedar Falls and the Civil War" (Iowa State University Press,
1993), "Left for Dixie: The Civil War Diary of John Rath (Mid Prairie Books, 2004)
and "The Sullivan Family of Waterloo (Sunseri with the Waterloo Public Library, 1998). |
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Director Moudy Nabulsi, of Fort Madison, is the current Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Southeastern Community College, West Burlington; Director, Iowa Association of Community College Trustees; and a member of Ft. Madison Economic Development Corporation and Rotary International. Mr. Nabulsi serves as Treasurer on the HI Board. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ft. Madison Chamber and the John P. Kibbie Award from the Iowa Association of Community Colleges for outstanding service to community colleges. He is a retired plant manager of the Chevron Chemical Corporation as well as a philanthropist and community activist. |
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Director Richard "Dick" Ramsay of Spirit Lake is the newest addition to the HI Board of Directors. Ramsay has a strong record of public service in the Iowa Great Lakes region. He is a member of the Spirit Lake Protective Association and serves as counsel for the Dickinson County Water Quality Commission. He also serves on the Historic Arnolds Park Board, the Orleans Board of Adjustment, and the Steering Committee of the Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance. Finally, he is a past member of the Pearson Lakes Art Center Board. Ramsay said that land-use issues are important to him. "Iowa has the most altered landscape in the nation. The concept of ownership of land must progress from the 'highest and best use' to one of 'stewardship for future generations.'" Ramsay and his wife, Carolyn, have three grown sons and three grandchildren, two boys and a girl. |
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Director Dorothy Simpson-Taylor, of Cedar Rapids, has been appointed to the board of directors of Humanities Iowa by Gov. Chet Culver. She earned a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver. She received a bachelors degree in Urban Studies and a masters degree in Counseling & Guidance from the University of Nebraska/Omaha. She has multiple experiences in diverse communities as a psychotherapists/ psychologist, high school counselor, team leader of a Vet Center and for the past 15 years in higher education in both faculty and administrative capacities. No matter where her positions have been she has been fully involved in "inclusive excellence" demonstrating that everyone adds a special gift and an opportunity to build bridges through shared conversations and increased understanding. She has been primarily responsible for providing diversity resources leadership and implementation (to include consulting with and providing education for administration, faculty, staff and students) at The University of Iowa, Purdue and Indiana State University. She is recognized as an educator and trainer in cultural competency in organizations and in healthcare and has conducted training for the public, private and faith-based institutions. She has provided leadership with communities in developing visions of inclusion and has been recognized in Alaska, Indiana and by the US House of Representatives for her steadfast work on behalf of equity and inclusion. Her workshops on inclusive practices have been well received by the Higher Learning Commission, the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the Mayor¹s Commissions in Indianapolis and Omaha, and a variety of professional organizations, business, communities and faith based organizations. Consistently invited to provide demonstrable skills based diversity education, she currently serves on local boards and committees in central Iowa seeking to build communities of inclusion. The oldest of eleven children, an Air Force
veteran, budding storyteller, grandmother of five and wife of 42 years,
she believes "everyone brings gifts.....it is our charge to maximize
them for the common good." |
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Director Siegel is a native of Bettendorf and a graduate
of Grinnell College. He also has an MA in American studies from the
University of Kansas and a MSW from the University of California at
Berkeley. He works as a Union Representative for the American Federation
of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 61. Siegel also has a
strong record of public service. He is currently serving his fourth term
on the Wapello County Board of Supervisors. He has worked to enhance the
Wapello County trail system and worked on the establishment of the
American Gothic House Welcome Center in Eldon. |
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Director Governor Chet Culver appointed Sioux City-resident Ralph Swain to the Humanities Iowa Board of Directors. Swain is the humanities division chair at Western Iowa Tech Community College. He also teaches online courses for Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon and Southwestern Community College in Creston. In addition to teaching, Swain has an extensive record of public service. He also serves on boards for La Casa, a service agency for new immigrants in Sioux City, the Siouxland Film Institute, and the Sioux City Museum History Day Committee. He is also on the planning committee for the Iowa Latino Conference and is president of the Great Plains Radio Theatre Project. Swain is no stranger to Humanities Iowa. He has participated in three HI grant programs in the past. "I have had a long-standing interest in the humanities," Swain said. "As an educator in the subject of American history and an advocate of the advancement of public awareness in the humanities, I feel I can contribute effectively as an HI board member." Swain’s appointment replaces Jeff M. Heland of Burlington whose term on the HI board ended in June. |
