 |
 |
 |
||
|
||||
Aaron Alon, DMA is a composer whose music has been performed around the world—from the Kennedy Center to Japan's premier venue, the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan—and by such acclaimed musicians as Leone Buyse, Ian Davidson, Andrea Ceccomori, Catherine Branch, Daniel Neer, Michael Fennelly, Mark Whatley, and the new music groups, Sounds New and the Vientos Trio. His works have been included on three recording labels and awarded numerous national and international composition honors, including those from ASCAP; the National Association of Composers; the National Federation of Music Clubs; the Society of Composers, Inc.; Meet the Composer; the Lotte Lehmann Foundation; the Renée B. Fisher Composer Awards; and Mu Phi Epsilon. Dr. Alon is a member of ASCAP and a past chapter president of Mu Phi Epsilon. He is also highly active as a teacher and is the composition department head for the American Festival for the Arts. He has also taught for Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, the University of Texas’ Exploritas program, and Alvin Community College. He is currently at work on an opera with librettist Michael Remson, a musical with Joe Barnes, a new work for solo saxophone for Dr. Jeffrey E. Vickers, and a cycle of songs for bass David Keck. In his spare time, Dr. Alon is also an amateur writer of plays and other prose. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, a Master’s of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago. 
David Brauer is head of the History of Art Department of the Glassell School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and is a native of Scotland. He was educated in England at the Sir Christopher Wren School and St. Martin’s School of Art from which he received his degree. After extensive travel in Europe, Russia, Turkey, and North Africa, Mr. Brauer returned to England where he worked at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and taught at the North Oxfordshire College of Art and Technology. Since moving to Houston, he has curated numerous art exhibits: Houston Art in Norway in 1982; Artists’ Progress: Seven Houston Artists 1943-1993 in 1993; Landscape without Figures in 1994; and Images from Space, 1995; Charles Schorre 1925-1996: A Retrospective, 1997, which opened at the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi and traveled to several Texas museums; and he co-curated a Pop Art exhibition at the Menil Collection in 2001. He has taught at the University of Houston and Rice University, and has guest lectured at Columbia University, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Texas at Austin, the San Antonio Art Museum, the World Business Council’s conference in Brussels, and the Anderson Ranch in Aspen, Colorado. 
G. Sidney Buchanan is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Houston’ Law Center where he taught for 42 years and held the Baker Botts Chair. A graduate of Western Reserve Academy, he received his A.B. in history magna cum laude from Princeton University and his Juris Doctor with distinction from the University of Michigan Law School. He was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Michigan Law Review. After law school, he joined the law firm of Vinson & Elkins with whom he practiced from 1959 to 1967 in the area of estate planning. In 1967 he became a full-time teacher of law at the University of Houston Law Center, specializing in Constitutional Law, First Amendment rights, and estate law. The recipient of a variety teaching wards, he is the author of two books, a treatise, and numerous articles. 
B. Jill Carroll, Ph.D., a noted expert on issues of religious tolerance and the philosophy of religion, served as Executive Director of the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University for five years. She holds a doctorate in religious studies from Rice and she received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in theological and historical studies from Oral Roberts University. She has taught classes and lectures on religion, philosophy, and humanities at Rice University, the University of Houston, and the Jung Center, Houston. Her recent book A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gulen's Islamic Ideals and Human Discourse was a Publishers Weekly bestseller in religion. A frequent guest on radio and television programs, she has been interviewed by the New York Times, PBS, and "Good Morning America."
Sarah K. Costello, Ph.D., is Instructional Assistant Professor in art history at the University of Houston, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Rice University. She earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the State University of New York, Binghamton and her Masters degree in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. Her research focuses on religion, memory, and early writing. She has excavated in Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Greece, and the United States. Her work has appeared in the journals Antiquity, Near Eastern Archaeology and Istanbuler Mitteilungen. 
Roberta M. Diddel Ph.D., is the founder and Executive Director of Disability 101, a non-profit organization providing high quality, consistently available programs to help people with disabling medical conditions and their families learn to adapt and thrive. She also teaches part-time in the Psychology Department at Rice University and at the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. As a licensed psychologist with a private practice in Houston, she helps patients meet the challenges of major life transitions, loss and bereavement, chronic illness, brain injury, chronic pain and other disabling conditions. Dr. Diddel received her bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and her PhD. in clinical psychology from Boston University. 
William E. Frisco, CPA, CFP, is Senior Vice-President, Wealth Advisor, with MorganStanley SmithBarney Company, Inc. He has over 20 years experience managing growth and retirement portfolios for individuals, trusts, and corporations; he also serves as a retirement consultant for 410(k) and profit sharing programs. Mr. Frisco received his B.A. in Economics from Duke University and M.B.A. from Tulane University. A member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Institute of Certified Financial Planners, he has presented his investment seminars to corporations, Rice University’s School for Continuing Studies, and CPA societies across Texas. In 2009, Barron's included him in their list of top investment advisors in the country. In September of 2009, Texas Monthly he was included in the Five Star Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Managers survey which represented about two per cent of the managers in the Houston Region.
Ursula Gehring-Münzel, Ph.D., who holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Würzburg, is an author of books and articles on German history and a frequent lecturer in German history, politics and literature. She has conducted research focusing on foreign policy of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi era at the German Foreign Ministry. She has worked for the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City, taught at the University of Nairobi, and is currently teaching at the University of St. Thomas. 
Nancy Geyer is a novelist, playwright, and journalist whose novels include Flying South, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, and Frailties, published by Little, Brown. Several of her plays have won national competitions: “Sonia and Suzy” was the 1991 winner of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Festival of Firsts Playwriting Competition and a finalist in the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild-Julie Harris Playwright Award Competitions; “I Would Give You Violets” received the New Play Award for the Best American Play from the Live Oak Theatre in Austin and received an option contract for a Broadway production; “The Reflections Pool” was nominated for the 2003 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize; and “Versus” was one of three 2007 play finalists in the national 57th Anniversary Stanley Drama Award Competition. Founder and director of the Writers Circle, Ms Geyer has taught creative writing at Rice University's School of Continuing Studies. In addition, she has produced and anchored in-house television programs for a major energy corporation, edited a newsletter for a professional theater, written informational material for a maritime museum, co-authored award-winning educational scripts for a symphony orchestra, and created and taught in a government-funded writing program for gifted children. She holds two master’s degrees from the State University of New York and is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America and The Authors League of America.
J. Dennis Huston received his B.A. from Wesleyan University (Connecticut) in 1961, his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Before coming to Houston in 1969, he was Assistant Professor of English at Yale. Dr. Huston is Professor of English at Rice University where he has four times won the George R. Brown Superior Teaching Award and where in the fall of 1989 he was named Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. he is an occasional participant in dramatic productions and is the author of a book on Shakespeare.
John Keating received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his master's degree from George Washington University. He subsequently served 20 years as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. Early in his career, he spent three years on assignment in Spain, and it was that experience that launched a lifelong interest in wine. After retirement from the Air Force, he turned this interest into a second career. As the manager of fine wine sales for a major distributor in Virginia, he wrote wine and lifestyle articles for newspapers, travel, food, and golf publications. For many years he hosted "a best of wine" feature on local television and taught wine classes at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and at Wales University, a culinary school in the region. Mr. Keating is a charter member of the Society of Wine Educators.
Frank S. Kelly, FAIA, a graduate of Rice University, is an architect and teacher. He is Director of Planning for the SWH Group, an architectural firm which focuses on educational facilities and has designed projects across the country. Elected to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 1984, Mr. Kelly has taught at the University of Tennessee, Rice University, and Texas A & M. Along with his wife, Lynda, he has traveled extensively in France, documenting their visits and ventures with thousands of slides. 
Lynda Harper Kelly received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in French from Rice University. In 1974 her doctoral dissertation received Rice's Gardner Award given to the graduate student doing the best piece of research and writing in the humanities and social sciences. Her romance with France began in 1961 when she spent a summer in Paris studying at the Alliance Française School. In 1966 she returned to Paris for a year to study at the Sorbonne and to live with a French family, with whom she still maintains close ties. She and her husband, architect Frank Kelly, return to France almost every year to explore another region. They have given many lectures on their travels at the Alliance Française de Houston. Dr. Kelly has taught French at Southern Methodist University, Houston Community College, and Rice University. In 1995 she organized and conducted a six-week travel/study program in Burgundy for Rice University. She also loves French cuisine and has studied at both the Cordon Bleu and the Ecole Ritz in Paris. 
J. Pittman McGehee is an Episcopal priest and former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral. In 1991 he resigned that office in order to train as a Jungian analyst. He received his diploma in 1997 and currently is in private practice as an analyst. He is a published poet, teaches at the University of Houston and lectures frequently in the fields of psychology and religion. 
Richard W. Murray is a native of Louisiana with B.A. and M.A. degrees in government from Louisiana State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and has taught at the University of Houston since 1966 where he is currently Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Public Policy. His principal academic interests are in political parties, campaigns and elections, public opinion, and interest groups. The author of numerous articles and books, Dr. Murray's most recent book is Progrowth Politics: Change and Governance in Houston. Professor Murray consulted in over 200 political campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s (he has since given up the sport) and has conducted over 50 polls for local media. In addition he is a political analyst for Channel 13.
Kate Emery Pogue received her undergraduate degree in Theatre from Northwestern University and her master's from the University of Minnesota. She was founder of the drama program and writer of the theater curriculum for Houston Community College where she taught for over 20 years. During this time she was the Artistic Director of the Shakespeare by the Book Festival in Fort Bend County and a founder and Artistic Director and Resident Librettist for Opera To Go, the educational outreach performance company for Houston Grand Opera. As a stage director she has directed two dozen Shakespeare plays for Houston Community College, Shakespeare by the Book, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame and Bucknell University. As a librettist she has had commissions from Minnesota Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Texas Opera Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, and the Houston Symphony among others. The Starbird, the classic children's opera for which she wrote the libretto, was published by E.C. Shirmer, and her play, "Freedom Train," was published by Encore Performance Publishing in January 2009. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. A frequent lecturer on Shakespeare, her research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and her books on Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Friends (Praeger, 2006) and Shakespeare's Family (Praeger, 2008) have established her as a world authority on Shakespeare's private life. Her latest book Shakespeare’s Figures of Speech: A Reader’s Guide was published in the fall of 2010. Mrs. Pogue teaches at the UH Downtown and conducts a weekly Shakespeare workshop at the West University Senior Center,
Chris Rogers is a former advertising business owner and marketing consultant. She downsized her life to pursue her love of writing and her work has won local and national awards. In 1996, she sold a three-book contract and a movie option to her Dixie Flannigan series about a female bounty hunter who resides on a pecan farm in Richmond, Texas. The first book in the series, Bitch Factor was published by Bantam Books in 1998 and followed by Rage Factor and Chill Factor. The series has since been published in Japan, Germany and Brazil and is now available in audio format. Like Dixie, Ms. Rogers resides in a small Texas town, Hilltop Lakes, where, as an author and ghostwriter, she continues to pursue her love of writing. Her short stories and essays have appeared in various magazines, including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Writer’s Digest. Her nonfiction book Goosing the Write Brain was published in early summer 2009. A former instructor in the University of Houston Extension Program, Rice University School of Continuing Studies, and a private Master Class, she is frequently featured as a guest lecturer at writing workshops, colleges and association meetings.
Seymour Rossel is the Rabbi of Congregation Jewish Community North of Spring, Texas. He is the author of 33 books, including The Torah: Portion by Portion, Bible Dreams: The Spiritual Quest, Israel: Covenant People, Covenant Land, and The Child’s Bible. Rabbi Rossel formerly served as Director of Education for the Union of Reform Judaism, Director of the Commission on Reform Jewish Education, and Academic Coordinator of the School of Education of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, where he was on faculty for nearly a dozen years. As speaker, author, and editor, he is listed in Who's Who in the Eastern States, Contemporary Authors, The International Authors and Writers Who's Who, as well as Who's Who in World Jewry. He holds the Bonei HaNegev award for excellence in Jewish Education and served as an ex-officio member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Before serving his present congregation, Rabbi Rossel lectured on Bible and biblical archaeology, Jewish history, mysticism, and spiritual values throughout North America, in Great Britain, and in Israel.
Robert H. Tucker, D. Min, Executive Director of the Foundation for Contemporary Theology, served as senior minister of Houston’s First Congregational Church for 28 years. He holds master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota, the University of Chicago, and Chicago Theological Seminary, and he received his doctorate from the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, where he also taught. In addition, he spent five years in Turkey where he taught philosophy, psychology, and English. Most recently, he was the Director of Library Services and a member of the faculty of the Houston Graduate School of Religion. Dr. Tucker has served on the boards of the American Red Cross, Houston Interfaith Ministries, Houston Area Women’s Center, the American Congregational Association, and Justice for Children.
Melanie R. Urban received her Diploma in Asian Art from the Royal Holloway College of the University of London/British Museum. A graduate of Purdue University, she received her J.D. from Louisiana State University and practiced law with the federal government for 15 years before moving to Singapore. While there, Ms. Urban began her stdies in Asian culture, history, and art and traveled throughout regions from Central Asia to China, from Tibet to Viet Nam, and points in between.
Hector Urrutibeheity has a B.A. in English Literature from the National University of La Plata, Argentina, and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Stanford University. He is a Professor Emeritus from Rice University, where he taught Spanish, Romance Linguistics, and foreign language methodology in Spanish and French. He also served as chairman of the Department of Hispanic Studies for 15 years. He is currently an adjunct professor of Spanish and French at the University of St. Thomas. He is the co-author of The Lexical Structure of Spanish, Mouton, The Hague, two college Spanish textbooks, Peldanos and Tierra del Feugo, and the French series entitled “Echelons." He recently completed a book on French phonetics entitled La prononciation du français contemporain.
Liz M. Weiman is the author of The Lawyer's Guide to Concordance published in 2010 by the American Bar Association, and her second book, The Lawyer's Guide to E-Discovery, is scheduled for 2010 publication by the ABA. Ms. Weiman has created instructional and technical manuals, e-learning modules, and Web content for Hewlett-Packard, Schlumberger, Smith International, Inc. In addition she served as a fiction reveiwer for the Houston Chronicle and other national newspapers, as associate editor of Ultra Magazine, and as senior editor of Southwest Art Magazine. She has worked as a journalist, editor, instructional designer, technical writer, graphic designer, computer instructor, database designer/administrator, and healing arts provider. Ms. Weiman, a Boston University graduate, teaches software programs to the public and specalizes in genealogical online searches.
L. Michael White holds the Ronald Nelson Smith Endowed Chair in Classics at the University of Texas and serves as director of both the Institute for Study of Antiquity & Christian Origins and U.T.’s Archaeological Excavations of the Ancient Synagogue at Ostia, Italy. A sixth generation Texan, Dr. White received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1982 and came to the University of Texas in 1996 from Oberlin College where he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Religion. Dr. White served as production consultant (co-writer) and principal historical adviser to PBS for two historical documentaries, From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians and Apocalypse. The recipient of many awards and honors, he has received two research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and one from the Andrew Mellon Foundation. He was awarded the Robert W. Hamilton Book Award, Grand Prize for literary achievement at the University of Texas for his book, From Jesus to Christianity: How Four Generations of Visionaries and Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith (2004). His most recent book 
Christopher Woods is a Texas native who writes poetry, plays, fiction, and non-fiction. He is the author of the novel Dream Patch. His recent books are Under a Riverbed Sky, a collection of prose poems and brief fictions, and Heart Speak, stage monologues for actors and actresses. His work has appeared in over 300 periodicals and journals in the U.S. and in ten foreign countries, some of which include The Southern Review, New England Review/Bread Loaf Quarterly, Columbia, and Glimmer Train. He has received a grant from the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation as well as the Betty Green Fiction Award from the Center for Texas Studies. Mr. Woods has also been the recipient of residencies from the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming and the Edward Albee Foundation in New York and he has taught creative writing for Rice University's continuing studies program.
Susan Briggs Wright holds a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University and a M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York where she became a producer at WOR-Radio and TV. In Houston, she covered consumer affairs, medicine and courts for KPRC Channel 2. She was a Houston Business Journal columnist, a journalism instructor at the University of Houston, and anchor/managing producer at KUHT-TV. Ms. Wright was a partner in Meyer, Griffin & Wright Public Relations and also directed communications at a technology services company and a community college district. In addition to her numerous journalistic columns, articles and broadcasts, and her work in marketing and public relations, she has guided and edited three self-publishing projects: From There to Here, her mother’s memoir/history of four Norwegian-American families, Life and Times of a Trucking Pioneer, her father’s memoirs published posthumously, and a small collection of stories about a Portuguese Water Dog.| Women's Institute of Houston 2202 Avalon Place, Houston, Texas 77019 Telephone: (713) 529-7123 | Facsimile: (713) 529-9266 Email: wih@wih.org |
Women's Institute of Houston website Copyright © All rights reserved Door drawing by Christie Woodfin |
|
|
|
|
||
|
||||
| Women's Institute of Houston 2202 Avalon Place, Houston, Texas 77019 Telephone: (713) 529-7123 | Facsimile: (713) 529-9266 Email: wih@wih.org |
Women's Institute of Houston website Copyright © All rights reserved Door drawing by Christie Woodfin |