Summer Festival Announces New Board Appointments

September 19, 2008

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is pleased to announce that it has added seven new members to its Board of Trustees. By unanimous approval, the board elected Christie Wong Barrett, Paul Cousins, Michael S. Dubin, Susan J. D. Gott, Sudha Maheshwari, Kimberly L. Scott and Ellie Serras to its 34-member board. As a town-gown organization, the Festival’s board is made up of representatives approved by the City Council of Ann Arbor and the Regents of the University of Michigan.

"The trustees of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival are excited to add seven new members to the Board,” said Peter Schork, co-chair of the organization’s Nominations Committee. “These individuals bring a wealth of knowledge about our community that will help us maintain our role as Ann Arbor's premier summer entertainment event.”

In addition to the election of new trustees, the Festival announces the appointments of Patricia M. Garcia as Chair, James A. Kosteva as Vice Chair, Julie Fritz as Secretary and Erik W. Bakker as Treasurer. Garcia, who is the President and Publisher of the Ann Arbor Observer, succeeds outgoing Chair Dawn H. Foerg, who will continue her service on the board as Immediate Past Chair. 

Other Festival board members for 2008-09 are: LeAnn Auer, H. David Baru, William R. Bess, Susan Chandler, Sally Churchill, Howard J. Cooper, Alan G. Cotzin, Deanna R. Dorner, Karen Edwards, Bettye S. Elkins, Peter B. Fayroian, John C. Hieftje, Jerold Lax, Margaret B. McKinley, Jayne Miller, Ronald G. Miller, Y. Jamie Mistry, Bruce S. Moyer, Patricia Pooley, James S. Reece, Anne K. Rubin, and Peter F. Schork.  Ending their board service are Christopher Kendall, Constance M. Kinnear, John K. Lawrence, John H. Matlock, and Fredrick W. Mayer.

List and brief bios of new board members follows:

Christie Wong Barrett is the Senior Manager for McKinsey & Company's Product Development practice in the Americas region. Since joining McKinsey in 2000, she has served clients in the pharmaceutical, medical product and technology-based industries, with a focus on product development, innovation, strategy and operations.   Christie earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.  She and her husband Tom have lived in Ann Arbor since 2005 and have one son.

Paul Cousins has been a resident of Dexter since 1963, where he began his career as an environmental ed/biology teacher. In 1984, Paul switched gears to operate Cousins Heritage Inn, a fine dining restaurant in Dexter. Throughout his career, Paul has been very active in the community serving as a board member of the Michigan Education Association, a councilperson for the Village of Dexter, and an advocate for the Huron River Watershed, where he currently serves as chairperson.  Paul was co-named Citizen of the Year by the Ann Arbor News in 2006 for his work in saving Gordon Hall, a historic landmark in Dexter.  He and his wife Pat have three children and three grandchildren.

Michael S. Dubin is the Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the University of Michigan School of Education.  He has been with the University since 2002, previously in a fundraising post with the College of Engineering.  Prior to his employment with the university, he was with Conlin Travel as Vice President, serving in multiple roles with their various companies.  He also serves as head of the Owners Advisory Board of Overseas Property Bond Management.  Mike is an active community volunteer and has served on the Board of Trustees at Greenhills School since 2003.  He resides in Ann Arbor with his wife Darla, and three children.

Susan J.D. Gott is the campus planner for the University of Michigan and has served in the role since 2002.  She oversees master planning and site planning and design for University projects.  Sue brings a background and interest in urban design, and community, transportation and environmental planning as a former planning consultant.  She has also served as an Adjunct Professor with the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.  She assists with City coordinate of University construction projects and works closely with various community groups.   Sue is a native Ann Arboreta and she and her husband Charlie have three children.

Sudha Maheshwari is an Operations Manager at Ann Arbor office of Sanborn, a consulting firm dealing with geographic information systems (GIS).  Sudha has a Ph.D. in Urban Planning.  She also teaches as an adjunct faculty in the Urban Planning program in University of Michigan.  In the past, she worked for over 4 years at Oakland County Department of Information Technology.  Sudha has been a co-chair for 2 conferences for Michigan’s premier GIS organization called IMAGIN.  Sudha lives in Ann Arbor with her husband Gavin, who is a professor at University of Michigan and they have two kids, Arjun (a kindergartner) and Arushi (a preschooler).

Kimberly L. Scott is a litigation attorney in the Ann Arbor office of Miller, Canfield, Paddock, & Stone, PLC.   Her diverse practice includes commercial contract disputes, business tort cases, and antitrust law, as well as sports, media and entertainment law.  She has extensive experience with complex commercial litigation, including the evolving law regarding discovery of electronically stored information.  Kimberly and her husband, musician Oni Werth, live on the northside of Ann Arbor where they are often seen walking their dogs, Jackson and Sarge, or puttering about in their garden.

Ellie Serras has been the director of the Main Street Area Association in downtown Ann Arbor for the last 15 years.  She is active in community activities and currently serves as a trustee on the following boards: UMS; Ann Arbor Hands on Museum; Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Dawn Farm.  Ellie and her husband Dennis have two daughters.

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s mission is to provide a widely accessible, high quality summer program representing a variety of the performing arts for the cultural enrichment and entertainment of a regional audience in a festive atmosphere. Started in 1983, the Festival attracts more than 60,000 people each year from the local community and throughout Southeast Michigan.  Next year’s Festival, which will be celebrating its 26th season, runs from June 12 through July 5, 2009.  For more information, please visit www.annarborsummerfestival.org.

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is made possible with the support of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.