Our Trustees

Our Trustees
Judy Abbott, Jo Worthy, Carmen Gonzales, Sarah McCarthey, Phil Wilder, Mark Dressman, Kip Tellez, Carolyn Schubach, Patrick Scott, Mike Borish

SARAH McCARTHEY

FOUNDATION FOUNDER
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION EMERITA, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Sarah McCarthey is Sheila M. Miller Professor of Education Emerita at the College of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She served as Interim Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Department Head of Curriculum and Instruction and Director of Teacher Education during her 25 years in the College. Her research focuses on professional development in writing, classroom writing instruction and children’s development as writers. Sarah was Co-Director (with Scott Filkins) of the University of Illinois Writing Project and was co-editor (with Mark Dressman and Paul Prior) of the journal, Research in the Teaching of English. She was Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin from 1991-1999 before moving to Illinois. Before completing her Ph.D. at Michigan State University, she taught in the Salt Lake City School District for eight years. She served on the Board of Trustees at the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY from 2011-2019 and is a member of the Advisory Board of the School of Music at the University of Utah. She retired in 2024 and resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.

MARK DRESSMAN

FOUNDATION FOUNDER
PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Mark Dressman is Professor and Chair of English at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he taught courses in the secondary education program and graduate courses in qualitative research. He has studied school libraries, the multiple causes of school failure, the teaching of poetry, the use of social theory in educational research, and is currently focusing on how students around the world are learning English informally through digital media.

JUDY A. ABBOTT

DEAN EMERITA, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Formerly the Interim Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Dean of the Perkins College of Education, Judy served both SFA and public education. During her 30 years in higher education, Dr. Abbott provided leadership of national organizations, such as Teacher Education Council of State Colleges and Universities (TECSCU), of state organizations, such as Texas Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (TACTE), and was recognized locally as the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce 2018 Citizen of the Year. She began her leadership roles at SFA in 2010, following 15 years as faculty and as an administrator at West Virginia University. Before completing her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, Judy taught in the San Antonio Independent School District for four years. As a retiree, Judy serves on several Nacogdoches, TX, community boards focused on public education, historic preservation, and gardening/environmental beautification.

PHILLIP WILDER

Dr. Phillip Wilder is the founder of OneConversation where he partners with leaders, teams, and global communities to restore relationships and remember how to be human together. He has been an educator and Associate Professor of Language and Literacy at Clemson University where his scholarship explored the intersection of language, identity, and violence. A Nonviolent Communication trainer with over two decades of experience guiding global community partnerships, Phillip consults with a wide array of organizations because he believes in the power of human connection to transform conflict and change one conversation at a time.

MICHAEL BORISH

Michael Borish is a lecturer on small business management and finance. He has worked for more than 40 years in the field, including on-site in more than 60 countries. He currently lectures on a range of topics based on his recently published Right-Sizing Strategic Financial Management for Small Business. He also issues a monthly newsletter entitled “The Pecking Order Lives On”. Michael earned his Masters of Business Administration at the University of Chicago (1985) and his PhD at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (2020).

CARMEN GONZALES

VICE PRESIDENT EMERITUS, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY

In January 2011 she retired from New Mexico State University (NMSU) where she served as Vice-President for Student Success, Dean of the College of Extended Learning and faculty in the College of Education. During her tenure at NMSU, Dr. Gonzales was Project Director for the Regional Education Technology Assistance program a US Department of Education grant. Dr. Gonzales was involved in a number of significant projects with the US Department of Education, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Agriculture. Her areas of expertise included higher education administration, technology integration and distributed learning.
On October 1, 2012, Carmen took a position as Vice-President for Student Success at Santa Fe Community College and retired from there in 2017. In November 2019, Carmen was elected to the School Board for Santa Fe Public Schools. She is currently a consultant for the Learning Policy Institute.

CAROLYN SCHUBACH

Carolyn Schubach is a longtime Utah educator. Most recently she served as the Utah Dual Language Immersion Administrators Director, supporting administrators of DLI programs statewide. Her professional career has been varied and exciting. She served as director of the dual language immersion programs in Granite School District as well as a district curriculum director for many years in Murray School District. As an elementary and secondary principal, she has had extensive experience working with teachers and students. She was honored to be a Fulbright-Hays Scholar to India/Nepal and China as well as the director of the Utah Principals Academy.

PATRICK (RICK) SCOTT

PROFESSOR EMERITUS, BILINGUAL MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY

Patrick (Rick) Scott is Professor Emeritus of Bilingual Mathematics Education from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State University. After that first retirement he then served four years in New Mexico State government: first at the Public Education Department and then at the Higher Education Department. He has since retired from the Los Alamos National Lab Foundation where he directed an inquiry science education program. Past Chair of the U.S. Commission on Mathematical Instruction and past Vice Chair of the Board of International Scientific Organizations of the National Academy of Sciences, Rick serves as the International Representative of National Council of Teachers of Math, and Vice President of the Inter-American Math Education Committee.

KIP TELLEZ

PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

Kip Téllez (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University) is Professor Emeritus and former Chair in the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz, where he taught for 25 years.  He was also an elementary and high school English Language Development (ELD) teacher in La Puente, California.  His research interests include second language education, teacher education, and the intersection of the two. In retirement, he is still active in writing and administering grants and projects, as well as co-directing an evaluation center (Center for Research on Equity and Collaborative Evaluation). 

JO WORTHY

PROFESSOR EMERITA, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

A former middle and elementary teacher, Jo Worthy earned her PhD at the University of Virginia, followed by a Post Doctoral research fellowship at the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) at the University of Pittsburgh. She spent most of her higher education career at the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, where she taught courses in literacy-teacher preparation and graduate research paradigms and methods. She conducted research in language and literacy education, specializing in learning motivation and reading difficulties. In addition to research articles and chapters, she authored numerous practitioner-focused articles and books on literacy teaching and learning.

in memorium

JANE L. ABE

RETIRED TEACHER, SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, UTAH

Jane Abe taught for many years in the Extended Learning Program in the Salt Lake City School District. She served as curriculum coordinator for the program, and trained hundreds of teachers in the Talents Unlimited model of creative/critical thinking. Jane served as President of the Utah Association of Gifted Children, and taught Creativity Seminars through both Utah State University and the University of Utah.