Council
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation Council is comprised of a select group of advisors and advocates who work closely with the Foundation’s Chairman and Board. The Council’s charter is to provide counsel, organize cultivation events, and help to advance the Foundation’s mission of raising funds and public awareness.
Co-Chairs
Jane P. Batten, Virginia Beach, VA
Mrs. Batten is a civic leader and community volunteer residing in Virginia Beach, Va. She has served on numerous philanthropic boards and is currently Vice-Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads; on the board of E-3 Elevate Early Education, a statewide initiative to promote early childhood development; past Chair and trustee of Virginia Wesleyan College; past trustee of the George Washington Foundation; and emeritus trustee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. She was a founding partner of The First Tee South Hampton Roads. Mrs. Batten and her late husband, Frank Batten, Sr., have a long history of support for educational institutions, including the University of Virginia where they established the Batten Institute at the Darden School of Business and the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Mrs. Batten attended Hollins University. She has three children and six grandchildren.
Charles H. Seilheimer, Jr., Orange, VA
Charlie Seilheimer was founder, President, and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Corporation, the largest marketer of luxury residential estate and farm property in the world. He and his wife, Mary Lou, are collectors of American paintings and furniture of the 18th and 19th centuries and reside at Mount Sharon Farm, outside Orange, where they have created extensive gardens, open by invitation to groups and the public. Mr. Seilheimer has served in numerous business and charitable boards reflecting a broad range of interests. The Seilheimers have two children, Anne of Geneva, Switzerland, and Charles of Charlottesville, and four grandchildren.
Council Members
John B. Adams, Jr., The Plains, VA
Jay Adams is President and CEO of Bowman Companies in Fredericksburg. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Virginia FREE. He earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia Military Institute in 1966, and JD from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1969. He serves on the Board of Universal Corporation in Richmond and is Chairman of The Fauquier Bank in Warrenton. He is a former Director and Chairman of the Board of Virginia Power and a former Director of Dominion Resources and of the National Association of Manufacturers. Mr. Adams is involved in many charitable and civic organizations, including his current service as Chairman of The National Theatre Corporation, Chairman of the Outstanding Virginian Committee, Chairman of The George C. Marshall Foundation, and past Chairman of the Virginia State Fair. He serves as a Trustee of the American Revolution Center, the Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation and the University of Mary
Washington Foundation. He is a member of the Board of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, and a past Trustee of the Virginia Historical Society. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges and a former Trustee of Woodlawn and of Oatlands, both National Historic Trust Sites.
Edgar M. Bronfman, Sr., New York, NY
Edgar M. Bronfman is President of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation and the former Chairman and CEO of Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd, a position he held from 1971-1994. For 28 years, until June 2007, was President of the World Jewish Congress. He is chairman or honorary chairman of several Jewish charities and organizations, including Chairman of the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life (Hillel). He also belongs to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Association, and the National Urban League. The holder of
several honorary degrees, in 1986, he was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the government of France and in 1999, President Clinton awarded Mr. Bronfman the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He lives with his wife, Jan Aronson, in New York City.
Thomas and Nancy Chewning, Richmond, VA
Tom Chewning retired in 2009 as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dominion Resources, after more than 20 years with the company. In 2005, Institutional Investor named Chewning CFO of the Year for the Utility Industry and, in 2009, he was honored by Virginia Business as the CFO of the Year from among the Commonwealth's publicly traded companies. Over the years, he has been active in community affairs. Chewning currently serves on the boards of Virginia Union University and U-Turn, Inc. and on the Treasury Board of the State of Virginia. He is also chairman of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation.
Nancy Jones Chewning is a committed volunteer and community leader. Nancy serves on the Advisory Board at the Massey Cancer Center and is a deacon and choid member at First Baptist Church. Nancy and Tom have been married for 43 years. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Norwood and Marguerite Davis, Richmond, VA
Norwood Davis is the former Chairman and CEO of Trigon Healthcare and a former director of a number of other public and privately held companies. He has held leadership positions with numerous nonprofit boards, including Hampden Sydney College, the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research, the Virginia Commonwealth University Health Services Foundation and the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center. He is a graduate of Hampden Sydney College and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Marguerite Davis is owner of Davis, Uniquely Beautiful Jewelry, a fine jewelry boutique in Richmond, VA. She is currently in a leadership position on the Foundation Board for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering and has served on the Board of the Virginia Engineering Foundation at The University of Virginia and the Board of Trustees for Hampden Sydney College. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Gemological Institute of America.
Diane Heller, Chicago, IL
Diane Heller lives in Chicago, where she is involved in many foundations and beautification efforts in the city. Diane and her late husband David, who died in 2012, generously supported the building of the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Diane and David B. Heller Charitable Foundation is a major supporter and early co-sponsor of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. Mrs. Heller attended the Art Institute of Chicago, majoring in Art History
Cecelia S. Howell, Fredericksburg, VA
Dean Kamen, Manchester, NH
Dean Kamen is an inventor, entrepreneur and advocate for science and technology. He holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. In 1976, he founded his first medical device company, AutoSyringe, Inc., to manufacture and market the world's first wearable infusion pump, which he had invented while still a college undergraduate. He later founded DEKA Research & Development Corporation to develop internally-generated inventions as well as to provide research and development for corporate clients. Kamen led DEKA's development of such devices as the HomeChoiceTM peritoneal dialysis system, the iBOTTM mobility device, and the Segway(r) Human Transporter. Kamen has received many awards, including the National Medal of Technology and the 2002 Lemelson-MIT Prize, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005. One of Dean's proudest accomplishments is founding FIRST(r) (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use and enjoy science and technology. Founded in 1989, FIRST now serves more than 300,000 students ages 6-18 in over 60 countries around the globe.
Robert Khayat, J.D., L.L.M., Oxford, MS
Robert Khayat served as the 15th Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, from 1995 until 2009. Under Dr. Khayat’s leadership, the University was named 23rd among the nation’s public universities, and was ranked in the top ten places to work in higher education. Prior to his role as Chancellor, Dr. Khayat was a professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law and President of the NCAA Foundation. He is a former All-Pro Kicker for the Washington Redskins and has received the NFL Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award. Dr. Khayat serves on the Sanderson Farms Board of Directors and the Freedom Forum Foundation Board. His memoir, The Education of a Lifetime will be released on September 15, 2013. He received his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi and holds a Master’s of Laws from Yale University. He and his wife Margaret live in Oxford, Mississippi, and have two children and three grandchildren.
Syaru Shirley Lin, Ph. D., Hong Kong
Prof. Syaru Shirley Lin is a member of the faculty of Social Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She was previously a partner of Goldman Sachs, where she led the Principal Investment Area for Asia ex-Japan, managing investments in more than fifty companies across multiple industries in twelve countries. Prior to focusing on private equity and venture capital, she was involved in the privatization of state-owned enterprises in Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. She has served on the boards of numerous private and public companies, and as the Chief Strategic Advisor for Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation. She is currently a director of Key Safety Systems, MassMutual Mercuries Life Insurance and Langham Hospitality Investments. She is also a Senior Advisor to Crestview Partners. She is engaged in charities focused on education for children throughout Asia and she serves on the board of Excelsior Bi-Lingual Experimental School in Hunan, China. She received her A.B. from Harvard College and her Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong.
Michael Milken, Santa Monica, CA
Fortune magazine called Mike Milken "The Man Who Changed Medicine" for his three decades of work to accelerate medical research. In 1982, he formalized his previous philanthropy by co-founding the Milken Family Foundation, a leader in worldwide research on cancer, pediatric neurological disorders and other diseases. He heads FasterCures, which is dedicated to accelerating progress against all life-threatening diseases, and the Milken Institute, a major economic think tank. In 2007, Mike joined leading physicians in launching his latest medical initiative, the Melanoma Research Alliance, to support work on fatal skin cancers.
As a financier, he is often said to have revolutionized modern capital markets. Starting in 1969, he financed thousands of companies that created millions of jobs. A graduate of UC Berkeley and the Wharton School, he and his wife, Lori, have three children and seven grandchildren.
Amanda Megargel, Charlottesville, VA
Amanda Megargel was a Vice President in Corporate Finance at Lehman Brothers, where she worked for six years. After investment banking, she did interior design work in New York before moving to Charlottesville, Va. She has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the Brearley School, St. Anne’s-Belfield School, Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, CASA and the Music Resource Center. Mrs. Megargel received her undergraduate degree from Trinity College and her MBA from Columbia University.
Paula F. Newcomb, Charlottesville, VA
Paula Newcomb is the former President of VNBTrust, N.A. She joined Virginia National Bank in February 2006 in anticipation of the formation of the Trust Bank. From 1993 to 2004 she served as Director of Development and Public Affairs for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private non-profit organization that owns and operates
Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. She was Vice President for Development and University Relations at the University of Redlands from 1986 until the end of 1991.Mrs. Newcomb spent the first nine years of her development career at St. Lawrence University. She was a founding director of Charlottesville Tomorrow and has also served as a director and chairman of Piedmont CASA. She is currently a CASA volunteer. A native of Denver, Colorado she received the AB from Franklin and Marshall College in 1977.
Wyndham G. Robertson, Chapel Hill, NC
A staff member at FORTUNE Magazine for 25 years, Wyndham Robertson was its first female assistant managing editor. She covered investments, finance and technology. She also served briefly as the business editor of TIME Magazine. Robertson was the first female vice president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system. She is an alumna of Hollins University, where she served as a trustee for 31 years and board chair for three. A member of numerous nonprofit and corporate boards, Robertson has been a director of Capital Cities/ABC Inc., The Equitable Companies Inc., Media General Inc. and Wachovia Corporation.
Mary Lou Seilheimer, Orange, VA
Mary Lou Seilheimer lives in Orange, Virginia, at Mount Sharon Farm, where she manages her extensive gardens, which are opened on a limited basis to groups from throughout the world. Mrs. Seilheimer serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Orange, of which she is the current President, and on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia. She has also been active with the Garden Club of Virginia, serving in a number of capacities including as Co-Chairman of a $2,000,000 campaign for the restoration and expansion of its Headquarters in Richmond; Chairman of the Finance Committee, Vice President, and Chairman of the Restoration Committee, which designates the recipients of Historic Garden Week in Virginia proceeds. For ten years, she served as Chairman of the board of the Highland School, Warrenton, Virginia, and she served on the Board of the Jack Morton Company, now a division of the Interpublic Group of Companies. Mrs. Seilheimer is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Sweet Briar College with a degree in mathematics. She is married to Charles H. Seilheimer, Jr. They have two children and four grandchildren.
Alice H. Siegel, Richmond, VA
Alice Horsley Siegel is a philanthropic and community leader living in Richmond, Virginia. She has served on numerous school and non-profit boards, including "Access Now," connected with the Richmond Academy of Medicine; Old St. John's Church Restoration in King William, VA; and The National Council of Stratford Hall. She is the founder of The Bizarre Bazaar, which supports Richmond-area nonprofits by hosting twice-yearly retail gift shows featuring high quality, artisan products. After graduating with a BA in Biology from Hollins University, she became a research assistant first at Sloan Kettering in New York, then in pediatric immunology at the University of Virginia and finally with the heart transplant team at The Medical College of Virginia. Alice is the widow of John Tyler Siegel, the founder of Thompson, Siegel and Walmsley LLC, an investment firm in Richmond, VA. She and her husband have restored several homes, farms and gardens in Virginia. Chericoke, in King William, VA has been open for Historic Garden Week in Virginia and other fundraising events. She has three married children and nine grandchildren.
Aaron Stern, M.D., Ph.D., Greenwich, CT
Dr. Aaron Stern was trained as a physician and educator. He accomplished his psychiatric training at Yale University and his training in Psychoanalytic Medicine at Columbia University. He also received a PhD from Columbia University where he focused his work upon the methodology of science and empirical studies of child development. Throughout his professional career, he worked concurrently within the disciplines of medicine and education. He was elected to the Center for Advanced Analytic Studies at Princeton and served as the Educational Consultant to the United States Committee for the United Nations. In addition to teaching psychoanalytic
medicine at Columbia University, he was selected to teach Contemporary Civilization as a part of the core undergraduate curriculum at Columbia. He helped to develop the Code and Rating System of the Motion Picture
Association of America and served as its Director. During his educational career, he was on the faculties of
numerous Universities. He has written numerous scientific and educational papers and is the author of the book The Narcissistic American. Growing out of his work as a management consultant, he joined Tiger Management in 1993. He served as a member of the Management Committee, Board of Directors and became the Chief Operating Officer in 2000. He is presently a trustee of the Robertson Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of the Robertson Scholarship program.
Howard and Fredericka Stevenson, Cambridge, MA
Howard Stevenson is Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor and Senior Associate Dean at Harvard Business School, and Director of Publishing and Chair of the board for Harvard Business Publishing Company. He has served in various leadership positions at Harvard during the last 35 years, including as the Vice Provost for Harvard University Resources and Planning. Stevenson has been involved with a number of public and privately held companies, including the Baupost Group, Inc., Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., Preco Corporation and Simmons Associates. He has authored, edited or co-authored eleven books and forty-two articles. He has served in
leadership positions on several nonprofit boards including the Boston Ballet, Sudbury Valley Trustees, National Public Radio, Mount Auburn Hospital and the Nature Conservancy. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard University.
Fredi Stevenson is chair emeritus and cofounder of Summer Search Boston-an organization whose mission is to identify low-income high school youth who demonstrate resiliency in overcoming hardship and the desire to help others. She is a member of the National Summer Search Board, Smithsonian Institution National Board, NPR Foundation Board, WBUR Board of Overseers, and on the boards of The Cambridge Center for Adult Education and the Fellows of the Harvard Art Museums. She is married to Howard H. Stevenson, a professor and senior associate dean at Harvard Business School. She has four daughters and three stepsons.
John B. Syer, Gulfstream, FL
After military service, Jack Syer became CEO of his own transportation business and then president of a regional private equity firm with interests in consumer products, real estate development and technology. In 1994 he became Executive Director of the UVA Alumni Association, a position he held until 2006. He has served on numerous businesses, non-profit and social organization boards. He was president of the Norfolk Academy Board of Trustees and the Virginia Athletic Foundation, a former board member of the General Hospital of Virginia Beach (now Sentara) and held a management roll with the Tidewater, Virginia predecessor of In Home Health. Mr. Syer is a graduate of the University of Virginia. He and his wife Virginia have been married for more than 50 years, and have a son, a daughter and four granddaughters. The Syers reside in Gulf Stream, Florida, but still spend the spring and fall in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Hon. Nicholas F. Taubman, Roanoke, VA
Nick Taubman is a businessman, philanthropist and statesman. Taubman served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Advance Auto Parts between 1969 and 2005, when he became the 42nd U.S. Ambassador to Romania, a position he held until December 2008. Taubman now serves as president of Mozart Investments in Roanoke. A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Taubman graduated from Mercersburg Academy and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He received an honorary degree from Hollins University in 2005. Taubman and his wife, Jenny, are the largest donors to the new Taubman Museum of Art in downtown Roanoke, which was named in their honor.
Jane Tolleson, Charlottesville, VA
Kitchie Tolleson moved to Virginia 1970 and established a breeding and racing stable with her husband, John Ewald, Sr. She later founded "The Very Thing," a retail shop which grew into a national mail order business. In the early days of the catalogue industry, she drew on her experience as an assistant to a Kentucky U.S. Senator and became well-versed in public relations and marketing techniques. She has been actively involved with a number of charitable foundations and educational institutions, having served on the Board of Stuart Hall School, Sweet Briar College, the University of Virginia Law School Business Advisory Council and Alumnae Council, and The Thomas Jefferson Foundation. She received her undergraduate degree from Sweet Briar College, and attended the University of Virginia Law School and later GeorgetownUniversity. She is the mother of three grown children and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Gulf Stream, Florida.
Linda K. Zecher, Boston, MA
Linda Zecher joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in September 2011 as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director. Previously, she served as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's $8 billion Worldwide Public Sector organization, where she led a team of nearly 2,000 sales and marketing professionals serving government, education and healthcare customers in more than 100 countries. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2003, Linda held leadership positions with Texas Instruments, Bank of America, PeopleSoft, Oracle and Evolve Corp. She currently serves on the U.S. State Department's Board for Overseas Schools, the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation Advisory Council, and the Emily Couric Leadership Forum. Linda is also a former member of the Intelligence National Security Association, the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council, and James Madison University's Board of Visitors.
