Chris Anderson – Chris is the Marketing, Development, and Internet/E-commerce Manager for The Resource Center, a community center with over 1,400 employees in Jamestown, New York, whose mission is helping people with disabilities to live better and more productive lives. Chris says, “most importantly, I advocate for the unique individuals we serve on a daily basis.” Chris is also the Owner/Partner of an Internet marketing, advertising, and web design firm called SnowCrest Digital, focused on internet marketing for companies, service providers, manufacturers and charities, and is an accomplished photographer. Chris earned his MBA from Saint Bonaventure University and a BA from Slippery Rock University.
Warren C. Blanchard – Warren C. Blanchard, Jr., (Wren) resides with his wife, Susan and son, Steven in San Antonio, Texas, having retired there from the US Air Force as a Command Pilot with the rank of Lt Col. He then flew at American Airlines, finally retiring in 2005 as an MD80 Captain. Wren graduated from Colgate University in 1967 with a degree in Psychology and later from St. Mary’s University, earning a Master’s Degree in Systems Management . He remains active with the “vintage” version of the Colgate Thirteen, an a capella singing group of which he was a member in undergraduate days. He is a past volunteer with the San Antonio Symphony League and currently active in the San Antonio Parrot Head Club, a national charitable organization. Wren actively supports and helps coach Texas Special Olympics in which his son, Steven, participates. He is currently Vice-President of The A-1 Skyraider Association, a group of former Vietnam fighter pilots. Wren’s interests include golf, snow skiing, boating, cycling, motorcycling, music and photography. A Jamestown, New York native, Wren and his family have a summer residence on Chautauqua Lake.
Gabriel Dunn – Gabriel Dunn is a native of WNY and is a local business owner of unDunn Art Services, where she provides conservation, museum, and education services for private, institutional, and public works of art. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Painting, Bachelor of Science in Art History, and Masters with Certificate of Advanced Study in Conservation from Buffalo State College in Buffalo, NY. Her interests vary and include art, history, science, gardening, and nature.
William R. Hackney III (Treasurer) – A resident of Atlanta, Georgia and Lake Toxaway, North Carolina, Bill is a Senior Partner with Atlanta Capital Management, and is responsible for the firm’s economic research and investment strategy, and is the author of the firm’s quarterly investment newsletter. A graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Citadel, Bill retired with the rank of Colonel in the US Marine Corps Reserve, and enjoys American history, golf, business writing and art collecting.
George Harper Jr., Ph.D. – George, and spouse Jennifer, reside in Conway, Arkansas where George is an Associate Professor of Biology and Health Sciences at Hendrix College. He teaches courses in the fields of Ecology and Evolution and has published papers and a book chapter on coral snakes and their venom, and on non-venomous species of snakes that mimic coral snakes. George received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the State University of New York at Fredonia and his doctorate in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to embarking on an education and career in biology, he was an Internal Revenue Service auditor for several years and then a self-employed tax preparer. George has had a lifelong interest in nature and the fascinating organisms that inhabit it, and he and Jennifer enjoy hiking, camping, and other activities that allow them to spend time in nature.
Wilson Mudge (Secretary) – Wilson is a partner in the law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC, specializing in antitrust matters of all types including mergers, civil and criminal investigations, and civil litigation. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and The American University, Washington College of Law. Wilson has had a lifelong interest in natural history and the outdoors, including fly fishing, hiking, hunting and camping. A native of Jamestown, New York, Wilson now resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Amy and two children, Annabel and Emmett.
Lee Allen Peterson (Vice-chair) – The younger of two sons of Roger Tory Peterson, Lee has worked either directly or indirectly with the world of Natural History his entire life. As a gastronomic botanist, he has lectured throughout the United States and Canada and, as a jeweler, he has participated in art, museum and trade shows throughout the country. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Lee has been self-employed as an author and lecturer from 1972 to the present, and is the author/illustrator of A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1977) which he is revising for a new publication date of 2015. Lee and his wife Courtney reside on a 200 year old farm in Southeastern Pennsylvania, where they raise sheep and produce nature inspired jewelry in their Courtney Design studio.
Tory Peterson – The eldest of two sons of Roger Tory Peterson, Tory has spent his career in the fields of corporate lending, and as a broker and financial advisor. He holds degrees from Wesleyan University, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where he earned an MBA in Finance in 1979, and served in the United States Air Force in its security service, and as a linguist. He was co-chair with E.O. Wilson at the Harvard Museum of Natural History for the Roger Tory Peterson Medal and Lecture Series. Tory and his wife Janet reside in Tryon, North Carolina.
Alberto Rey – Born in Havana, Cuba, Alberto received his B.F.A from Indiana University of Pennsylvania after attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He received his M.F.A. in Drawing and Painting from the University at Buffalo, and studied contemporary art and environmental studies at Harvard University. He is presently a Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia in the Department of Visual Arts and New Media. His artwork is in the permanent collection of around 20 museums in the United States and Europe and has been in over 200 exhibitions. He is also an Orvis endorsed fly fishing guide and the founder and director of the Children in the Stream Youth Fly Fishing Program/ 4H. In the past, he has been the Director/Curator at the Chautauqua Center of the Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution, and was appointed to the New York State Council on the Arts and to the Artist’s Advisory Panel of the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Doug Schutte, ChFC (President) – Doug is a wealth manager with Summit Wealth Management, Inc. in Jamestown, New York, and began his career in the financial services industry in 1984. He transitioned his business to financial planning and investment advisory in 1996, encompassing retirement and investment planning, tax, estate and charitable planning. Doug formed Summit Accounting Solutions, LLC in 2010. Doug has coached youth hockey, baseball and softball, as well as served on numerous committees in the community. He and his wife Lisa, have four children.
Erika Stanat – A former active-duty servicemember and attorney in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGC), Erika is a commercial and intellectual property litigator at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP in Rochester, New York. Erika has an active mediation practice, and serves as a Certified Federal Court Mediator for the US District Court for the Western District of New York. She is a Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, Trial Lawyer Honorary Society. Erika, a Jamestown, New York native, earned her J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law and her B.A. from Bucknell University, where she was the recipient of the Young Alumni Award.
Linda Goodridge Steckley – Linda has spent the last thirty-five years as a fund raising professional, most recently as Senior Major Gifts Officer for Chautauqua Institution. Her five years at Chautauqua followed seven as vice president for development and executive education at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Brookings, her fund-raising focus was on higher education with chief fund raising positions at Duke University School of Law, New York University School of Law, and the University of Miami where she earned an MBA in 1987. Linda currently serves as a vice president of the University of Miami Alumni Association and is a founding board member of the Fund for Education Abroad in Washington, DC. Linda and her husband raised a blended family of five sons. The family has grown and now includes nine grandchildren. Linda and Pete divide their time between their homes in Key Biscayne, Florida, and Chautauqua, New York.
Jeanne Wiebenga, MD Born and raised in The Netherlands, Jeanne completed Medical School at Leiden University in 1973. After some years of rotating internships she joined a Dutch government program that sponsored young physicians to work in developing countries. She chose to serve in a rural mission hospital in the rainforest of western Ghana. After a 3-year contract she had the opportunity to come to the US as a foreign medical graduate and completed a Masters in Public Health at Harvard and a residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at SUNY, Buffalo. In accordance with J-1 Visa requirements she returned to The Netherlands to work at the Rotterdam University Hospital and was again assigned with the Dutch government to Africa, this time as a senior staff ObGyn specialist in Blantyre, Malawi, for another 3-year contract. In 1992 she returned to the US and joined a private practice in Jamestown, NY, admitting patients to WCA Hospital, making her permanent home in Chautauqua, NY. In 2002 she decided to move on professionally and spent the next 15 years working with underserved women, from the Navajo Nation in Arizona, to Native Alaskans and Aboriginal women in northern Queensland, Australia, to South American immigrants in Washington, DC. She also volunteered with various medical missions in Africa, most recently in South Sudan with Doctors without Borders (2017). Jeanne retired in 2019 and still lives in Chautauqua, with her long-time partner Dr Jane Stirniman, who was a missionary surgeon long before Jeanne met her in Ghana in 1977. They worked together on many projects around the world. Jeanne is an avid nature photographer, traveler, loves the outdoors and is active in various sports. She is a board member of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and of various local organizations.
Marilyn Zagora, Ph.D. – Dr. Marilyn A. Zagora has served as vice president of academic affairs at State University of New York – Jamestown Community College since 2007. During the past several decades, she has served in a variety of other leadership roles at the college including dean of student development and marketing, dean of student affairs, division chair for human development and educational services, and ad hoc associate dean of instruction. During her tenure as a member of the counseling faculty at JCC, she delivered a full range of counseling services and taught several courses, including life/career planning and leadership development. Dr. Zagora studied at the State University of New York at Buffalo, earning a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling, and a doctorate in counseling psychology. She has been the recipient of both the Faculty Award for Excellence and the Administrative Award for Excellence from Jamestown Community College. Dr. Zagora has served on the editorial board of the NACADA Journal – The Journal of the National Academic Advising Association. She currently serves on the board of the Manufacturers’ Association of the Southern Tier.
