OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Charles Geshekter, Chairman.  Professor of African History, California State University, Chico.  B.A. in History, University of Richmond, 1965.  M.A. in African History, Howard University, 1966.  Ph.D.  in African History, University of California, Los Angeles, 1968. Developed curriculum in African History, Chico.  Interests and publications: Somalia, African languages, diseases of poverty.

John M. Ellis, President.  Professor emeritus of German Literature, University of  California, Santa Cruz.  Dean of the Graduate Division, 1977-1986.  Ph.D. in German Literature, London University, 1965; B.A. in German Literature
and Philosophy, 1959. Interests and publications: Theory of language and literature, German literature. Founding secretary of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics.

Gerald E. P. Gillespie, Treasurer. Professor emeritus of Literatures, Cultures, Languages, Stanford University.  University of Munich, postgraduate, 1960-61; Ohio State University, M.A., 1958, Ph.D., 1961; University of Tübingen, postgraduate, 1956-57; A.B., Harvard University, 1956.  President of the International Comparative Literature Association, 1994-1997;  he is lead editor in its international project Romantic Prose Fiction.  Fulbright, Mellon, Guggenheim, and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships.   Professor at the University of Southern California, 1961-1964) and SUNY Binghamton, 1965-1974.  Research fellow at the Universities of Pittsburgh and Cambridge and a guest professor at the Universities of Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, Peking, East Anglia, Munich, and the Fern-University, Hagen.  Honorary Professor of International Studies at Liaoning University (China).  Interests and publications:  European and New World literature from the
Renaissance to the present; interrelationship among the arts; principles of narrative; literature and science; practice and theory of international comparative literature.

Matt Malkan, Secretary.  Professor of Astronomy, University of
California, Los Angeles.  Ph.D. in Astronomy, CalTech 1983.  C.P.G.S., Cambridge University, 1978.  M.A. in Physics, Harvard, 1977.   B.A. in Astrophysics, Harvard, 1977.   Interests and publications:  galaxies in their early stages, utilization and evaluation of advanced astrophysical instrumentation.

Leila Beckwith. Professor emeritus of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles.  B.S., College of the University of Chicago, 1950. Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Chicago, 1959.  Interests and publications: Parenting practices, infant and toddler development, attachment theory.

Jack Citrin.  Heller Professor of Political Science and Director, Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley where he has been on the faculty since 1970.  His research interests center on the relations of public opinion and public policy and he has written widely on political trust, direct democracy, affirmative action, immigration, and American national identity. He is the co-author of two new books in press Constitutional Controversies: The Supreme Court and Public Opinion (Oxford University Press 2008) and American Identity and the Politics of Multiculturalism (Cambridge University Press 2008). He presently is a member of the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Glynn Custred.  Professor of Anthropology (Linguistics),
California State University, East Bay.  Ph.D., Indiana University, Anthropology, 1973; M. A.  Latin American History, 1965; B.A. European History, 1962.   Interests and publications: language change, peoples of the High Andes, frontiers between nationalities and cultures.  Co-Author, California Civil Rights Initiative, Proposition 209 (banning racial preferences).

Gail Heriot.  Professor of Law, University of San Diego.  J.D.
cum laude, University of Chicago Law School, 1981.  B.A. in Political Science, with highest distinction, Northwestern University, 1978.  Commisioner, United States Commission on Civil Rights, 2007 - present. Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee, 1998.  Associate, Hogan & Hartson LLP, Washington, DC, 1984-1989.  Law Clerk, Illinois Supreme Court.  Interests and publications: civil rights law, election reform, tort reform.  Professor Heriot has written extensively on higher education issues, including race-based admissions policies, in the popular press, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Washington Times, the National Review and the Weekly Standard. She has testified concerning race-based admissions policies at hearings before both houses of the U.S. Congress.

Charles R. Kesler.  Senior Fellow, Claremont Institute, and Editor, Claremont Review of Books.  Associate Director, Henry Salvatori Center at Claremont McKenna College.   Ph.D. in Government, Harvard.  Interests  and publications: contemporary American politics, the US Constitution, the American founding.  

Hal Pashler.  Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Diego.  Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 1985.    A.B. Brown University, Logic and Philosophy of Science and Sc.B. Magna Cum Laude, 1980.  Troland Research Award, National Academy of Sciences.  Interests and publications: cognitive psychology, vision, learning.

Sylvia J. Wasson. Professor of German and English as a Second Language, Santa Rosa Junior College.  Ed.D., University of San Francisco, 1993. M.A. (summa cum laude) in German Language and Literature, San Francisco State University, 1979.  M.A., B.A. Education and English, Paedagogische Hochschule Esslingen, Germany, 1970.  Interests and research: Cold War politics, Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School, the politicization of the contemporary American campus.