Marilyn Westfall
Rob Boston [Back to Top]
ROBERT BOSTON is assistant director of communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) and the assistant editor of AU's monthly magazine Church & State. He is recognized as a leading writer and researcher on church-state topics and an articulate advocate for the separation of church and state. He frequently writes about the political goals of the Religious Right and other church-state issues, such as religion in public schools, tax aid to sectarian education and religious freedom. He covers the U.S. Supreme Court for Church & State and has attended oral arguments in every church-state case at the high court since 1988.
Boston is the author of three books: Close Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics (Prometheus Books, 2000); The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition (Prometheus Books, 1996) and Why the Religious Right Is Wrong About Separation of Church and State (Prometheus Books, 1993; second edition, 2003).
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Beverly Church [Back to Top]
BEVERLY CHURCH is a registered nurse with a certification in psychiatric and mental health nursing. She lives in Sacramento, CA and works for the State of California, Department of Health Services as a nurse evaluator. After discovering Humanism in 2003, Beverly became involved in her local group-joining the Humanist Association of the Greater Sacramento Area (HAGSA) and the American Humanist Association. She is vice president of HAGSA and serves on the executive council of the AHA Chapter Assembly and the board of directors of Atheists and Other Freethinkers. In an effort to educate the public, foster an atmosphere of cooperation among groups within the local freethought community, and improve the public perception of Humanists and other freethinkers, Beverly chairs Freethought Day, an annual outdoor event in Sacramento.
Carleton Coon, Vice President [Back to Top]
CARL COON is a retired diplomat with an abiding interest in foreign lands and peoples. He graduated from Harvard in 1949 and joined the U.S. Foreign Service. He served in many places and had many assignments, mostly in the Middle East and South Asia. Carl's most recent foreign assignment was as ambassador to Nepal (1981-84). He retired in 1985 and has traveled widely since then. Carl's second book, One Planet, One People, Beyond 'Us vs. Them', was published last year by Prometheus.
Charles Debrovner [Back to Top]
CHARLES (CHUCK) DEBROVNER, PhD, has devoted his professional career to medicine, helping couples with infertility to achieve their dreams of a family, and to education, helping to train young doctors for careers in obstetrics and gynecology. Humanism has been an important part of his life for over twenty years. For seven years he served as president of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and for the past fifteen years he served as president of the Humanist Institute and as a board member of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He has also served as an expert in medical legal matters. Chuck lives in New York City.
Mynga Futrell [Back to Top]
MYNGA FUTRELL, PhD, has a broad background in education. In addition to teaching math and science courses, she has developed curriculum resources for undergraduate education and trained and supervised other teachers. As a freelancer, she has also developed curriculum materials and websites for public education to help social studies teachers understand freethought (www.teachingaboutfreethought.org) and bridge the faith/no-faith chasm (www.teachingaboutreligion.org). Futrell has been active in Humanism for several years. She has led several civil activism projects in Sacramento, California, including the "Reason for the Season" donation project for public libraries and the founding of a Sacramento Freethought Day event, now in its fifth year. She is also the co-chair of Sacramento's Darwin Day.
Rebecca
Hale, Secretary [Back
to Top]
REBECCA HALE is a lifelong Humanist, beginning as a child in New York under the official religious category of Unitarian. She holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado, which she has used in careers as a city administrator, real estate/resort developer, and college administrator. She currently works tirelessly for freethought and Humanism by running EvolveFISH.com and serving on the board of the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs, both of which she and her husband Gary Betchan founded a little over eleven years ago. She was recently granted Celebrant status by the Humanist Society. Rebecca has been certified by the Educational Kinesiology Foundation and has continued in this work by developing programs and curriculum for teachers and seniors. She has two children, Josh, age 23, and Tani, age 5; they are both brilliant, free spirited Humanists in their own right.
Melvin
Lipman, President (Biography) [Back to Top]
David
Niose, Treasurer [Back to Top]
DAVID NIOSE's background includes experience in law and mass communication. A graduate of Boston University's School of Public Communication and Suffolk University Law School, he has practiced law in Massachusetts since 1990. He has also worked in print and broadcast media, taught both history and law, and written extensively on a wide array of social and political issues. As chair of the AHA's Media Committee, Niose has helped develop the AHA's media campaign, where the AHA has begun promoting Humanism in national media to build awareness and acceptance of the Humanist worldview. Niose has spoken to freethought groups around the country, emphasizing the importance of utilizing mass media to inject Humanist ideas into the public dialogue, improve the public image of Humanists, and sway public opinion away from the religious right. Niose also sits on the advisory panel of the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), and in 2004 he filed a complaint with the FCC on behalf of SCA, protesting the granting of educational television channels to televangelists. Niose is also a member of the Humanist Association of Massachusetts, the Secular Student Alliance, and a founding member of Greater Worcester Humanists.
Susan Sackett [Back to Top]
SUSAN SACKETT grew up in Connecticut and Florida and received both her BAE and MEd degrees from the University of Florida in Gainesville (1964;1965). After teaching elementary school in Miami for two years, she moved to Los Angeles in 1968, where she taught for a short time. But her lifelong dream of working in Hollywood persisted, and she quit her teaching job to work in the entertainment industry. In 1974 she landed a job as assistant to Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, and worked with him until his death in 1991. Her career with Roddenberry encompassed both production work and writing. She is the author of ten books and co-writer of several teleplays. It was Roddenberry who introduced Susan to Humanism. Realizing that she, too, was a Humanist, she joined the AHA in 1989. In 1994 Susan left California and relocated to Arizona, where she became active in her local AHA chapter, the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix (HSGP). She has been president of HSGP since 2000. Thanks to her efforts, her chapter was selected AHA Chapter of the Year for 2001. In 2002 she founded HUMANICON SOUTHWEST Inc., a 501 (c) (3) corporation, dedicated to promoting Humanism throughout the Southwest by producing Humanistically-themed multi-media conventions. Humanicon Southwest was made possible by a major grant from the Institute for Humanist Studies. Additionally, under Susan's guidance, her Phoenix AHA chapter applied for and has received two Chapter Assembly grants to help promote Humanism in Arizona. A grant received in 2005 will go towards renovating the quarter of a million dollar property the Phoenix chapter has recently acquired. Susan has been a Certified Humanist Celebrant since 2001.
Marilyn Westfall [Back to Top]
MARILYN WESTFALL, PhD, discovered Humanism in college through studying art history, literature, and theater. After completing a doctorate in english she served as an editorial assistant and published several writings. She served as director of programs for the First Unitarian Universalist Church for three years and is a founding member of the UU Infidels. Westfall currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband, Peter.