the Speakers Assembly of Southwest Florida has brought global political leaders, industry experts, leading economists, journalists, and educational professionals to enlighten and empower members on current events in an interactive format including lunch and Q&A.

Goal
To enlighten members by helping them to participate actively in our ever-changing world with informed direction.

Mission

• To provide an array of distinguished speakers from corporate, professional, government, media, educational and entertainment sectors of the world.
• To inform members of the current situations which exist on the national and international scene.
• To enhance standards of educational and cultural excellence.
• To create a relationship with educational institutions to expose students to worldwide leaders and career opportunities.

History
Founded in 1996, the Southwest Florida Speakers Assembly was formed to enhance the educational and cultural opportunities of the community by providing distinguished speakers of national and international reputation. The Speakers Assembly of Southwest Florida is a 501-C6 non-profit, non-partisan organization.

Board of Directors
27 business and professional leaders in the community make up the Board of Directors of the Southwest Florida Speakers Assembly.

Officers
President - Ross H. Roberts, Ford Motor Company (Ret.)
President Elect - J. Paul McGrath, American Standard (Ret.)
Vice President - Daniel J. Borgia, Ph.D.,
                           Director, Institute of Chinese Studies, Professor of Finance, Florida Gulf Coast University
Treasurer - George S. Gilliland, Parker Hannifin (Ret.)
Secretary - Karen T. Butler-Thompson, President, Butler Management Corporation
Immediate Past President - Richard E. Beightol, National Worksite Benefits (Ret.)

Committee Chairs
Finance - George S. Gilliland, Parker Hannifin (Ret.)
Hospitality - Nancy Near, Bonita Springs' Liaison to The Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida
Marketing/Public Relations - Tracy A. Connelly, Director,
                                                 Major Gifts & Corporate Planning, Lee Memorial Health System Foundation
Membership - Daniel J. Borgia, Ph.D.,
                         Director, Institute of Chinese Studies, Professor of Finance, Florida Gulf Coast University
Nominating - J. Paul McGrath, American Standard (Ret.)
Personnel - Scott E. Alexander, President, Northern Trust of Bonita Springs
Program - J. Paul McGrath, American Standard (Ret.)
Student Guest Program - Bruce Wheatley, Ph.D., Commercial Intertec (Ret.)

Directors
Scott E. Alexander, President, Northern Trust of Bonita Springs
Richard E. Beightol, National Worksite Benefits (Ret.)
Daniel J. Borgia, Ph.D., Director, Institute of Chinese Studies, Professor of Finance, Florida Gulf Coast University
Judith Brown, President, JNBA Financial Advisors
Karen Butler-Thompson, President, Butler Management Corporation
Tracy Connelly, Director, Major Gifts & Corporate Planning, Lee Memorial Health System Foundation
Henri Dyner, Sun Chemical Corp. (Ret.)
William Etherington, Chairman of the Board, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Matthew Fenton III, Chesapeake Cadillac-Jaguar (Ret.)
George Gilliland, Parker Hannifin (Ret.)
Jackie Hauserman, Realtor, John R. Wood
Harold Henderson, Eastman Chemical Co. (Ret.)
W. Bruce Hobbs, International Monetary Fund (Ret.)
P. Robert Larson, United Healthcare (Ret.)
D. Mark Lewis, Senior Vice President, Ascendant Wealth Management
J. Paul McGrath, American Standard (Ret.)
Vincent Modarelli, Owner, PRstore of Bonita Springs
Colleen Murphy, Senior Vice President, Market Executive, Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust Company
Nancy Near, Bonita Springs' Liaison to The Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida
Frederick A. Nerone, Ph.D., Dean, School of Business, Hodges University
Richard W. Plowman, Bonita Bay Properties (Ret.)
John W. Risk, Ford Motor Company (Ret.)
Ross H. Roberts, Ford Motor Company (Ret.)
G. Donald Thomson, Attorney, Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A.
Susan Vareschi, General Electric (Ret.)
Bruce Wheatley, Ph.D., Commercial Intertec (Ret.)
Jaynie M. Whitcomb, Williams Companies (Ret.)

Administrators
Audrey Georges, Executive Director
Arden McCurdy, Administrative Assistant

Past Speaker Lineup
More than 99 prominent national and international speakers have participated including:

2007-2008

Senator John B. Breaux
Senior Counsel
Patton Boggs

Kevin Kallaugher
Political Cartoonist
“The Economist”

Ralph S. Larsen
Former Chairman & CEO
Johnson & Johnson

John Mendel
Senior Vice President
Automobile Operations
American Honda Motors Co., Inc.

Henry E. Simmons, M.D.
President
National Coalition on Health Care

Admiral James G. Stavridis
Commander
United States Southern Command

Dr. Sergio Trindade
Director of Science & Technology
International Fuel Technology, Inc.

Special Evening Presentation:
Plenary Panel on Terrorism
James J. Carafano, Ph.D.
   Defense, Military Operations and Stretegy Expert on Homeland Security
   The Heritage Foundation
Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu
   Former Special Services Lieutenant Colonel
Professor Jeffrey H. Norwitz
   Special Agent, Naval Criminal Investigative Service
   United States Naval War College
Robert Spencer
   Author, Founder and Director
   The Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch

2006-2007

Peter Baker
White House Correspondent
The Washington Post

David S. Broder
Pulitzer Prize Winning
Political Correspondent
The Washington Post

Keith Crain
Chairman
Crain Communications

Steve Forbes
President & CEO
Forbes, Inc.
Editor-in-Chief
Forbes Magazine

Susan Glasser
Assistant Managing Editor
The Washington Post

Gen. Charles C. Krulak
Commandant (Retired)
United States Marine Corps

Dr. Nicholas Lardy
Senior Fellow
Institute for International Economics

Sandra Pianalto
President and CEO
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Robert E. Rector
Senior Research Fellow
Domestic Policy Studies
The Heritage Foundation

 

2005-2006

Dr. Dan Borgia
FGCU International School of Business

Peter T.R. Brookes
Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs
Director, Heritage Foundations’s Center for Asian Studies
New York Post Columnist

The Honorable David F. Durenberger
Chair, National Institute of Health Policy
Senior Health Policy Fellow, University of St. Thomas

Sir Eldon Griffiths
President, Orange County World Affairs Council
Director, Center for International Business, Chapman University
Former Member of Parliament

Dr. Charles Kimball
Chair of the Religion Department, Wake Forest University

Mark Russell
Tenth Anniversary Evening Celebration

William Seidman
Economist and Chief Commentator
CNBC

The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman
President, The Whitman Strategy Group
Former Administrator of the EPA
Former Governor of New Jersey

2004-2005

Michael Barone
Fox News Channel Contributor
Senior Writer, U.S. News & World Report
Principal co-author of “The Almanac of American Politics”

David S. Broder
Pulitzer Prize-winning National Political Correspondent,
Washington Post

Isabel Cutler
Author and Photographer

Walter L. Cutler
President, Meridian International Center
Former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Expert on International Terrorism

Henrietta Holsman Fore
Director, United States Mint

Edwin Meese III
Chairman, The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
Former U.S. Attorney General

Peter Schweitzer
Chairman, J. Walter Thompson

Kenneth Starr
Dean, Pepperdine University’s School of Law
Former Independent Counsel - Whitewater

Ambassador Randall Tobias
United States Global Aids Coordinator

 

2003-2004

Michael Allen
White House Correspondent, Washington Post

Yogi Berra
Former New York Yankee Catcher
Member, National Baseball Hall of Fame

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal M.D., M.P.A.
U.S. Assistant Surgeon General

Tom Fenton
CBS News
Senior European Correspondent Covering Europe, Africa, Asia and the Iraqi War

Ambassador Tony P. Hall
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture

Paul Ingrassia
President, Dow Jones Newswires
Pulitzer Prize-winning Author

Reeve Lindbergh
President, The Lindbergh Foundation
Author

Honorable Bill Nelson
United States Senator for Florida

 

2002-2003

Frank Carlucci
Former Secretary of Defense & Head of the National Security Council
Currently Chairman & Managing Director, The Carlyle Group

General J.B. Davis, USAF (Ret)
Former Chief of Staff
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (NATO)

Betty R. Franklin
Senior Editor, Forbes Magazine

Jay W. Ireland III
President, NBC Television Stations

Thomas A. James
Chairman & CEO, Raymond James Financial, Inc.

Dale A. Petroskey
President, American Baseball Hall of Fame

Mark T. Savoff
President, Nuclear Energy GE Power Systems

William L. Winter, Ph.D.
President & Executive Director, American Press Institute (AP)

 

2001-2002

Kathleen Barclay
Vice President, Global Human Resources
General Motors Corporation

William Clay Ford Jr.
CEO & Chairman, Ford Motor Company

Jane E. Henney, M.D.
Former Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration

David M. Jones, Ph.D.
Chairman & Chief Economist, Audrey G. Lanston & Co., Inc.
Commentator, CNN, CNBC, Money Line

Honorable Warren B. Rudman
U.S. Senator, 1980-1992

Eugene R. Tempel, Ed.D., CFRE
Executive Director, National Center on Philanthropy, Indiana University

General John H. Tilelli Jr.
USA (Retired)
President & CEO, USO Worldwide Operations

Michael Uslan
Film Producer, Batman Series and other films

 

2000-2001

John Clifton Bogle
Founder, The Vanguard Group

Earl Bruce
Former Head Football Coach, Ohio State University

Peter Copeland
Editor & General Manager, Scripps Howard News Service

Dr. Norman Gjostein
Director of Research, Ford Motor Co.

Honorable Lee Hamilton
President, Woodrow Wilson International Center
U. S. Congress 1995-1999

Erich Kunzel
Principal Pops Conductor, Naples, Cincinnati, & National Symphony Orchestras

Robert Siegel
National Public Radio Host, “All Things Considered”

 

1999-2000

Tom Fenton
Chief European Correspondent, CBS News

Edward Kelly Jr.
Member, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Board

David R. Mercer
National Executive Director, YMCA

Kent Nelson
Former Chairman & CEO, United Parcel Service

Shirley Peterson
President, Hood College
Former IRS Commissioner

Paul Pass
First Mayor, City of Bonita Springs

Ian Rolland
Former Chairman & CEO, Lincoln National Financial Services

Honorable Richard Thornburgh
Former Attorney General of the United States

 

1998-1999

Judith N. Brown
Chair of National Board of Directors, AARP (Retired)

Dr. Jay Clark Buckey Jr.
Physician/Astronaut

Susan Crandell
Executive Editor, Ladies Home Journal

Tom Curley
President & Publisher, USA TODAY

Tom Fazio
CEO, Fazio Golf Course Designers

Honorable Porter Goss
U.S. House of Representatives

Honorable Arthur A. Hartman
Former Ambassador, USSR & France (Retired)

Dr. Jackson Janes
Executive Director, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies

William A. Osborn
Chairman & CEO, Northern Trust Corporation

 

1997-1998

Ljubica Z. Acevska
Ambassador, Republic of Macedonia

James G. Brocksmith Jr.
KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP

Christopher Farrell
Senior Economic & Business Editor

J. Howard “Bumpy” Frazer
H. Howard Frazer Company

John A. “Jack” Krol
President & CEO, Dupont

William Steere
CEO, Pfizer, Inc.

Dan K. Thomasson
Editor, Scripps Howard News Chief of Washington Bureau

C. Richard Wagoner Jr.
President, North American Division, General Motors

 

1996-1997

Steven R. Berrard
President & CEO, Republic Industries, Inc.

Robert G. Dederick
Northern Trust Company

Muriel Fox
Executive VP, Carl Byoir Agency

Ann McFeatters
White House Correspondent

Honorable Richard S. Schweiker
Former U.S. Congressman, Senator & Cabinet Member

Dave Thomas
Founder/CEO, Wendy’s International, Inc.

 

Goal |  Mission  |  History  |  Board of Directors  |  Officers  |  Committee Chairs  |  Directors  |  Administrators  Past Speaker Lineup:  2006-07  |  2005-06  |  2004-05  |  2003-04  |  2002-03  |  2001-02  | 2000-01  |  1999-2000  |  1998-99  |  1997-98  |  1996-97 Back to the top Contact Us