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.