Our Board of Advisors
John Danforth
Former United States Senator John C. Danforth is a partner with the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP.
In 2004, Danforth represented the United States as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations where he focused on ending the North/South civil war in Sudan, a 20 year conflict that killed two million people and displaced five million others. President Bush appointed Danforth as Special Envoy to Sudan in 2001. A peace agreement between the two sides was ultimately signed in Nairobi, Kenya on January 9, 2005.
Danforth represented the State of Missouri in the United States Senate for 18 years. Prior to his retirement from the Senate at the end of 1994, Danforth served on three key committees: the Committee on Finance; Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and the Select Committee on Intelligence. His major legislative initiatives were in the areas of international trade, telecommunications, health care, research & development, transportation and civil rights.
Currently, Danforth is Chairman of the Danforth Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on strengthening the St. Louis metropolitan area. He also chaired St. Louis 2004, a twelve county, citizen-based effort to revitalize the region through improvements in economic growth, capital projects and health care.
Additionally, Danforth serves on the boards of Cerner Corporation and Greenhill and Co. He has authored two books: Resurrection (Viking) and Faith and Politics (Viking).
In September, 1999, Danforth was appointed Special Counsel by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. After interviewing over 1,000 witnesses and examining over 2.3 million pages of documents along with thousands of pounds of physical evidence, it was concluded that Government agents were not responsible for the devastation at Waco.
Danforth began his political career in 1968, when he was elected Attorney General of Missouri, his first race for public office. He was re-elected to the post in 1972. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and re-elected in 1982 and 1988.
Danforth graduated with honors from Princeton University in 1958. In 1963, he received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale Law School. Before seeking public office, Danforth practiced law in New York City and St. Louis.
Bob Kerrey
Since 2001, Senator Bob Kerrey has been president of The New School, a university founded on strong democratic ideals and daring educational practices, and well-suited for his leadership.
Throughout his career in public service, while serving as a governor and U.S. senator from Nebraska during the 1980s and 1990s, Bob Kerrey advocated for increased education spending. He continues to do so, recognizing that democratic life flourishes most when all citizens are properly educated and given every chance to participate in the political process. In his view, the United States has an obligation to work with the rest of the world to expand opportunities for all people. That is why he supports active diplomacy, foreign aid and free trade. Such support led him to serve on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and to become an active member of the 9/11 Commission.
Bob Kerrey is the author of When I Was A Young Man: A Memoir, published by Harcourt Books (May 2002). He served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, currently leads a five year writing challenge sponsored by The National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges, is co-chair with Newt Gingrich of The National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care, and is a member of the advisory board of the United States Government Accountability Office and the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board.
In May 2005 Bob Kerrey received the Robert L. Haig Award for Distinguished Public Service from the New York State Bar Association, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from New York Law School.
Max Cleland
Senator Max Cleland is a native of Georgia. After graduating from Lithonia High School, he attended Stetson University where he earned his BA Degree and took a second lieutenant's commission in the U.S. Army through its ROTC program. He has also earned a Masters Degree in American History from Emory University.
In 1967, Cleland volunteered for duty in Vietnam and was promoted to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army. After being seriously wounded in a grenade explosion where he lost both legs and his right arm on April 8, 1968, Cleland returned to the United States just one month prior to the end of his tour of duty. He has since been awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service and the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action.
After returning home from Vietnam, Cleland was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1970 at the age of twenty-eight. In 1977, he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to head the U.S. Veterans Administration. In 1982, Georgia voters elected him Secretary of State, the youngest in Georgia's history.
In 1996, Cleland was elected to the United States Senate, where he served on the Senate Armed Services Committee; the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Small Business Committee; and the Governmental Affairs Committee.
Senator Cleland turned to public service because he believes that the main goal of politics is to generate hope in people. Throughout his life and political career--as chronicled in his autobiography, Strong at the Broken Places: A Personal Story--he has demonstrated his ability to overcome hardship and to offer hope.
Bob Holden
From 2001 until 2005, Bob Holden served as governor of the state of Missouri. As governor, Holden was known as both an effective business administrator and as a compassionate defender of Missouri’s elderly and school children. During his term as governor, Bob Holden repeatedly demonstrated his commitment and effectiveness as a leader of economic development. During the four years of his governorship, Missouri ranked among the top 10 states in job creation.
Prior to his term as governor, Holden served two terms as state treasurer. As the elected official responsible for investing and safeguarding Missouri’s treasury, Bob Holden reached milestones such as being the first state treasurer to earn more than $1 billion in investment income for the taxpayers of Missouri.
Following a career in public service spanning more than 25 years, former Missouri Governor Bob Holden now is a private sector leader in the fields of education and international economic development.
Governor Holden is chairman of The Holden Group, LLC, where he advises public and private sector clients on business development and international trade strategies. Holden is also serving as a Dole Fellow at the Dole Institute on the campus of the University of Kansas.
Governor Holden is vice chairman of the new Midwest U.S.-China Association featuring senior advisors, Adlai Stevenson, former U.S. senator, Walter Mondale, former U.S. vice president, and Bill Daley, former U.S. secretary of Commerce. The Association works with all Midwestern governors to improve economic cooperation and stimulate business growth between the Midwestern states and China.
Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr.
Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr. was the 46th mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, serving three terms from 1981 to 1993. At the time of his first election, he was one of the City's youngest mayors. Schoemehl is remembered for his leadership in the areas of historic preservation and urban design. He helped save the Cupples Warehouses from demolition and promoted "public-private partnerships" that led to more than 600 successful rehabilitation projects. He also launched Operation Brightside, a City beautification program, and Operation Safestreet, a home safety program.
Born in Saint Louis in 1946, Schoemehl served six years on the board of aldermen as a representative from the 28th ward before being elected mayor. Currently, he serves as president and CEO of Grand Center, Inc. Schoemehl returned to public office in 2003, winning election as a member of the St. Louis School Board. He resigned from that position in November 2005.
Harris Wofford
Harris Wofford was born in New York City on 9th April, 1926. After graduating from the University of Chicago (1948) and Howard University Law School (1954) he became a lawyer. Wofford was legal assistant, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1954-1958) before becoming a law professor at Notre Dame University (1959-1960).
In 1960 Wofford was appointed special assistant to John F. Kennedy and chairman of the Subcabinet Group on Civil Rights (1960-1962). He assisted in the formation of the Peace Corps and served as special representative to Africa. He was later to hold the post of Associate Director of the Peace Corps (1962-1966).
Wofford also served as president of the College at Old Westbury (1966-1970) and Bryn Mawr College (1970-1978). In 1980 he published Of Kennedys and Kings (1980). The book provides an insiders view of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, McGeorge Bundy, Dean Rusk, Robert S. McNamara, Theodore Sorenson and other leading political figures in the 1960s.
In May, 1991, Wofford ; was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry John Heinz, III.
Harris Wofford was Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service from October 1995 to January 2001. |
