Officers:
Michael Koban (Chairman)
Directors:
Sharon Bell
Tom Curtis
Rob Gordon (President)
Lydia Howarth
William B. King
Paula Lovell
Randall McCathren
Kerry O’Neil
Stephen Rick
Richard M. Riebeling
Sandra Roberts
Sandy Spitz
Bernard Turner
Donald R. Williamson
Brenda Wynn
Send a message to the WPLN Board of Directors
Board Meetings
All meetings are held at Nashville Public Radio and are open to the public. Please contact us for more information if you would like to attend one of these meetings.
2010 WPLN Board Meeting Calendar:
February 16
April 20
June 22
August 17
October 26
December 14
Meet Our Board Members
William B. King
Bill King is the founder and chairman of Board Member, Inc., the publisher of Bank Director and Corporate Board Member magazines. His currently serves as a Partner in StrategyCorps, and formerly served as Chairman of both Private Business, Inc. and of FISI Madison Financial Corporation. He serves on the boards of directors of Ingram Entertainment, Inc., of Journal Communications, and of Tecniflex, Inc.
Paula Lovell
Paula Lovell founded Lovell Communications in 19988, following a career as a print and electronic media journalist. She has held positions at WSMV-TV, ESPAN, The Nashville Network and the Nashville Banner. Under Paula’s direction, Lovell Communications has received national recognition for its marketing programs and its community and media relations campaigns, as well as its crisis communications and employee relations work.
Kerry O’Neil
Kerry and his partner, Mary Anne Pitt, who is a member of the WPLN Community Advisory Board, are both long-time WPLN listeners and members.
Kerry O’Neil is the founding member of the entertainment consulting and business management firm of O’Neil Hagaman, PLLC, representing various major entertainers, producers, independent publishers and writers, and music industry executives. He also co-founded Warner Western Records and the publishing company Big Yellow Dog Music.
Kerry has been an avid NPR listener since moving to Nashville in 1980. He received his BBA from George Washington University and his MBA from Babson College and is also a CPA. He has served as a board member for several entertainment community organizations including the W.O. Smith/Nashville Community Music School and Leadership Music.
Randall McCathren
Randall has been a devoted NPR listener since his law school days in Berkeley. After graduating from Yale University and Berkeley Law School, Randall moved to Nashville in 1976 from the University of Texas law faculty to teach at Vanderbilt Law School and do research on family policy issues at Vanderbilt Institute of Public Policy Studies. Randall currently serves as president of a national consulting and investment firm, BLC Associates, specializing in business start-ups and new technologies in the retail auto finance and leasing industries.
Randall has chaired the Outreach Cluster at Christ Episcopal Cathedral and been a member of a number of local, national and international non-profit boards. Randall has traveled on mission trips to Ecuador, Bolivia and South Africa each of the last six years and is currently Vice-President of the Sihawukelwe Lauren’s Children’s Home near Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Bernard Turner
Dr. Turner is well-known throughout the state for his work in helping non-profits through his grant writing workshops and fund development consultation services at the Center for Non-Profit Management.
Currently Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Belmont University, Bernard has a diverse professional background. He has held management positions in the fields of education, healthcare, oil and construction, and has also served as senior program officer for a national non-profit and as director of grant development for Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
Bernard holds an Ed.D. from Trevecca Nazarene University, an M.A. in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, an M.B.A. from the University of Toledo and a B.S. in Business from the University of Findlay (Ohio).
Michael A. Koban, Jr.
Michael brings to the WPLN Board more than three decades of experience in health care finance. He was with HCA for 11 years, last serving as Treasurer, and then became Senior Vice President for HealthTrust, a public spin-off company of HCA. He was a co-founder of NetCare Health Systems, and since 2001 has been a private investor in Nashville.
In addition to his impressive financial expertise, Mike is an experienced non-profit volunteer. He has served on the boards of numerous community service organizations in Nashville, and as president of the Nashville Chapter of the Financial Executives Institute. He has chaired successful capital campaigns for both The University School of Nashville and Westminster Presbyterian Church, fundraising experience that will be a great benefit to WPLN.
A native Tennessean, Mike is a graduate of the University of Tennessee (BS Finance) and Memphis State University (MS Finance). He and wife, Pam, live in Nashville and have three grown children.
Brenda Wynn
Brenda, a Nashville native, currently serves as director of Community Outreach for United States Congressman Jim Cooper. Prior to that, Brenda worked tirelessly to give attention to the neighborhoods of Nashville as the first director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods. Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Brenda spent nine years at Meharry Medical College, where she served in a number of roles, including director of computer based testing, executive assistant to the president of the college and coordinator of the institution’s Total Quality Management Program. She has also served as an adjunct professor in the Health Care Administration and Planning Department at Tennessee State University.
In addition to having served as the president of the League of Women Voters of Nashville, Brenda has been an active volunteer in many other local organizations including Nashville’s Agenda Project, Women in the Nineties (WIN), You Have the Power, the Northwest YMCA, the YWCA, Metropolitan Library Board, United Way of Metropolitan Nashville, Conexion Americas, Dede Wallace Center, Leadership Nashville Alumni Association, and Metro’s Traffic and Parking Commission.
Brenda is a graduate of Pearl High School and received her bachelor of science and master’s degree in business administration from Tennessee State University. Brenda and her husband, Emmett, are the parents of three grown sons and have three grandchildren.
Tom Curtis
A native Nashvillian, Tom received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Since 1998, he has been a Managing Principal at Diversified Trust, where he works directly with clients in serving their wealth management, fiduciary and investment needs, and is also engaged in the coordination of marketing and business development efforts. Prior to joining Diversified Trust, Tom was at J. C. Bradford & Co. for eleven years as the Partner responsible for the Public Finance Group.
In addition to serving as WPLN’s Board Treasurer, Tom is a board member for Montgomery Bell Academy and the Building and Finance Committee of the Tennessee Department of Economic Development. He is also a member of Leadership Nashville and a founding member of Meharry Medical College’s Circle of Friends. Tom has served as Chairman of the Metro Nashville Arts Commission and the Tennessee State Fair Board, and on the boards of Nashville Ballet, Nashville Sports Council, and Friends of Warner Parks.
Tom and his wife, Ann, have four children. He is an avid fan of WPLN and listens virtually every day on his way to and from work and his children’s school.
Sandy Spitz
Sandy grew up in Paducah, Kentucky and attended Vanderbilt University, graduating with a foreign language degree. She has “re-invented” herself many times, working on a trading desk, doing paralegal work, and practicing accountancy, but her primary passion has been the support of education. Sandy was a tireless volunteer at her daughters’ school and is the current Scholarship chair of the Vanderbilt Woman’s Club. She and her husband, Bill, have three daughters.
As a board member, Sandy hopes to broaden the base of support of WPLN to assure its financial health in the years to come.
Stephen Rick
A graduate of Tulane University, Stephen began his career in New Orleans, where he worked his way up to an associate position at Nano Turchi, Architect. In 1978, he moved to Nashville to further pursue his architectural career. After a year with Earl Swensson & Associates and three years at Taylor & Crabtree/Wiley & Wilson, Steve and two other architects left that firm to begin their own practice.
In 1990, he opened the firm of Stephen Rick Architect, and over the following years built a reputation for quality and service. In 1994, Street Dixon Street and Stephen Rick merged, forming the present firm of Street Dixon Rick.
In addition to his work at the firm, Steve serves as the Chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Belle Meade. He is a past director for the Luton Community Mental Health Center and the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the AIA, and is a past president for the Nashville Chapter of CSI.
Steve and his wife, Emmie, have two children, and they are all fans of WPLN.
Donald R. Williamson
Don Williamson is the managing director of Compass Executives, LLC. A former CEO and president of Rogers Group, Inc., the nation’s largest privately held crushed stone company, Williamson has over 35 years of experience in senior management, including Executive Vice President and Director with Symbion, Inc., a medical device company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He also held senior executive positions with Aladdin Industries, Inc., a consumer products manufacturer.
Lydia Howarth
Lydia Howarth worked for nearly thirty years as an editor for university and academic presses, including the University of Wisconsin Press, the University of Chicago Press, the National Geographic Society, the Brookings Institute, and Beacon Press, editing manuscripts in a variety of fields: history and biography, literary analysis, political and economic studies, law, medicine, and science. She received a B.A. from Lawrence University, Appleton, WI (1975) and an M.A. from the University of Chicago (1977). She and her husband, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos, are the parents of two sons, both in college.
Richard M. Riebeling
Richard Riebeling was appointed by Mayor Karl Dean to the position of Director of Finance for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, November 2007. Riebeling has spent the past 12 years in public finance. He also served as the Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development for the State of Tennessee.
Riebeling also spent nine years as a partner in the law firm Stokes & Bartholomew, now Adams and Reese Stokes Bartholomew, practicing in public finance.
Before receiving his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1983, Riebeling worked as an assistant in the Mayor’s Office for five years during the Fulton administration and three years as a newspaper reporter, leaving the Nashville Banner in 1978.
Sharon Bell
Sharon is CEO of Four Squared Creative, LLC, producers of “What’s Spanish for Whoa?” a phrasebook for communicating with Spanish speakers in the horse industry. Past career highlights include serving as a lobbyist for the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry; developing a subdivision; and several years in industrial sales.
She currently serves on the boards of the Nashville Predators Foundation and Women in Numbers. She has served on numerous community boards over the years, including Community Nashville and The Webb School.
Sharon and her husband Fred Zimmerman are active in Nashville’s Jewish community and with Jewish concerns on national and international levels. Her primary hobbies are horses, gardening, shooting and using power tools.
Sandra Roberts
Sandra Roberts retired in 2006 as Managing Editor/Opinion of The Tennessean. In that position, which she held for 19 years, she directed the newspaper’s editorial policy and endorsement process. During her career she received several awards, including the Amicus Award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the National Headliner Award. She currently serves on the boards of the Tennessee Justice Center and Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee.
She’s one of the genre’s finest singers, endowed with the supernatural ability to always hit the center of the bulls-eye painted on your heart. Her long-awaited new project, the appropriately titled Hillbilly Goddess, has finally hit record store shelves. We’ll be celebrating that arrival with a flourish when the Alecia Nugent Band joins us live. And, as though that wasn’t enough, to send you into the throes of high-lonesome ecstasy and beyond, guitar god Russ Barenberg will be pickin’ a few live ones in honor of his Compass recording, When At Last.
View Playlist | visit www.alecianugent.com | visit www.russbarenberg.com
