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Board of DirectorsSubmitted by joe on Sat, 2005-12-17 13:49.
The SSA is governed by a Board of Directors which is elected by the SSA's members. [Become a member]
Board members are elected for two year terms by the members of the SSA. Currently they are: Hemant Mehta, Chair (board member since 2005) Chicago, IL [hemant AT secularstudents DOT org]  Hemant Mehta is currently the Chair of the Secular Student Alliance Board of Directors.He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he graduated with honors in both Mathematics and Biology. While there, he also helped establish their first secular student group, Students WithOut Religious Dogma (SWORD--later renamed Rationalists And Freethinkers). SWORD has brought speakers such as Dan Barker and Michael Newdow to the student population and has become a haven for atheists and agnostics alike. He holds a Masters in Math education from DePaul University and currently teaches math at a public high school. His interests have led him to many various places, including the Center for Inquiry (where he was an intern), medical school, and the set of the Nicolas Cage movie The Weather Man (he was the guy in the big crowd scene!). More recently, Hemant received national attention-- including being featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal-- for his work as the "eBay Atheist." His website is www.FriendlyAtheist.com. Phil Ferguson, Treasurer (board member since 2008) Saint Joseph, Illinois [phil AT secularstudents DOT org]  While working in Arkansas, Phil Ferguson met with or presented to the following groups: Little Rock Atheists, Tulsa Humanists, U of A student group Occam's Razors, and Fayetteville Freethinkers. In recognition for his efforts to increase membership, the Fayetteville Freethinkers recognized him with their Freethinker of the Year award. He has also been a member of Rotary International, served 2 years on the board for AMBUCS (American Business Club) and served 3 years on the board of a private school - 2 years as treasurer. He is currently involved with several national freethought organizations: Center for Inquiry, Atheist Alliance International, the Skeptic Society and Secular Student Alliance. Phil is also a life member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. After his exposure to the "Bible Belt" he knew he had to get more involved. He used his experience in the Arkansas groups to start Champaign-Urbana Freethinkers. He also provided funds so that the University of Illinois student group would have a secular booth at the annual University of Illinois "Quad Day". His local group has also had meetings with members of the student group including a joint showing of "Jesus Camp". Phil hopes to use his experience and knowledge to help SSA expand its national network of student groups. He thinks there are 3 important ways to achieve this result: 1) Creating a network of local leaders and community groups to assist with leadership transitions. 2) Promoting market awareness for SSA by encouraging all groups to use the name Secular Student Alliance. 3) Increasing fundraising from other groups and finding new donors that support our cause.
 Becky Robinson is the founder and president of the Freethinkers of UTA, a secular student organization that promotes science and reason on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. She is currently a first-year graduate student, focusing in Cognitive Psychology. Outside of her scholarly duties, Becky works as a government contractor.Becky was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and is an avid Steelers fan (her other passion). She can be found every football Sunday religiously cheering on her team. She recently legally changed her last name from Usher to Robinson and currently answers to both. Minneapolis, MN
Chris Calvey (board member since 2008) At the start of Chris Calvey's junior year, there were 57 different student groups of various religious denominations on his campus, but nary a single one for people with a secular viewpoint. After attending "The Amazing Meeting," an annual gathering for skeptics run by the James Randi Educational Foundation, Chris left convinced that he needed to fill that void on his own campus, and created a non-theistic community where fellow heathens could find and support one another. Within a month the "Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers" (AAF) of University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign were formed.
 Joe Foley is a doctoral student in genetics at Stanford University. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota in 2007, with a B.S. in biology and a minor in music. He first became involved with the freethought movement as an officer of the University of Minnesota Atheists and Humanists (since renamed Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists - CASH), and led the group as co-chair from 2004 to 2006, during which time CASH successfully secured annual funding from student fees, began the process of applying for nonprofit tax exemption, and held many widely publicized events including its own conference. Joe also served the Secular Coalition for America as Treasurer from 2006 through 2007.Outside of his work in the freethought movement, Joe has found plenty of other ways to keep himself busy. He was a Student Senator in his university government and a member of his college's Student Board, as well as a commissioner in the university's All-Campus Elections. He also plays the violin in ensembles of various sizes.  Jacquie graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2006 with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Economics and Finance. Recognizing the need for a haven where non-religious students at UTD could connect with each other, she co-founded the Atheists & Freethinkers Society at UTD in the summer of 2004. She served as the group's Vice President for the next two years. Although she is no longer a UTD student, Jacquie remains actively involved with the AFS, attending officer meetings and group events.Jacquie first came into contact with the Secular Student Alliance when the AFS joined as an affiliate. She subsequently attended the 2004 and 2005 SSA conferences, which she counts among the best and most interesting experiences of her life. She is excited to become more involved with the SSA in her position on the Board of Directors. Jacquie currently works as a web producer in Dallas. Matthew LaClair (board member since 2008) Rena Levin (board member since 2005) Arlington, VA  Rena Levin is the Grassroots Organizer at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She earned her B.A. with majors in history and sociology at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. The following year she studied immigration issues in Norway as a Fulbright Scholar. In 2000 she received her M.A. in American Studies from the University of Massachusetts. Her thesis was entitled, "History, Theology, and Hope: African-American Visions of Racial Reconciliation in a Modern Evangelical Movement."Rena worked as Americans United's campus organizer for four years before moving into her current position. She brought considerable experience to that position, having played a leadership role in numerous campus groups (community service, political, union, and academic) at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In her capacity as grassroots organizer, Rena helps to foster the creation of new chapters, serves as a liaison to other organizations and coalition partners, and represents AU at conferences and local events, often as a speaker or workshop leader. Ashley Paramore (board member since 2008) Columbus, OH [ashley AT secularstudents DOT org]  Having grown up in a small conservative community, Ashley Paramore found it very difficult to find other freethinkers. When she finally found out that there were more people with the same views as she had, she grew excited and immediately wanted to find community.Although she has only been exposed to the freethought community for about a year, she has been very active. Though she is no longer affiliated with them, she started working with the Rational Response Squad in March of 2007 by starting a chapter in Columbus, Ohio. With this she was able to bring together atheists/freethinkers/humanists and give them a sense of community, along with an opportunity to take part in activism involving separation of church and state issues. She is consistently trying to work with other groups and networking in order to bring freethinkers together, and accomplish various goals. While doing this she has become a member of American Atheists, started another group (Omnipresent Atheists), helped Ohio State's Students for Freethought get free speakers, attended the Atheist Alliance International Conference in DC, and became a volunteer for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason. Mary Ellen Sikes (board member since 2007) Charlottesville, VA  Mary Ellen Sikes is the webmaster for the Secular Coalition for America, which lobbies Congress on issues affecting the rights and interests of nontheistic Americans. Formerly the associate director and Web analyst for the Institute for Humanist Studies, Mary Ellen has also held a variety of programming and educational technology jobs in government, public schools, and private industry. A long-time humanist activist, Mary Ellen founded the Central Virginia Secular Humanists in 1995 and coordinated its activities until 2001. She also served on the board of its parent organization, the Washington Area Secular Humanists, including a term as president. Mary Ellen has been involved in several local church-state issues and in 2003 was elected to the National Advisory Council of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Mary Ellen's left brain earned her a BS Math with Honors from Virginia Tech in 1975. She exercises the cells on the right side through butterfly gardening, freecycling, and trash-to-treasure / junky-to-funky projects. She and her spouse, Lloyd, live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Charlottesville, Virginia, not far from their daughters' growing families. Don Sutterfield (board member since 2008) ( categories: )
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Andy Buttler is a graduate student in science education at the University of Minnesota pursuing licensures in high school chemistry and biology and middle school general science. He completed a BS in biology and a minor in political science at the University of Minnesota in 2005. Andy has also served on the Executive Board of 
It has been Don Sutterfield's pleasure to be actively involved with the SSA affiliate Students for Freethought at Ohio State for the last five years. For the last three years, he has worked closely with the leadership of the group to accomplish some great things. First, he was involved with the SSA board and executive director in the project to restore the group to functioning status in the fall of '04, and recruited and assisted the person who then served as the group's president. It was then his pleasure to do the advertising and help with event coordination for the group for the next few years while the group saw steady growth in attendance and hosted events such as Dan Barker's debate with the Rev. Dr. David Fisher on the existence of god, attended by over three hundred people. For the last two years he has helped organize the group's Darwin Day and National Day of Reason events, including tabling, planting a freethought garden replete with pansies on OSU's campus, picketing the Day of Prayer event on the Ohio Statehouse lawn (made the state news), and last year gave blood for the first time for the National Day of Reason.