NEWS

The Knoxville Museum of Art Announces New Board Members, Officers

July 22, 2015

The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) announces the appointment of new board members and the election of new board leadership for the 2016 fiscal year, effective July 1, 2015. As the legal governing body of the KMA, a Tennessee not-for-profit corporation, the board is responsible for determining the organization’s mission and purposes, selecting and evaluating the chief executive, ensuring effective planning and adequate financial resources, enhancing the organization’s public standing, ensuring legal and ethical integrity, and maintaining accountability. According to KMA Executive Director David Butler, “The museum’s success is very much an indication of the quality and commitment of its volunteer leadership. We have been fortunate to enjoy outstanding board leadership over a long period, and that tradition continues with the current crop of new board members and officers.”

Richard Jansen, President and owner of Monaco, LLC, has been elected KMA board chair, taking over from immediate past chair Bernard Rosenblatt. Chair-elect Allison Lederer, Private Wealth Advisor, Regions Financial Corporation, will become chair after Richard completes his two-year term.

The KMA also welcomed the following new board members beginning their first three-year term:

Mary Beth Browder graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from S. Mary’s College, and earned a master’s degree in History from the University of Memphis. For many years, Mary Beth served as an adjunct professor of Art History at Pellissippi State Community College, and taught Art History classes at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

John Cotham received both his bachelor’s degree in art history and his master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Tennessee. He worked for 30 years with the Virginia Community College System as a library director. In 2014 he was named professor emeritus by his college.

Monica Crane is Director of Research and Associate Director at Cole Neuroscience Center, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, University of TN Medical Center, Knoxville. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Yale University and attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and her residency, fellowship, faculty work in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Shohreh (Nazzy) Hashemian is founder and president of 5D Model which builds three-dimensional models of custom homes to help architects like Mitchell Barnett & Associates (Nashville) and Falconnier Design Company (Knoxville) give clients like singer LeAnn Rimes or Gary LeVox (lead singer for the group Rascal Flatts) a virtual ‘walk-through’ experience of their new homes.

Courtney Lee is originally from Austin and graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and minor in Business. After graduation, she relocated to Houston and worked as model/talent agent at Page Parkes Corp for five years. Wanting to move back to her home town she became a licensed Realtor and worked at Moreland Properties.

Madeline McAdams graduated from Webb School of Knoxville in 2007 and from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 2011. She then returned to Knoxville and began working at Jupiter Entertainment. She is currently Series Producer for Jupiter Entertainment’s true crime series Snapped on Oxygen.

Ellen Robinson joined Lewis Thomason in early 2012 as Chief Marketing Officer with three decades of broad leadership experience in communications and government relations.

Richard Stair is the founder and design engineering manager for the Knoxville branch of Texas Instruments Inc. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1998, and his master’s degree Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1999.

Rosa Toledo received a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in Hispanic Studies from the University of Tennessee, and a master’s of fine arts degree in Creative Writing from NYU. She is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at the University of Tennessee.

John Trotter is president of Trotter & Company, is a Commercial Real Estate Professional obtaining the Affiliate Broker’s License in 1995, and a Principal Broker’s License in 2001. He received a bachelor’s degree in Management from Maryville College.

Ron Watkins studied Business Law and Real Estate at the University of Tennessee and Case Study Management at Harvard University Graduate School of Business. Watkins founded Partners Development in 1974 and is currently serving as Chairman of the Board.

A complete list of FY 2016 KMA board members is available at http://knoxart.wpengine.com/info/trustees.html

The Knoxville Museum of Art
The Knoxville Museum of Art celebrates the art and artists of East Tennessee, presents new art and new ideas, serves and educates diverse audiences, and enhances Knoxville’s quality of life. The museum is located in downtown Knoxville at 1050 World’s Fair Park and is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday 10am–5pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm. Admission and parking are free. For more information, contact Angela Thomas at 865.934.2034 or visit www.knoxart.org.