JOHN BORDIE is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. His specialties include applied linguistics, linguistics and language teaching, teaching English as a foreign language, psycholinguistics, and adult literacy. Professor Bordie received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He has lectured in Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand, Jordan, and elsewhere through his work with the U.S. Information Agency. For sixteen years he was the director of the Foreign Language Education Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also been a member of the Texas Energy and Natural Resources Advisory Council.
MARIANNE MEANS is the Washington columnist of the Hearst Newspapers, syndicated by King Features and by the New York Times News Service. She is a former White House correspondent for the Hearst Newspapers and an occasional television and radio commentator. Ms. Means holds a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law Center and a B.A. from the University of Nebraska. She has been elected to the Sigma Delta Chi Hall of Fame and is a past chairman of the National Press Foundation, a board member of the International Women’s Foundation, and menu chairman of the Gridiron Club.
VIRGINIA RICHARDS SCHWERIN was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. She taught high school English before pursuing a career in human resources and executive recruiting. She retired as Senior Vice-President of Smythe Associates in New York City. Ms. Schwerin serves on the boards of the Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo) in New York, the Nature Conservancy on Long Island, and the Humane Society of Vero Beach, Florida. She divides her time between New York and Florida.
GEORGE L. SCHUEPPERT currently serves as the President of the Great Books Foundation in Chicago, having also been a longtime board member of that organization. His association with the Foundation follows a very full career as a financial executive in the banking and industrial spheres. With a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, Mr. Schueppert has had wide-ranging experience in such positions as Senior Vice-President for Continental Bank, Corporate Finance Consultant for Coopers & Lybrand, and Chief Financial Officer of CBI Industries and Outboard Marine Corporation. He serves on the boards of numerous organizations and is a trustee of the Village of Barrington Hills, Illinois.