Arhu Appoints Inaugural Cabinet

Members' diversity will help advance arts and humanities goals.

Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill is pleased to announce the establishment of the first cabinet for the College of Arts and Humanities.

Established as an advisory board, the cabinet will advocate for arts and humanities scholarship and help spread Thornton Dill’s vision for the college.

Cabinet members represent a vast array of fields and diverse backgrounds, including leadership in business, law and other endeavors in the humanities and arts. Each continues to play an active role with the college.

“The cabinet exemplifies philanthropic leadership,” Thornton Dill said. “Each of them has demonstrated commitment to and engagement in the mission and goals of the College and its units in very significant ways.  They bring a range of experience and perspectives that will help us promote the college and achieve the best outcomes for arts and humanities students.”

Those named to the 2014-15 Dean’s Cabinet include:

2014-15 College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Cabinet

Donna Aldridge ’60 (Business): Donna is an alumna of the Robert H. Smith School of Business and The George Washington University Law School. After retiring from business she became an accomplished painter and a dedicated and generous supporter of the Department of Art. The college’s 2013 holiday card featured her artwork.

Nancy Clarvit '78 (Design): Nancy is a graphic and interior designer as well as a member of the College Park Foundation Board of Trustees and Campaign Planning Committee. Nancy and her husband Chuck are backers of the graphic design concentration in the Department of Art, which has inspired the Clarvit Design Lecture Series, a program that provides opportunities for aspiring designers to meet and learn from professionals and receive critical portfolio review. The have supported the design studio, equipped with cutting edge technology, and devised the Clarvit Design Scholarships to be used by talented and in-need design students. Nancy has a BS in graphic design and was a business minor.

Patricia Cousins ’87 (English): Patty is the Alumni Chapter Board representative on the Cabinet. As vice president and assistant general counsel for labor and employment with Marriott International, Patty brings important leadership and experience to the Alumni Board and its signature event, Access2Alumni, the college’s annual program that connects undergraduates to professionals.

Ashley Foxworth ’06 (English): As a Teach for America alumna and a Harvard Law School educated lawyer, Ashley has a passion for education. She and her husband, Domonique Foxworth, established the Foxworth Creative Enterprise Initiative, a program to complement existing efforts in the college to apply arts and humanities skills to real-world challenges.

Domonique Foxworth ’04 (American Studies): Dominque played in the National Football League (NFL) from 2005-2012 and also represented the NFL Players Association as a player representative before serving as its president until earlier this year. Domonique is completing a master’s in business administration at Harvard University and was recently named chief operating officer of the National Basketball Players Association. A course in social activism at Maryland helped inspire his philanthropy, including the Foxworth Creative Enterprise Initiative in the college.

Donald Himelfarb ’67 (History): Don is a past president of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group in Tulsa, Okla. Don played on the men’s lacrosse team, studied American history and became a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity while studying at Maryland. He and his wife, Eileen, ’70 (Education), recently established the Eileen and Donald Himelfarb Scholarship in History.

Charles Hirsch ’83 (History): Charles practices general commercial litigation as a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP in Baltimore. He earned Phi Beta Kappa honors at Maryland and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1987. A frequent participant in Access2Alumni, Charles is a dedicated supporter of the College, in particular the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies and a need-based scholarship program in the arts and humanities.

Ellen Koplow ’80 (Government & Politics): Ellen is the executive vice president and general counsel for TD Ameritrade. She has been instrumental to the launching and success of the Gender, Finance, and Power Lecture Series, a program presented by the Department of Women’s Studies. Prior to joining the TD Ameritrade, Ellen was managing principal of the Columbia, Md. office of Miles & Stockbridge P.C. Ellen was twice selected as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record  and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences in 2011.

Student Cabinet Members

Donnesha A. Blake ’16 (Women’s Studies): Donnesha is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Women’s Studies. Her research addresses how black women’s styles of dress, fashion, and methods of constructing clothing, known as dress culture,” can be a tool for theorizing and historicizing black womanhood and lack girlhood. She argues that black women’s dress and style produces knowledge about their histories, politics, and aesthetics.  Her current work on black female dandyism demonstrates how black women navigate discourses of power and agency as well as race, class, gender and sexuality when wearing suits and tuxedos. 

Willa Schneiderhan ’15 (Finance/Film Studies): Willa is a senior majoring in film studies and finance. She is a brother of the professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi and works part time on campus. She just got back from a semester abroad in Rome and though she misses the pizza, she’s happy to be back home with her fellow Terps. In her free time, Willa goes hiking with friends, watches movies with her dad and reads every book about classic Hollywood she can get her hands on. 

 About the University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities

The College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland is home to over 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students, 14 academic departments, five independent research centers and over 322 tenured and tenure-track faculty. The college connects students with expert scholars who teach how to investigate, reflect and analyze the world around them. Through interdisciplinary approaches to the arts and humanities, students develop into global problem solvers and creative innovators who thrive in a world of rapidly evolving opportunities. For more information, click here.