Where you live should not decide if you live.

 

WiRED International's mission is to provide medical and healthcare information, education and communications in developing and war-affected regions. We can connect doctors to doctors virtually anywhere. We also link grassroots communities directly to essential health information. WiRED’s information centers are locally run and become a central part of the communities they serve. Learn More >

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WiRED's Governing Board

 

WiRED International's Governing Board is a distinguished group of communications and business professionals who give generously of their time and money to make this work a success.


Biographies: WiRED Board Members


Stephen Browning

Stephen Browning served as the Director of Programs, South Pacific Region, US Army Corps of Engineers. As one of three civilians to enter Baghdad after U.S. troops arrived in April 2003, Mr. Browning spent ten months in Iraq, while acting as the Senior Advisor/Acting Minister for Ministries of Health, of Transportation and Communications, of Electricity, of the Environment, and of Religious Affairs and as the Director of Infrastructure for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Mr. Browning credits the prevention of the spread of disease and the restoration of electricity to its prewar level as among the most rewarding achievements of his team's tenure in Iraq. In early 2003, while serving in Baghdad, Mr. Browning and Dr. Gary Selnow, Executive Director of WiRED, collaborated on ways to use information technology to assist in the development and reconstruction of the Iraqi health care system. Mr. Browning was impressed with the immediate and positive results of WiRED's use of IT to enhance medical information systems in Iraq's medical schools and teaching hospitals.

 

Prior to Mr. Browning's service in Iraq, he was deployed to New York City where he served as the senior defense official on scene overseeing emergency response in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. He also served as the Federal Technical Lead for Hurricane Mitch Recovery and Redevelopment.

 

After two decades of public service, he left the Corps of Engineers in 2006 to join MWH Global, an international environmental engineering firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. Browning currently serves as Vice President and Global Strategic Planning Officer for MWH and will soon be relocating with his family to Boulder.

 

A registered professional engineer, Mr. Browning holds a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Engineering and is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University. Mr. Browning enjoys kayaking and triathlons. Steve and his wife, Marie, are parents of Colette Rainier Browning.

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Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS

In 2006, Dr. Carmona successfully completed the statutory four-year term of the U.S. Surgeon General and was named vice chairman of Canyon Ranch, Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the University of Arizona, and president of the non-profit Canyon Ranch Institute.

 

Born to a poor Hispanic family in New York City, Dr. Carmona experienced homelessness, hunger, and health disparities during his youth. The experiences greatly sensitized him to the relationships among culture, health, education, and economic status and shaped his future.

 

After dropping out of high school, Dr. Carmona enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1967. While serving, he earned his General Equivalency Diploma and went on to become a combat-decorated Special Forces Vietnam veteran. After leaving active duty, he attended Bronx Community College of the City University of New York through an open enrollment program for veterans. He then attended the University of California, San Francisco, where he received a bachelor of science degree (1977) and medical degree (1979). At the University of California Medical School, Dr. Carmona was awarded the prestigious gold-headed cane as the top graduate.

 

Trained in general and vascular surgery, Dr. Carmona also completed a National Institutes of Health-sponsored fellowship in trauma, burns, and critical care. Dr. Carmona was then recruited jointly by the Tucson Medical Center and the University of Arizona to start and direct Arizona's first regional trauma care system. He went on to become the chairman of the State of Arizona Southern Regional Emergency Medical System, a professor of surgery, public health, and family and community medicine at the University of Arizona, and the Pima County Sheriff's Department surgeon and deputy sheriff.

 

As U.S. Surgeon General from 2002 to 2006, Dr. Carmona focused on prevention, preparedness, health disparities, health literacy, and global health to include health diplomacy. He also issued many landmark Surgeon General communications during his tenure, including the definitive Surgeon General's Report about the dangers of second-hand smoke.

 

Throughout his career, Dr. Carmona has maintained a commitment to underserved populations. “We must help diverse populations become more health literate so they can be involved in improving their overall health and well-being,” explains Dr. Carmona. “This also means focusing on preventing health problems, not just fixing them after they’ve happened.”

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Mr. Sheldon S. Cohen, Esq.

A certified public accountant and tax attorney, the Honorable Sheldon S. Cohen, Esq. is currently a Director at Farr, Miller & Washington, LLP and a professorial lecturer at the George Washington Law School.

In 1963, Mr. Cohen was appointed Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), then served four years as Commissioner, becoming the youngest person to hold that position. He later left government service to become a Washington, D.C. tax attorney, developing a distinguished career that spans 50 years.

 

Mr. Cohen is a frequent lecturer at various tax institutions and universities across the country, recently serving as the keynote speaker at a United Nations conference on tax administration in developing countries. He is listed in Euromoney's Guide as one of the world's leading tax lawyers, and he has written numerous articles on tax subjects that have appeared in publications such as The American Bar Journal, The Tax Advisor, The Journal of Accounting, and the Pennsylvania Law Review. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Who's Who in American Law, and is a member of the American College of Tax Law and The American Law Institute.

 

Mr. Cohen graduated with honors from The George Washington University in 1950, and received his law degree with highest honors, graduating first in his class from The George Washington University National Law Center in 1952. Active in numerous civic organizations, Mr. Cohen is the former chairman of the Board of Trustees of George Washington University, past chairman of the American Jewish Historical Society, and current treasurer of The Supreme Court Historical Society. He also co-chaired the Mayor's Transition Committee to Review the Department of Finance and Revenue in the District of Columbia during 1994-95.

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Suellen Crano, Ph.D.

Dr. Crano currently serves as Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness at Western University, a graduate university of medical sciences in Pomona, California. After earning her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration/Student Personnel in 1984 from Michigan State University, Dr. Crano served in administrative roles at Texas A&M University, The George Washington University, The University of Arizona, State of Michigan Department of Higher Management Systems and Wyeth Laboratories, Inc.

 

Not satisfied by underwriting WiRED's VideoVisit program, which enables families to communicate with their children undergoing life-saving medical treatment in western countries, Dr. Crano helped coordinate the launch from a children's cancer ward in the Hospital of Pisa. Her role as a WiRED director enables her to continue a lifelong passion of helping people rebuild devastated lives.

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Ralph Daniels

Mr. Daniels graduated from Pomona College in California with a degree in liberal arts and completed postgraduate work at the University of California at Berkeley before beginning a lengthy career in broadcasting. Mr. Daniels spent 15 years at CBS in various capacities, including Vice President and General Manager of WCBS-TV and President of the CBS Owned Television Stations Division. He joined NBC in 1975 and served as Senior Vice President in charge of Broadcast Standards. He is a former board member of the National Association of Broadcasters Code Authority and the Television Bureau of Advertising. Mr. Daniels served for 23 years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services.

 

Mr. Daniels strongly supports WiRED's programming that enables people to communicate and access information via the Internet as they struggle to rebuild their countries in the aftermath of war.

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Lewis Eigen

Lewis Eigen, Ph.D., has joined WiRED's board of directors. Lewis is chairman of Potomac, Maryland-based professional services firm BEA Enterprises, Inc. He comes to WiRED with wide-ranging experience in education, business, publishing, and government service.

 

His background includes positions as chief executive officer of Educational Design Inc., associate director of the U.S. Job Corps, and professor of educational psychology at Temple University.

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Elizabeth Fine, Ph.D.

Dr. Elizabeth Fine is a Professor at Virginia Tech, where she holds a joint appointment in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Department of Communication Studies. She is Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. Her research interests include cultural studies, African American folklore, performance studies, and Appalachian Studies.

 

She received her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Texas at Austin (1978), her M.A. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley (1973), and her B.S. in Speech Communication from the University of Texas at Austin (1971) and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1971). She is the author of numerous articles, as well as the books Soulstepping: African American Step Shows (2003), The Folklore Text: From Performance to Print (1984, 1994), and is co-editor of the book Performance, Culture, and Identity (1992).

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Richard Gilbert, D.D.

Dr. Gilbert earned two graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and then served as a writer-producer for the Presbyterian denomination in the United States. He also founded the School for Continuing Education at Princeton University. Dr Gilbert served as an executive editor for NBC-TV for 15 years and maintains his passion for communication as a writer and consultant

 

As Co-chair of WiRED's board of directors, Dr. Gilbert was a guiding force during the early days of WiRED's efforts to establish Information Centers in the Balkans. He believes that replacing war-ravaged libraries with Internet resources not only brings children and adults into the vast new world of information, but also builds democracy for people hungry for freedom and progress.

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Tatjana Grgich

Ms. Grgich serves as President of the Tatjana Grgich Family Foundation and is dedicated to projects, programs, and services that assist youth from strife-torn areas of the world. Based in California's Sonoma Valley, her foundation supports local and national charitable organizations which provide educational, medical, and spiritual sustenance to families and individuals.

 

Ms. Grgich is currently serving as a member of the Board of Regents of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and as a benefactor and board member of the Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth Institute) at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh, PA.

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Saul Hamond

Mr. Hamond majored in accounting at City College of New York and presently still resides there. He is a keen sportsman with particular interest in sailing, tennis, and skiing, and he also loves the arts--theater, music, and art. He has owned the insurance brokerage company, Hamond and Company, for 46 years, and has also participated in running other related businesses. He has served as a member of the board of Cases, a center for alternative sentencing and employment.

 

Mr. Hamond is supportive of many grass-roots organizations and philanthropic causes, among them the 92nd Street Y, of which he is a member and whose events and programs he attends regularly. He participates on the Board of WiRED because he believes it to be a noble and worthwhile venture.

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Anthony Hodge

Anthony Hodge is the retired president of Anthony Hodge & Associates, an executive search firm serving a wide range of industries and functional areas. With more than thirty years of experience in the field, much of Mr. Hodge’s work focused on telecommunications, data communications, financial services and consumer products.

 

Prior to forming his own firm he was a vice president at Korn/Ferry International and a director at SpencerStuart, two world leaders in executive search and selection. Mr. Hodge began his career at Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation and for 13 years worked in international sales and marketing and human resources in Oakland California and Jamaica, West Indies.

 

Mr. Hodge serves on the Board of Advisors of San Francisco State University’s College of Business, and he was active in the World Trade Club of San Francisco until its closure. He holds a degree in Political Science from Stanford University. He served in the United States Marine Corps as an artillery officer.

 

Mr. Hodge believes that the many individuals, organizations and entities involved in addressing global public health and medical care issues can be well served by WiRED International which can help coordinate and distribute their educational material in developing regions.

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Robert S. Northrup, M.D.

Dr. Northrup, board certified in internal medicine, earned his bachelor's degree at Yale and his medical degree at Harvard. His experience in global medicine is vast: Dr. Northrup served as Senior Technical Advisor for Project Hope where he provided technical support in Indonesia and Central Asia and later became the interim Director of the Health of the Women and Children Unit. Working with Management Sciences for Health in Boston, Dr. Northrup served on the Equity Project in South Africa, which provided integrated primary healthcare, a comprehensive package of essential services in rural areas. He was the Technical Officer and Director of Working Group with the BASICS Project on programs for child health and survival in Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and other countries. In this capacity, he also collaborated with the World Health Organization on the development of a medical school curriculum on Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Dr. Northrup was the Technical Director for the PRITECH Project. In this role, he also taught staff members of voluntary organizations as well as USAID health officers about life-saving therapies. Dr. Northrup was Chairman and Professor of the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. In addition to Dr. Northrup's expansive educational and humanitarian activities, he finds time to be a choral singer, music director and arranger, actor, and athlete. He is married with two grown children. Dr. Northrup's works have been published in numerous academic journals.

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Robert Ohrenschall

Mr. Ohrenschall brings a wealth of experience in international business and community service. After earning a degree in history from Yale University, Mr. Ohrenschall founded Soyster & Ohrenschall Inc., International Marketing and Design Consultants. He is Chairman Emeritus of Addison Design.

 

Mr. Ohrenschall serves on the boards of The Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, the International Diplomacy Council, the Ohrenschall Center for Entrepreneurship at San Francisco State University, the Tiburon Belvedere Rotary Club, and the Romberg Tiburon Environmental Centers.

 

Mr. Ohrenschall serves as co-chair of WiRED's board of directors because he believes the Internet to be a gateway to the future for those who have been disadvantaged through war and economic conditions.

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Virgil Scudder

Virgil Scudder is president of Virgil Scudder & Associates, a New York-based executive communications and media relations firm. He has conducted media and presentation training programs in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and serves as ongoing communications counselor to CEO's of some of the world's leading corporations.

 

Prior to starting his own firm in 1990, he was senior vice president of Hill & Knowlton, one of the world's largest public relations firms. Earlier, he was a news broadcaster at NBC News, ABC News, and Westinghouse Broadcasting. An arts and sciences graduate of Indiana University, he currently serves on the Dean's Advisory Council of that university's College of Arts and Sciences.

 

Mr. Scudder believes that effective communication and the work done by organizations such as WiRED are essential to promoting world peace and understanding.

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Gary Selnow, Ph.D.

Gary Selnow is a professor at the Edelman Institute at San Francisco State University and Director of WiRED International. Selnow is the author/co-author of seven books including Society's Impact on Television, High Tech Campaigns, Electronic Whistle-Stops: The Impact of the Internet on American Politics, and most recently The People, Press and Politics of Croatia.

 

Selnow was twice a Fulbright Scholar—in Austria, then at the University of Zagreb in Croatia; he served for three years on a Fulbright Senior Scholar review panel. Selnow has lectured at the London School of Economics, the University of Warsaw, the Free University of Amsterdam and other universities in Europe. Selnow coordinated a national communication program for a White House task force and served as a research methodologist for the U.S. Information Agency. He has consulted with the U.S. Department of State and for NBC Television and the National Academy of Sciences. Selnow was a pilot and information officer for the U.S. Air Force. He was a regular commentator on Public Radio International's Marketplace program.

 

Selnow was awarded the 2004 President's Medal at San Francisco State University. He earned his bachelors degree in technical writing at Rutgers University and his masters and doctoral degrees in communication and psychology at Michigan State University.

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