Mayor’s Cultural Development Council

John F. Andrews is an educator with wide experience as a writer, lecturer, consultant, and event producer. He currently serves as President of The Shakespeare Guild, a global nonprofit organization that seeks to foster a deeper appreciation of the world’s most influential writer. From 1974 to 1984 Mr. Andrews enjoyed a decade as Director of Academic Programs and Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill. He then spent three years as Deputy Director of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities. His publications include two 3-volume Scribners reference sets on Shakespeare’s world, work, and influence, and two popular editions of the playwright’s classics, a 19-volume set that was produced between 1989 and 1992 by Doubleday, and a 16-volume Everyman Paperbacks sequel, that was published  between 1993 and 1999 by London’s Orion house. Mr. Andrews has been featured on PBS’s MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, on CBS’s Nightwatch with Charlie Rose, and on such NPR programs as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Sunday Weekend Edition.  His articles and reviews have appeared in TheAmerican Scholar, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and he has been quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, Time, and U.S. News and World Report. Mr.  Andrews holds degrees from Princeton (A.B.), Harvard (M.A.T.), and Vanderbilt (PhD), and in 2000 Queen Elizabeth designated him an Honorary Officer in the Order of the British Empire. For more details, see Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World or visit http://www.shakesguild.org/background.html and click on the blue links.

Claire Wilson Brandenburg received a BFA in art and education from the University of New Mexico. Her life in Taos has been spent in the fine arts: painting, jewelry, and constructions that are displayed in private homes, businesses, and museums.

In appreciation of her surroundings, Ms.  Brandenburg worked with the Town of Taos and its Chamber of Commerce as local coordinator of the Keep America Beautiful Program in 1993. As a result of her efforts, Taos received a designation as an All American City in 1994.

Examples of her work are on exhibit at the Taos Art Museum. Over the last decade she has worked in the field of children’s books as both an illustrator and a writer, with nine volumes published thus far. Her most popular title is The Monk Who Grew Prayer (2003); her newest title, a pre-school  favorite, is The Cow Jumped Over the Moon (2016). For more information about her work, visit http://www.ClaireBrandenburg.com or http://www.LittleCandlePress.com.

Jean Maitin Broday has been involved in the art world of Chicago for many years as the owner of Jean Albano Gallery, which shows nationally recognized artists such as writer and cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Hunt Slonem, and Jim Waid (a CHS graduate who now lives in Tucson). She also represents the estate of the late Bill Mauldin (another New Mexico native who became a legendary cartoonist). Ms. Broaday was a docent at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago for many years, and she now serves on a board that benefits that museum.  She is a member of the Society for Contemporary Art at the Art  Institute of Chicago and has volunteered with a number of other arts organizations.  At present she is  a partner in Patron Gallery, showcasing the work of outstanding young artists. After graduating from Carlsbad High School in 1961, Jean earned her B.A. from Scripps College in Claremont California.

Bill Brooks has enjoyed an illustrious career in radio, theater, production, music, recording, and announcing that spans 40 years. He also holds a doctorate in theology. Over a span of six consecutive years, he was voted Entertainer of the Year in Texas by the Country Music Revue Association.

From 1990 through 1994, Mr. Brooks was Director of Marketing for Kingdom Development Company, which produced The Promise, a spectacular musical that was performed in such varied settings as the Texas Amphitheatre in Glen Rose,  a celebrated venue in Branson, Missouri, and the  2004 Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. He is also the producer of His Life—The Musical, an award-winning presentation about Jesus Christ that has played before capacity audiences not only in the U.S., but in a number of other nations.

Mr. Brooks provides voice-over services to clients worldwide from his recording studio at the Dallas Communications Complex in Irving, Texas. He spends much of his time narrating and producing audiobooks that are available on Audible.com, Amazon.com, and ITunes.com. He now serves as President of the Executive Board at Artisan Center Theater in Hurst, Texas. He also has a long history as a recording artist with his brother Randy (The Brooks Brothers), and he recently released his first solo CD, You Can Come Home, featuring ten songs of hope, forgiveness, restoration, and gratitude.

Mary Gant recently retired from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health.  Her work in legislative affairs included defining and interpreting NIEHS research and its results to Congress, to the public, and to the scientific and public health communities. In her role as legislative liaison, she arranged events for members of Congress and their staffs on issues related to environmental health research and training.  She is now working as Government Affairs Director for the Green Science Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to facilitate the responsible use of chemicals to protect human health and the environment.  In this role she helps build partnerships with scientists, regulators, businesses, and public interest groups to devise innovative ways to eliminate harmful chemicals from consumer products.

Anna Jane Hays  is an author, editor, and former executive of Children’s Television Workshop in New York as VP, Editor in Chief, Sesame Street Books.  Previously she had worked at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC, in Public Information.  Her Peace Corps writing included national feature articles about Volunteers’ work in the field.

In 1970, Hays landed on Sesame Street in New York as a founding Editor of Sesame Street Magazine and Sesame Street Books.  After a 29-year career leading CTW book publishing, expanding its reach nationally and internationally, she returned home to New Mexico. In Santa Fe she continues to write books for children, including “Ready, Set, Preschool” and “Kindergarten Countdown” (Alfred A. Knopf), and “The Secret of the Circle K Cave” (Kane Press), a kids’ mystery adventure set in Carlsbad country and concluding in the Carlsbad Caverns.

Growing up in Carlsbad as Anna Jane Sitton, Hays graduated from Edison Elementary, Eisenhower Jr. High, Carlsbad High, Stephens College, and the University of New Mexico.

Dwight Pitcaithley is Professor of History at New Mexico State University. He retired from the National Park Service in 2005 as its Chief Historian, a position he had held for ten years. He is a co-editor of The Antiquities Act: A Century of American Archaeology, Historic Preservation, and Nature Conservation (2006) and has contributed chapters to Becoming Historians (2009), Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory (2006), Preserving Western History (2005), Public History and the Environment (2004), Myth, Memory, and the Making of the American Landscape (2001), and Seeing and Being Seen: Tourism in the American West (2001). A recipient of the OAH Distinguished Service Award, he also is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society and the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of North Carolina. In February of 2011 he and John Andrews co-authored “Cry Havoc,” a New York Times article about Shakespeare’s role in the Congressional debates that took place during “Secession Winter,” the months in late 1860 and early 1861 that followed Lincoln’s election as America’s 16th chief executive. 

Michael A. Rosenberg worked in Washington, D.C. as the Legislative Assistant to Congressman Tom Morris (D-NM) and later as a staff member for Senator Harrison Williams (D-NJ).  He received seven major medals for his service with the Air Force during two Tet Offensives in DaNang, Vietnam. He then became Vice President of Marketing for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. From there he moved on to roles as Senior Vice President of our nation’s Bicentennial American Freedom Train Foundation, and as Promoter for Ice Capades, the Kool Jazz Festivals, and the Playboy Jazz Festival. He then managed the careers of Olympic Champion Dorothy Hamill (and over 100 other World or Olympic figure skating champions), legendary singer Peggy Lee, rock star Johnny Rivers, Hall of Fame Coach George Allen, football superstar John Riggins, TV Emmy Award winner John Beradino, PGA golf star Wayne Levi, and Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman. He served as Producer of three TV movies and four TV specials (winning one Sports Emmy award and earning nominations for two others). He produced eight worldwide skating tours and four national concert tours. And he served as exclusive promoter for Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Quincy Jones.  Mr. Rosenberg grew up in Carlsbad and graduated with honors from both Carlsbad High and UNM. After living for many years in California, he returned to his home state in 2014, and he and his wife now reside in Albuquerque.

James Fron “Sonny” Throckmorton  (who was born April 2, 1941 in Carlsbad) is one of the most successful songwriters in the country music industry. Mr. Throckmorton has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by singers such as John Conlee, Dave & Sugar, Merle Haggard, The Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mel McDaniel, George Strait, and Doug Stone.  Between 1976 and 1980, a Throckmorton song appeared on the charts almost every week. His 1978 hit for Jerry Lee Lewis, Middle Age Crazy, became the basis for a major movie by the same name. Mr. Throckmorton was named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association three years in a row between 1978 and 1980. He has also enjoyed success as a recording artist, having released two major-label albums: The Last Cheater’s Waltz in 1978 on Mercury Records and Southern Train in 1986 on Warner Bros. Records. He is a member of the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, and he has been named Songwriter of the Year by both Broadcast Music Incorporated and the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Dr. Jim Tucker [co-owner of Bujac’s Armandine) is Senior Earth Scientist for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory.  Dr. Tucker received his B.S. degree in biological science in 1969 from Colorado State University in Ft. Collins.  After working for Colorado National Bank in Denver and the First National Bank in Albuquerque, he returned to CSU for graduate school and received his M.S in 1973 and his Ph.D. in 1975, both from the College of Forestry. In 1975 he joined  NASA/Goddard as a National Academy of Sciences post-doctoral fellow, and in 1977he became a NASA employee. At NASA/Goddard, Tucker has used satellite data to study the Earth in research areas that included early warning signs about famines, deforestation, desertification, ecologically-coupled diseases,  glacier melting, and climate effects on global vegetation. He has also taken part in NASA’s Space Archaeology Program, leading a group that assisted archaeologists mapping ancient sites in Turkey, at locations such as Troy, the Granicus River Valley, and Gordion.

Dr. Tucker has authored or co-authored more than 170 journal articles. He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, and he is a consulting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has been recognized with several honors, among them NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, the Pecora Award from the US Geological Survey, the National Air and Space Museum Trophy, the Henry Shaw Medal from the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Galathea Medal from the Royal Danish Geographical Society, and the Mongolian Friendship Medal.  He was the NASA representative to the U.S. Global Change Research Program from 2006 to 2009.

Dr. Tucker received the Vega Medal from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 2014. This honor celebrates his work in remote sensing. Awarded by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Culture every three years, the medal is presented to an individual showing excellence in such fields as archaeology, exploration, and physical geography.

Linda Wertheimer is NPR’s senior national correspondent, traveling around the country and the globe for NPR News. She joined National Public Radio at its inception, and served as All Things Considered‘s first director, beginning with its debut on May 3, 1971. In the more than 40 years since that date, Ms. Wertheimer has served NPR in a variety of roles, among them reporter and host.  In 1997 she was named one of the top 50 journalists in the Nation’s Capital by Washingtonian magazine, and in 1998 Vanity Fairrecognized her as one of America’s 200 most influential women. A graduate of Wellesley College, she received that institution’s highest alumni honor in 1985, the Distinguished Alumna Achievement Award. Ms. Wertheimer holds honorary degrees from Colby College, Wheaton College, and Illinois Wesleyan University.

For more information about her, visit  http://www.npr.org/people/1931801/linda-wertheimer.