Sprint Corporation

Paul became a member of the IRC in 1992 after participating in his first Great Decisions, discussion group. Since 1992, he has volunteered his time on various IRC committees and events and in 2004 was elected to the IRC board.  He is currently 1st Vice President and chairs the Schools committee.

William Jewell College

Gary Armstrong joined the Board in 2005.  He has been active in IRC events for over a decade, often bringing his students from William Jewell College.  He received the IRC award for Distinguished Service for International Academic Leadership in 2002.  He currently serves on the IRC Programming Committee.  Gary teaches at William Jewell College where he is a Professor of Political Science, department chair, and coordinator of the International Relations major.

Park University

Community Volunteer

Dr. Eliot Berkley founded the International Relations Council in 1954 and served as its Executive Director until 1993. It is due to his leadership and vision that the IRC exists and serves the community today.

During his long career in academics, he served as a Lecturer in History and Government at UMKC, Vice President for Development and Dean of the Kansas City Art Institute, and Chair of Faculty Development Grants Committee of the Kansas City Regional Council for Higher Education.  He has served on committees and boards of many civic organizations.  He currently is a Member Emeritus of the Advisory Board, International Studies and Programs at the University of Kansas as well as Board Member of the Metropolitan Community Colleges Foundation.   His awards include: Johnson County Community College Community Education Award (1953), Kansas City World Citizen of the Year (1975), Park College Distinguished Service Award for Community Service (1992), Sons of the American Revolution Silver Good Citizenship Award (1993), and Baker University Award for Outstanding Leadership in International Relations (1993).

Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Greg joined the IRC Board in 2007.  He is a Partner with the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. and heads up the firm’s International Litigation Practice Group.  His legal practice focuses upon the management and litigation of claims throughout the U.S. and internationally in Asia, Australia, North America, South America and Europe.  Greg is the General Editor and Author of the book, International Product Liability Law – A Worldwide Desk Reference (Aspatore, 2004) and has been an invited speaker on various litigation-related topics in the U.S. and oversees, including before the United States Library of Congress.  Greg has also published on a number of topics related to international litigation, product liability, product safety and government contracts.

Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP

William has been a member of the IRC for many years. He was elected to the IRC Board in 2003 and currently serves on the Finance Committee.

Baker University

Lowell Jacobsen is the Elizabeth H. Rhodes Professor of International Business at Baker University.  Previously, he was Professor of Economics at William Jewell College.  He has had various academic visits to Europe and China over the many years.  His areas of teaching, research, and consulting include strategy, investments, and international economics.  For some twenty years, he has been a member of the IRC and served two previous terms on the board.

Security Savings Bank

John Kopecky has recently returned to the Kansas City area and is the Executive Vice President and CFO of Security Savings Bank.  Prior to that, he has served as Vice President for banks in Denver, Omaha, and several in the Kansas City area.  John received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and is active in its alumni association.  He has an MBA from Avila University and has served as an adjunct professor there.

Top Innovations, Inc.

Benny Lee is founder, President and CEO of Top Innovations, Inc., which markets a line of steam cleaners, clothing steamers, fitness products and other innovative consumer products.  He was born in Taiwan, and moved here in 1995. He was recently honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Asian American Chamber; International Businessman of the Year by the International Relations Council; and he and his wife Edith, were presented the Pinnacle Award for honored philanthropy by the Northland Community Foundation. Benny is a Board Member of The Chamber, IRC, Southtown Council, Heart of America United Way, and is a Trustee of Park University.

Author

Dr. Tom Magstadt has taught at several universities, most recently at the University of Missouri in Kansas City (UM-KC), and chaired political science departments at Augustana College (Sioux Falls) and the University of Nebraska (Kearney).  He also served as an intelligence analyst at the CIA in the 1980s.  He currently teaches in the European Studies Program at the University of Kansas.  His published works include four books: Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Perspective, An Empire If You Can Keep It: Power and Principle in American Foreign Policy, Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions and Issues (7th ed.), and Nations and Governments: Comparative Politics in Regional Perspective (5th ed.).

Cerner

Douglas McNair, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President for Research, joined Cerner in March 1986.  In his current role, Dr. McNair is Cerner's Chief Research Officer and works in the company’s LifeSciences Knowledge and Discovery organization. Dr. McNair came to Cerner from Select Therapeutics, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President for Research and Development.  Dr. McNair received his bachelor’s and graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota.  He is certified by the American Board of Pathology and the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. McNair has lectured and written for numerous publications on medical informatics, bioethics, and biotechnology related topics.

Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin

John became a member of the IRC in 2004.  He serves as Vice Chair of the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund, travels to China and other Pacific Rim countries frequently and is a panelist on the CPR US-China Mediation Program.

 

University of St. Mary

Nicholas H. Riegg, who holds a Doctorate in Economics and a BA in International Relations, was a Foreign Service Officer and Diplomat for 30 years, serving in China, Britain, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. He has negotiated agreements in many areas, worked on African Affairs in the U.S. Treasury, served as Director of South Asia Regional Affairs at the State Department, was a Senior Visiting Scholar at the Fletcher School and taught Diplomacy and National Strategy at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. Most recently he served as the Founding Director of the Global Studies Institute of the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. He is married to Dr. Natalie T. Riegg, an accomplished Professor of Social Philosophy and Political Science.

Trans Am Group

Francois Sauer currently serves as the CEO of Trans Am Group which promotes importing and exporting between Mexico and the U.S.  He previously worked at KCCatalyst, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Kansas City that focuses on life science and technology-based businesses, and has worked on other life science initiatives. He has worked in Latin America and Europe. Francois has M.D. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School Program through The Pan-American Institute for Senior Management in Industry, and an M.S. in Systems Analysis from Spanish-American University.

Kansas State Senate

Chris Steineger currently serves as a Kansas State Senator, representing the 6th District. He has worked on several political campaigns and as a retail securities broker.  Chris is heading a new IRC initiative to encourage regional participation in the German Marshall Fund's American Marshall Memorial Fellowship.

Commerce Bank

Craig joined the IRC Board in 2003 and serves on the Finance Committee.  He is Senior Vice President and Manager, International Department at Commerce Bank, Kansas City. Craig travels internationally for the bank to market banking services and to keep abreast of business climates for the bank and its clients.

Linda became a Board Member in 2005.  She moved to Kansas City in 2003.  Thirty-three years of her Federal Government career was spent in the field of global health, including three years as Director of the DHHS Office of International and Refugee Health and three years as Health Attaché at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Switzerland.

TwoWest

CEO of the firm he founded in 1997, Two West, Inc., a branding and communications agency, Whitehill has worked with several Fortune 1,000 and Forbes 500 clients. His own company has been listed among the 100 fastest growing companies in Kansas City and has been nationally ranked as a top 100 inner-city company by Inc. magazine. The Missouri native holds a BA in Advertising and Communications from Westminster College and an MBA from Baker University. Whitehill is also a graduate of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program and the Kansas City World Trade Center's Globe Program. In addition to his IRC participation, he serves on the board of directors for DeLaSalle Education Center and chairs that group's communications committee. He and his company support the March of Dimes and other charitable causes benefiting children and education. Whitehill's wife, Heidi, is a freelance geographer with Scout Maps & Analysis and a college instructor of cultural geography. They have two sons who love maps and travel.