Board of Trustees

Lou D’Allesandro, Chairman, has held leadership positions in New Hampshire State government for over 25 years; he currently serves as Chairman of the NH Senate Finance Committee and as Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. From 1976-1980 he was President and CEO of Daniel Webster College, and from 1988-1997 he was Vice President for Continuing Education at Franklin Pierce College. Senator D’Allesandro holds an honorary doctorate from Daniel Webster College as well as degrees from the University of New Hampshire and Rivier College. He is a graduate of Harvard’s JFK School of Government (2000), the Institute for Educational Management (1995), and the Institute for the Management of Lifelong Learning (1990). He is a member of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, former Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, and former Chair of the New England Board of Higher Education.

Richard A. Gustafson, Vice Chairman, is Chancellor of the Community College System of New Hampshire. He served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Keene State College (1973-1987), and as President of Southern New Hampshire University (1987-2002), where he oversaw the institution's transformation from a small college to a full-fledged university. He earned a BA from Boston University (1963), and a Master of Education Degree in Science Education (1964), as well as a Masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from Notre Dame College (1997), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management and Educational Research with Computer Programming and Statistics from the University of Connecticut (1970). He is a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Educational Management (1982) and was a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in Thailand (1999). Dr. Gustafson has served in a leadership capacity on the boards of the New Hampshire College and University Council, the New Hampshire Postsecondary Education Commission, the New Hampshire Tuition Savings Plan Commission, the professional organizations of the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs International Division, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

George Roussos, Secretary, is a partner in the law firm of Orr & Reno in Concord, New Hampshire. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (1970) and Georgetown Law School (1973). Attorney Roussos advises business clients, notably in matters relating to insurance. He represents clients before the New Hampshire Insurance Department and other administrative agencies, and serves as a spokesman for many businesses before the New Hampshire legislature. Earlier in his career, he served as Assistant New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner. He has served on the New Hampshire Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness (1995-2008) and was cited in The Best Lawyers in America, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 for government relations law and insurance law.

Kostas Alexakis is a lawyer and entrepreneur in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in software development, real estate development, and the restaurant business. He is CEO of Public Sector Solutions, Alpha Development Company, and Alpha of Maryland. He holds a BS degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University and a BA from New York Regent’s University. Mr. Alexakis was born in a small town outside Sparta, Greece, and came to the US with his family when he was 13. He has served on the Board of the American Hellenic Institute, and was the Democratic nominee for Congress from Maryland’s 1st District in 2004.

Nicholas Christodoulopoulos has been a shipowner since 1973. He is President of the Fidetrust Investments LTD. of London (UK), former Vice-President of the Greek Tourist Shipowners’ Association (2000-2003), and a member of the legal committee of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping for 18 years. Mr. Christodoulopoulos earned a law degree from the University of Athens (L.L.B., 1960), a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Rome (1963) and a LL.M. in Comparative Law from Columbia University (1966). While of Greek nationality, he resides in New York City.

Eleanor Dunfey is Professor of Ethics and Civic Engagement at Southern New Hampshire University, where she has taught since 1984. In 2001, she was the first appointee to the Distinguished Chair in Ethics, the University’s first endowed Chair. Professor Dunfey is a Board member of the NH Endowment for Health and has been extensively involved in issues of peace, education, non-profit development, and ethics at the community, national, and international level for over 30 years. She is Co-chair and Managing Director of Global Citizens Circle, a non-profit educational forum, and was the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award from Southern New Hampshire University, the NH Irish Catholic Woman of the Year Award, the Ulster Unionist Party Distinguished Service and Leadership Award, and the Award for Courageous Service from the Sisters of Notre Dame. Professor Dunfey earned her MA from Emmanuel College (1960) and her MA from the University of San Francisco (1970). She has also studied at Yale University, Harvard Newman Center and Boston University.

William Kanteres is President of Kanteres Real Estate in Manchester, New Hampshire. He has been involved in the real estate business for 31 years, focusing on commercial and investment properties. He was a founding Director of Share Our Strength, one of the largest hunger relief organizations in the US, and has served on its Board for 20 years. He is co-author with his wife Meryl Levin, of Primarily New Hampshire, a photographic journal which documents a year in the lives of 35 young activists who worked for various candidates in the 2004 Presidential Primary in New Hampshire. Mr. Kanteres has been actively involved in national, state, and local politics for nearly 25 years. He was the NH co-chair of Governor Jerry Brown's 1980 Presidential campaign, and worked on the national staffs of Senator Gary Hart's 1984 and 1988 campaigns and Senator Bob Kerrey's 1992 campaign.

C. Thomas McMillen was a three-time All-American in basketball, an academic All-American, a member of the 1972 Olympic Team, and the first student from the University of Maryland to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. In 1978, he received a MA in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford. He played for 11 years in the N.B.A. with the New York Knicks, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Washington Bullets, resigning in 1986 to run for Congress, where he served 3 terms in the US House of Representatives (1987-1993) representing the 4th Congressional District of Maryland. Mr. McMillen was inducted into the GTE Academic All-American Hall of Fame in May 1988. In 1993 he was named by President Clinton to co-chair the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Mr. McMillen serves as Vice-Chairman of Fortress International Group, as CEO/President of Homeland Security Capital Corp, and as Chairman of Washington Capital Advisors, LLC. He is a member of the University of Maryland System Board of Regents, the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland College Park School of Public Affairs, and the Executive Board of the University of Maryland College Park Center for American Politics and Citizenship. He is also Chairman of the University of Oxford U.S. Sports Campaign Committee and co-author of Out-of-Bounds, a book on sports and ethics in America.

Joan Menard served 21 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1978-1999) and became the first woman to hold a leadership position in the history of the House. In 1999, she was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, becoming only the 25th woman to serve in that legislative body. She was appointed Majority Whip of the Senate in 2003, becoming the highest ranking woman Democratic leader in Massachusetts. In 1993, Senator Menard was elected the first woman to serve as Chairperson of the Massachusetts Democratic Committee. In 1996, she was reelected as State Chair and in 1998 she was appointed Vice Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee. Senator Menard was appointed to the New England Board of Higher Education in Sept. 2003 and has served as Chair since 2008. A former educator in the Somerset School System, Menard received a Bachelor of Science degree in education (1967) and a Master of Education degree from Bridgewater State College (1971). In 1993, she received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education Administration from Boston College. Menard was an elementary school and special education teacher from 1967-1974, and served as Director of Special Education for the Town of Somerset from 1974-1978.

Nicholas Mitropoulos is a consultant for the Monitor Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was Executive Director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Director of the ARCO Forum, and Director of Personnel for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the Dukakis Administration.

Harold C. Pachios is the managing partner of Preti-Flaherty, a New England regional law firm. He was Associate White House Press Secretary under President Lyndon B. Johnson, serving as principal aide to White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers from 1965 to 1967. He came to the White House after serving as Deputy Congressional Liaison for the Peace Corps and assisted the task force that wrote the Federal legislation creating the Office of Equal Opportunity, helping to develop legislation to launch Head Start, VISTA and Job Corps. He left the White House in 1967 to become attorney-advisor to the Secretary of the newly created Department of Transportation. In summer 1968, he joined the vice-presidential campaign of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, and in 1969 he returned to his home state of Maine and began his practice of law in Portland. Pachios pursues projects ranging from complex litigation before administrative tribunals and courts to counseling corporate clients in contract, real estate, and regulatory matters, as well as governmental and legislative issues. He was nominated by President Clinton to the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in 1993 and appointed its Chairman in 1999. Attorney Pachios also serves as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the University of Maine School of Law. Mr. Pachios was Chairman of the Maine Democratic Party for four years, and was the Democratic nominee for Congress from Maine’s 1st Congressional District in 1980. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton and his J.D. from Georgetown University.

Steven C. Panagiotakos is currently serving his sixth term as a Massachusetts State Senator. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, he is charged with the oversight and development of the Commonwealth’s $26.8 billion budget. Senator Panagiotakos has a long history of community and political involvement, particularly in the area of education. He served two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and two terms as a member of the Lowell School Committee. For the past decade he has been a board member of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Lowell. Senator Panagiotakos attended Phillips Andover Academy, received his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, and obtained a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School. He maintains a law practice not far from his home in Lowell, MA, where he grew up.

Maria Pappas

is treasurer of Cook County, Illinois, where she has built a public career focused on delivering government services more efficiently. As Treasurer, Pappas manages the second largest property tax collection in the United States. Prior to being elected Treasurer, Pappas served eight years in the legislative branch of government as an elected Cook County Commissioner, where she built a reputation as the leading budget hawk and led the charge to create Cook County's first ethics ordinance and human-rights legislation, and to require competitive bidding on bond issues. She earned a BA in Sociology from West Liberty State College, an MA in Guidance and Counselling from West Virginia University, a Ph.D. in Counselling and Psychology from Loyola University, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Pappas is the recipient of accolades from the Greek Women’s University Club, the United Hellenic American Congress, and the Illinois Committee for Honest Government, among others. She has taught across the United States, in Israel, and in eight European countries.

Artemis P. Simopoulos is the Founder and President of The Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health, a nonprofit educational organization in Washington, D.C. A graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University and Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Simopoulos is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Nutrition, and The American Society of Human Genetics. She chaired the Nutrition Coordinating Committee at the National Institutes of Health from 1978 to 1986 and served as Consultant on Nutrition and Health to the Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs in The White House from 1978 to 1980. Dr. Simopoulos organized and chairs the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Committee on Genetics, Nutrition, and Chronic Diseases since 1996. She is also the Organizer and Conference Co-chair of the International Conferences on Nutrition and Fitness, held every four years at the International Olympic Academy at Ancient Olympia, Greece. Since 1984, her research has focused on the evolutionary aspects of diet and the omega-6/omega-3 balance. Her latest book The Omega Diet, now in its 2nd edition, has been published in the U.K, Holland, China, and Greece. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the first Presidential Award for Studies in the Field of Obesity and Weight Control (Columbia University, USA), and the 1991 Boston University School of Medicine Distinguished Alumna Award (USA).