The Conference on World Affairs is pleased to announce members of its volunteer leadership team for the 2019-20 conference. Leslie Durgin has been approved by the CWA Board and Chancellor DiStefano to serve as CWA Community Outreach Chair, and Margaret Hollingsworth has been elected to serve as CWA Program Committee Chair for a second year. Kathy Wegner will work with Margaret as the CWA Program Committee Vice Chair.
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Leslie Durgin's career has been concentrated in executive management in both Colorado State and local governments and in human services, health and educational non-profits in Boulder and Denver. She has volunteered with and served on numerous Boards of Directors. Elected to the Boulder City Council in 1989, Leslie served as Boulder's Mayor from 1990-1997. She is married to Sam Fitch, retired CU Professor of Political Science. They have two sons and three grandchildren.
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Dr. Margaret Hollingsworth first joined CWA as a member of the Science and Tech committee in 2016. Prior to retiring in 2016, she was a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University at Buffalo. In 2017, she served as a Community Co-Chair on the CWA Science and Tech committee and was a member of the Producer committee for CWA's 70th conference in 2018. She serves as a volunteer in several other organizations in Boulder County, including 500 Women Scientists and Reading to End Racism.
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Kathy Wegner began volunteering with the Conference on World Affairs as a member of the Science and Tech committee in 2016. In 2018-19, she served as Community Co-Chair on the International Affairs Committee and as the Community Volunteer Coordinator. Prior to retiring in 2015, she was Executive Director of a Delaware non-profit and before that worked in process improvement and leadership development. Kathy and her husband Bob established an Adopt a Home program, renovating group homes for a disability agency. The Wegners recently founded the Opportunity Through Education Scholarship Fund to help Chicago students succeed in post-secondary education.
Leslie Durgin and Margaret Hollingsworth will also serve on the CWA Board, along with new members Nathan Roura (CU Student), Rashel Gandhi (Community), David Brown (CU Faculty) and Alison Cool (CU Faculty).
- Nathan Roura is currently a Junior studying Political Science and International Affairs. He has been a member of both the CWA Students Committee and the CWA Politics and Media Committee. During the week of CWA, he was involved as a driver and producer. In 2019-20 he will co-chair of the Politics and Media Committee. He has prior Board experience working with community members in the Jenny Lin Foundation.
- Rashel Gandhi began volunteering with the conference in 2017 as a student, serving multiple roles as Chair of the Science and Technology subcommittee, Producing Coordinator, Transportation Coordinator and a Marketing Intern in the CWA office. Rashel graduated from CU Boulder in 2018 with a degrees in Anthropology and Spanish and was named the Outstanding Graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences. She currently works for Natural Habitat Adventures in Louisville, Colorado.
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Alison Cool is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology. She is a cultural anthropologist and her teaching and research focus on science, medicine, and technology. She is especially interested in digital technologies, data ethics, and how people think about privacy and surveillance. She also researches and writes about how behavioral economists see the world and the role of twins as scientific and medical research subjects.
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David Brown is Divisional Dean for Social Science and Dean for Buildings and Space in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Professor of Political Science. His work centers on political institutions and their impact on economic development. His specific focus is on democracy and its impact on economic growth and development. He is currently working on a text book "Introduction to Statistics in R: the Art & Practice of Data Analysis." David served on the CWA Strategic Planning Committee in 2018-19.
For a complete list of board members and information on the CWA governance structure, visit the CWA Board webpage.