Board of Trustees

Mary Munsell Abroe

Board of Trustees Chair

BA from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana; PhD from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Abroe is retired from teaching U.S. History and Western Civilization at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois. She has commented on and given presentations related to her interest in the Civil War era and historic preservation at professional gatherings and cultural/historical institutions, including the Kenosha (WI) Civil War Museum, Wilmette (IL) Public Library, Wilson’s Creek (MO) National Battlefield, and meetings of the Illinois State Historical Society, Ohio Valley History Conference, National Council on Public History, and Organization of American Historians. Her articles and reviews have appeared in Civil War History; Mid-America: An Historical Review; the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society; the Journal of Southern History; and Cultural Resource Management (later CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship), a publication of the National Park Service. In observance of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, she was project scholar for “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War,” co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Library Association, at the Wilmette Public Library. Dr. Abroe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation and past president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago.

William J. Hupp

Board of Trustees Vice Chair

BA, University of Michigan; MBA, University of Chicago. Recipient of the inaugural 2011 Private Equity Manager Leadership Award. Founding Board Member of the Midwest Chapter of the Private Equity CFO Association. Member of the NVCA/CFO Task Force. Partner and CFO of Adams Street Partners, Chicago.

David N. Duncan

President of the American Battlefield Trust

BS in Communications from James Madison University. Before joining the Trust in 2000, he was Creative Director of Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, a direct marketing agency specializing in political campaigns and nonprofit organizations. He spent more than 20 years as the organization’s primary fundraiser and Chief Development Officer before being named in October 2020 to take over the top spot with the retirement of longtime president O. James Lighthizer. In his years with the Trust, he has led fundraising efforts and campaigns that have brought in nearly $240 million in private donations, allowing the Trust to save more than 45,000 acres of hallowed ground at more than 120 battlefields associated with the American Revolution, War of 1812 and Civil War.

William W. Vodra

Secretary

Graduate of the College of Wooster (Ohio) and Columbia University School of Law. Held numerous significant positions in federal service, including Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in D.C., Assistant Chief Counsel for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Associate Chief Counsel for Drugs to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Served on expert panels for the Institute of Medicine and written extensively on food and drug law. Currently Senior Counsel, Arnold & Porter LLP and has been instrumental in securing the firm's pro-bono support for preservation issues. First joined the American Battlefield Trust Board in 2005 and currently serving his second term. He and his wife Dru have identified 21 direct and collateral ancestors who fought in the Civil War.

Travis K. Anderson

Treasurer

Yale College A.B. in history.  Joined stockbrokers R. Gilder and Co. after graduation, became a partner in 1981.  Now called Gilder Gagnon, Howe & Co., Travis has been CEO since 2006.  His wife Victoria Phillips Anderson teaches American Cold War history at Columbia University.  

David Abbey

AA, Illinois Central College; BS, Illinois State, History & Political Science; JD, Stetson College of Law. Served as Stetson Adjunct Professor, Insurance and Damages in 1990’s. Currently a partner at Abbey Adams Byelick & Mueller LLP in St. Petersburg, Florida. David is a member of the Florida and Illinois Bar, a Florida Bar Certified Civil Trial Lawyer and has held various leadership positions with Florida Bar, St. Petersburg Bar, ISU Attorneys Advisory Board, St. Petersburg Kiwanis Club and St. Pete First United Methodist Church. He is a descendant of John Abbey who landed at Salem, MA, in 1635, and a native of Cropsey, Illinois. David has a special interest in history, farming, gardening, fishing, and auto racing and has attended each Indy 500 since 1965, other than 2020.

Don Barrett

Graduate of the University of Mississippi and Ole Miss Law School. One of two partners of a 15-lawyer law firm called the Barrett Law Office, P.A. Involved in numerous high-profile lawsuits on behalf of clients. Awarded the Public Justice Achievement Award by Trial Lawyers for the Public Justice Foundation; provided foundation donation for the University of Mississippi Center for Civil War Research. Active with the University of Mississippi Foundation.

Terry Beaty, Jr.

Graduate Princeton University and Harvard Business School. Strategic Advisor and Senior Portfolio Manager for Brown Advisory, an investment management firm. Prior to joining Brown Advisory, he worked in the investment field for 42 years; co-founded Beaty Haynes & Associates, Inc. and served as an officer (President for the last six) of Davidge & Company. He serves on the following: Community Foundation of the National Capital Area, Fort Ticonderoga (Executive Committee), Princeton University History Department (Advisory Board), Montgomery County Historical Society and Decatur House (National Trust for Historic Preservation). An enthusiast of the Revolutionary War, he lives in an historic (circa 1700) home that is now on the National Register of Historic Places and was originally a tavern and stagecoach stop.

Hon. John Culberson

JD, South Texas College of Law; BA, Southern Methodist University. John represented Houston’s District 7 in the United States Congress from 2001-2019. He served on the House Appropriations Committee for 16 years chairing two subcommittees: Commerce, Justice and Science; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. He was a leading advocate in Congress for the preservation of America’s battlefields and historic ships, such as the Battleship USS Texas and the CSS Huntley. In late 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recognized John’s success in lifting NASA funding to near-record levels by presenting him with NASA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Public Service Medal. In early 2020, he was nominated by The White House to serve on the National Space Council’s Users’ Advisory Group to advise the President and Vice President on the future of America’s space program. In 2019, he joined the law firm of Clark, Hill and Strasburger (with offices in Washington, D.C. and Houston), where he advises primarily aerospace, health care, cyber and energy clients on state and federal governmental matters. Also, in 2019, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Ocean Exploration Trust, and the American Battlefield Trust Board of Trustees.

Robert C. Daum*

*Chair Emeritus

AB, Colgate University; MBA, Harvard University. Retired investment banker and financial executive. Private investor since 2003. Serves on executive committee and board of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Sheltering Arms (a New York based social services agency), the Royal Oak Foundation (the US affiliate of the UK National Trust), the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and the Association of Lloyd’s Members (represents private capital at Lloyd’s of London). Former chair of Out2Play which built over 100 playgrounds for New York City public schools. Passionate about history and has visited most of the major Civil War battlefields as well as iconic battlefields throughout the world. Served as Chair of the American Battlefield Trust’s Board from 2021 to 2023.

Richard G. Etzkorn

BS, University of Colorado. Formerly with Cushman & Wakefield, Rich joined in 1986 as a Property Manager and has over 33 years of experience in the commercial real estate services industry. He was most recently responsible for the overall management of a major international commercial real estate services firm’s specialized outsourcing services center in St. Louis, Missouri. Rich is experienced in investor services, property management and project leasing. In addition to the Trust, Rich is a member of numerous rugby clubs.

Virginia Johnson Burnley

B.A., Duke University; J.D., Wake Forest University School of Law.  Chief Government Relations Officer, USO.  She has held numerous positions in all three branches of the federal government, state and local government, the private sector and the nonprofit community, including the American Red Cross. Key positions have included several Counsel positions with the U.S. House of Representatives, including the House Armed Services Committee, and senior political appointments in three presidential administrations at the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of the Interior.  While practicing law for the first decade of her career in Washington, DC, she also served on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown University and the University of San Diego. 

Thomas P. Hand

United States Military Academy; MBA, Campbell University; Army officer, Fort Bragg, NC, 1983-1986; Brand Management, Proctor & Gamble 1986-1988; Baskin-Robbins, 1988-1994; Owner/CEO, Gilman Cheese Corporation, 1994-2019. Tom is retired and devotes his time to his website called Americana Corner in which Tom posts a story and corresponding video each week on early America and his Preserving America Grant program in which Tom gives out grants to early American history organizations. To date, Tom has awarded over 200 grants to early American history organizations in 36 states. Tom also enjoys reading books on American history and classic novels, as well as gardening, playing his guitar and singing, and traveling the byways and waterways of America with his lovely wife Char.

Van D. Hipp, Jr.

BA, Wofford College. Juris Doctorate, University of South Carolina. Chairman of American Defense International, Inc.; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army. Author of ”The New Terrorism.” Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Leadership Award for National Security. Moderator for two Presidential National Security Town Halls for President Donald J. Trump during the 2016 election cycle. Has appeared as an expert commentator on Fox News Channel and Fox Business Channel over 600 times since the September 11th attacks.

Thomas H. Lauer*

*Chair Emeritus

BS, University of Minnesota; MBA, Harvard Business School. Served as the Board Chair of the American Battlefield Trust from 2019 to 2021. Was a Managing Partner at Advent International Corporation from 1987 until his retirement in 2013. At Advent, held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and, previously, Chief Financial Officer. Worked at Prime Computer, Inc. where he held several senior positions and at the predecessor firm of Deloitte where he was a practicing CPA. Also served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. Currently serves on the Boards of Advent and the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary.  

O. James Lighthizer*

*President Emeritus

BA, University of Dayton; Juris Doctorate, Georgetown University Law Center. He was the president of the American Battlefield Trust and predecessor organizations from 1999 to September 2020. Under his leadership, the organization preserved more than 46,000 acres of battlefield land, for a total of more than 53,000 acres.  Before joining the Trust, he was a partner with the Miles and Stockbridge law firm, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, Anne Arundel County Executive, and a Maryland legislator.

Jeffrey P. McClanathan

Partner with McClanathan, Burg & Associates, CPAs, St. Petersburg, Florida. Strategic Planning Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President of HTR Foundation; Formerly Board of Trustees, Canterbury School of Florida; Board of Trustees, All Children's Hospital; Board of Trustees, Morean Arts Center.

Noah B. Mehrkam

BS, West Virginia University; MA, Real Estate Development from Johns Hopkins University. Mehrkam is the founder and CEO of Arcland and CEO of Self Storage Plus, LLC.  He oversees the growth of both companies including investments and expansion of the operating platform, currently the 12th largest nationally. Prior to founding Arcland, he held various senior real estate positions with the Civil War Trust and The Rector Companies. In addition to his board activities with ABT, he is a member of the Young President’s Organization, and is an active member of the Self Storage Association (SSA) where he serves on the Large Operators Council. Noah also serves on the Governing Board of The Beauvoir School, Washington, D.C.

Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, USMC (Ret.)

BA, Franklin and Marshall College. A native of Huntington New York, he retired from the Marine Corps in October 2015 as a Lieutenant General at the conclusion of a 40-year career. An infantryman, he commanded at all levels from platoon to Force including the historic First Marine Division. He served in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo, as part of Task Force Tarawa during the invasion of Iraq, as Commander, Ground Combat Element, Al Anbar Province, Iraq and deployed to Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). In June 2010, he assumed command of the newly created ISAF Regional Command (Southwest) in Helmand Province, and as such, was the first Marine Corps General Officer to command NATO forces in combat. He also served as a United Nations Military Observer in Palestine, studied at the Royal College of Defense Studies in London and served on the staff of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, Gaeta, Italy and the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart Germany. His final assignment was as Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve and Marine Forces Northern Command, New Orleans, La. He currently serves as President and CEO of the Marine Corps University Foundation and as a Highly Qualified Expert/Senior Mentor for the Department of the Navy. 

John L. Nau, III*

*Chair Emeritus

BA in History from the University of Virginia. Previously served as the chairman of three top entities in the historic preservation realm: the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Texas Historical Commission, and, from 2009–2011, the American Battlefield Trust. Benefactor for the University of Virginia Center for Civil War History, which bears his name. Also endowed a chair in the History Department of the University of Virginia to ensure top-quality instruction on the subject of the American Civil War. President and CEO, Silver Eagle Distributors, LP, the largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the U.S. Served on a broad spectrum of civic, community, and philanthropic Boards in support of education, health and hospitals, inner city children, and urban parks and conservation, including the National Park Foundation, Greater Houston Partnership, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Texas State Historical Association, and Admiral Nimitz Foundation.

Stephan F. Newhouse

BA, Yale University; MBA, Harvard Business School. Former President of Morgan Stanley & Co. and former Chairman of Morgan Stanley International Inc. Served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1969 to 1972. Worked in the investment banking division of First Boston Corporation from 1975 to 1979.

Thomas B. (Tommy) Nusz

BS, Mississippi State University. Tommy Nusz has extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, most recently serving as Chairman and CEO Oasis Petroleum Inc. and Chairman of Oasis Midstream Partners, both companies that he co-founded and took public on the NYSE. Twenty years at Burlington Resources Inc., a formerly publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company where he served in increasing levels of responsibility including President International Division, Vice President Acquisitions and Divestitures, Vice President Strategic Planning and Engineering, and Chief Engineer. Former engineer with Superior Oil Company. Former member of the National Petroleum Council, an advisory committee to the Secretary of Energy of the United States.

Marshal A. Oldman 

BA, University of Southern California; JD, University of California Los Angeles. Former Chairman of the San Fernando Valley Bar Probate Section, member of Executive Committee of Los Angeles County Bar Association Probate Section, Chairman of Probate Section of County Bar Association, Chairman of Legislative Monitoring Committee of County Bar Probate Section, President of San Fernando Valley Bar Association 1989, member of Board of Trustees of San Fernando Valley Bar Association, and member of Executive Committee of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section of the State Bar of California. Authored numerous articles for the San Fernando Valley Bar Bulletin, Probate Column for the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Journal of Western Legal History, and for the Daily Journal Report. Numerous speeches before the Los Angeles County Bar Probate Section, San Fernando Valley Bar, Santa Monica Bar, Pasadena Bar, CEB, and other organizations. Served as expert witness in probate, attorney fees, legal malpractice, and federal estate tax matters.

John Sivolella

PhD in Political Science from Columbia University. Graduate of NYU Law School. MPA from Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. BA from Rutgers University. He has served as an adjunct professor on Columbia’s Political Science faculty and at Columbia’s School of International and Political Affairs (SIPA). His research focus is the US presidency, federal agencies, executive power and constitutional law. He practiced law in Manhattan, focusing on venture capital and M&A. He was legal counsel to the Governor of New Jersey and was a law clerk on the New Jersey Supreme Court. He is on the Board of Directors of the Rutgers University Foundation. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia Engineering Foundation. He served on Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s Better Government Transition Team. He was also a member of the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights.

Barbara Stewart

BA and MBA from Northwestern University. Trustee and Co-Founder of the Bowe Stewart Foundation. From 2018 to 2021, she served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism. Prior to AmeriCorps, she was an SVP at JPMorgan Chase and earlier in her career worked in the Illinois state government.  She has chaired multiple civic and non-profit organizations in both Chicago and Baltimore, and helped found a charter school in Chicago.

Madhu Tadikonda

AB, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University; MBA, Stanford. Currently CEO (Americas) for software company bolttech; formerly Global Chief Underwriting Officer for AIG. Previous positions include Partner-Private Equity at Oliver Wyman; General Partner at Accretive LLC; Senior Associate at Battery Ventures; and COO at the Loan Page. “An amateur historian for decades,” he is passionate about Civil War and military history and has visited many Civil War battlefields.

John Taylor

BA, Pennsylvania State University; JD, College of William and Mary. Currently serves as president and principal (compliance and regulatory affairs) at Greenleaf Health. Prior, he spent more than 20 years in leadership roles at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including Counselor to the FDA Commissioner, Acting Principal Deputy Commissioner, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Global Operations and Policy and Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs. At FDA, he won the FDA Award of Merit in 2000, 2003 and 2005. He is also a six-time recipient of the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service. Between his two stints at FDA, he served as the Divisional Vice President at Abbott and as the Executive Vice President for Health at the Biotechnology Industry Organization. He has been a long-time contributor to historic preservation initiatives throughout the United States. 

Charles E. Trefzger

BS in Business Administration from Viginia Commonwealth University and JD from Wake Forest University. Founder, President and CEO of Affinity Living Group.  Headquartered in Hickory, North Carolina, Affinity provides assisted living and memory care services to residents throughout the Southeast. Affinity’s genesis is rooted in his entrance in Long Term Care in 1986. Over the following decades, spanning a wide spectrum of hands-on experiences, he has developed a keen understanding of the daily needs and challenges of the Senior community. This is the impetus for his vision of providing value-driven, cost-conscious Senior Housing Services to those needing assistance with the most fundamental tasks of daily living. This has remained his singular goal and foremost consideration for more than thirty years. He has served for twenty years on the Executive Board of the North Carolina Senior Living Association and serves on the National Board of Directors of Argentum, Senior Housing’s national trade organization. A licensed North Carolina attorney, he also serves as Chairman of the Board of Visitors for the Wake Forest University School of Law and helped create the Wake Forest School of Law Center for Health Law and Policy. He is an avid student of American history. Married with three children.

Christopher C. Welton

BBA and JD, University of Georgia. He currently serves as CEO of Georgia Fitness Solutions, an operator of fitness franchises. He spent the majority of his professional career as a sports marketing executive, first as CEO of Meridian Management SA, the marketing and sponsorship agency for the International Olympic Committee and other international sports properties, and then as CEO of Helios Partners, a global sports marketing consultancy. He currently serves on the Board of Athletes for a Better World and previously served on the Board of The Nature Conservancy of Georgia.

Susan Whitaker

Graduate, Northwestern University. From 2003 to 2015, she served as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, a cabinet-level position to which she was appointed by three consecutive gubernatorial administrations. In 2013, she was named National Tourism Director of the Year by the U.S. Travel Association’s National Council of State Travel Directors. She also served as the co-chair of the Tennessee’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, Board Member for the Franklin Battle Trust, Secretary of the U.S. Travel Association’s Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Tennessee State Fair Commission, and Member of the Smoky Mountains Park Commission. Although a Chicago native, she is a direct descendent of Tennessee’s first Governor John Sevier.