PLATO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Description:
The board of PLATO is both a governing board and a working board. Board members provide leadership, set direction and policy, and share overall responsibility for fundraising, development and financial management. Because PLATO has only two part-time staff members, the board also is responsible for the hands-on work required to fulfill PLATO’s mission and build a sustainable and strong organization. Board members should expect to devote roughly an average of 8 hours each month to the organization.
General Responsibilities:
  • Attend board meetings, including in-person, telephone and videoconference meetings
  • Chair or provide a significant leadership role for one of PLATO’s board committees, for a two-year term.
  • Monitor email regularly and participate in board email discussions.
  • Maintain annual PLATO membership.
  • Read all meeting materials prior to meetings, and openly communicate opinions.
  • Maintain confidentiality of board discussions.

Thomas Wartenburg
President
Mount Holyoke College

Tom Wartenberg has published numerous books and articles, including Big Ideas for Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy Through Children’s Literature (Rowman and Littlefield, 2nd Edition 2014), and A Sneetch is A Sneetch and Other Philosophical Discoveries: Finding Wisdom in Children’s Literature (Wiley Blackwell, 2013). Among his awards are the 2011 APA/PDC Prize for Excellence and Innovations in Philosophy Programs and the 2013 Merritt Prize for his contributions to the philosophy of education. His course, Philosophy for Children, is the subject of a PBS documentary: http://wgby.org/bigideas. He directs an NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers on Existentialism at Mount Holyoke College.


Michael Burroughs
Vice President
Penn State University

Michael Burroughs, vice president of PLATO, is also associate director of the Rock Ethics Institute, senior lecturer of philosophy, and an affiliate faculty member of education at Penn State University. He recently published a co-authored book (with Jana Mohr Lone) entitled Philosophy in Education: Questioning and Dialogue in Schools (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016). This book focuses on the theory and practice of doing philosophical and ethical work with young children. Michael also researches and has published several articles and chapters in the areas of community engaged philosophy, philosophy with children, ethics, education, critical philosophy of race, and social epistemology.


Roberta Israeloff
Secretary
Squire Family Foundation

Roberta Israeloff has directed the Squire Family Foundation since its inception in 2007, and is a founding member of PLATO where she serves as Secretary. She also served on the Executive Board and as National Facilitator of the National High School Ethics Bowl which SFF helped launch. She’s enjoyed a 40-year career as a writer, editor and teacher during which she published five books, most recently, What Went Right: Lessons from Both Sides of the Teacher’s Desk, co-authored with George McDermott (Rowman & Littlefield). She has also taught writing and literature.

Stephen Kekoa Miller, Humanities Department chair at Oakwood Friends School and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, has taught philosophy and religious studies for the past 15 years in Poughkeepsie NY. Stephen has developed a wide range of courses from first grade philosophy through upper level college courses, and a philosophy series for parents.  Stephen’s research interests lately have centered on pre-college philosophy, philosophy of education, virtue ethics and emotions.  Stephen is also on the board of the United Nations Association-Mid Hudson Valley and serveson  the Teachers Advisory Council of the National Humanities Center. Along with being PLATO's treasurer, he is also co-chair of PLATO’s Education Committee.


Jana Mohr Lone
Founder and President Emeritus
University of Washington

Jana Mohr Lone is Director of the Center for Philosophy for Children and Affiliate Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Washington, and the author of The Philosophical Child, co-author of Philosophy in Education: Questioning and Dialogue in Schools, and co-editor of Philosophy and Education: Introducing Philosophy to Young People. She works with pre-college teachers and students in Seattle schools and around the country and with UW students, parents, school administrators, and others interested in philosophical inquiry with youth. Jana is the founding president of PLATO and the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Questions: Philosophy for Young People.


Allison Cohen
Board Member
Langley High School

Allison's Bio


Megan Laverty
Board Member
Teachers College, Columbia University

Megan J. Laverty is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She researches in philosophy of education, moral philosophy and pre-college philosophy. Her recent books include Art's Teachings, Teaching's Arts: Philosophical, Critical and Educational Musings (2015), co-edited with Tyson E Lewis and, In Community of Inquiry with Ann Margaret Sharp: Philosophy, Childhood and Education (2017), co-edited with Maughn Rollins Gregory. Laverty is the author of numerous articles and the book, Iris Murdoch’s Ethics: A Consideration of her Romantic Vision (2007).


Steve Goldberg
Board Member
Oak Park River Forest High School

Steve Goldberg taught history and philosophy for twenty-nine years at Oak Park River Forest High School, a suburban public school west of Chicago. He also has taught at DePaul University (Philosophy Department), Northwestern University (Center for Talent Development), and University of Chicago (Graham School). He serves on several PLATO committees and recently co-led, with Wendy Turgeon, PLATO's second summer seminar. He currently co-chairs, with Bart Schultz, the planning committee for PLATO's fourth biennial conference, to be held June 23-24, 2017 at the University of Chicago. His interests include playing drums, travel, and hiking (when his balky hip cooperates). He has two adult daughters and lives in Oak Park with his wife, Katherine, and Kulu, their Jamaican dog.


Janice Moskalik
Board Member
University of Washington

Janice Moskalik is an Instructor in the Philosophy Department at Seattle University. She has also worked with the UW Center for Philosophy for Children for a number of years and is a member of their Board of Directors. Janice received her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Washington, and her LLB from the University of British Columbia. Her main research areas are ethics, philosophy of law, and philosophical pedagogy. Recently, UW’s Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities has supported Janice’s research in philosophical pedagogy, awarding her two Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships through their project Reimagining the Humanities PhD.


Bart Schultz
Board Member
University of Chicago

Forthcoming


Sara Goering
Board Member
University of Washington

Forthcoming


Wendy Turgeon
Board Member
St. Joseph's College

Wendy C. Turgeon is a Professor of Philosophy at St. Joseph’s College-NY.  She has been involved in 'Philosophy with/for Young People' for many years and has developed courses and programs for undergraduates and graduate students in introducing philosophy in pre-college education. She has served on the boards of ICPIC, PLATO, and NAACI, three organizations that work to promote philosophy throughout education and advocate for children as thinkers and members of society.
 


Kelly Laas
Board Member
Illinois Institute of Technology

Forthcoming



MEET OUR STAFF


Ariel Sykes
Communications Coordinator
Montclair State University

Kate Goldyn
Development Coordinator
University of Washington
Jana Mohr Lane, President
University of WashingtonThomas Wartenberg, Vice President
Mount Holyoke College

Roberta Israeloff, Secretary
Squire Family Foundation

Stephen Miller, Treasurer
Oakwood Friends, Marist College

Michael Burroughs
Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

Allison Cohen
Langley High School, Virginia

Jessica Davis
Teachers College, Columbia University

Jim Davis
BU Academy, Boston

Sara Goering
University of Washington

Steven Goldberg
Oak Park and River Forest High School, Chicago

Polly Hunter
University of Virginia

Megan Laverty
Teachers College, Columbia University

Janice Moskalik
University of Washington

Bart Schultz
University of Chicago

Wendy Turgeon
St. Joseph’s College

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