Governance Committee
The Governance Committee is responsible for the health and functioning of the board. The Committee identifies and recruits new members, conducts orientations, produces board materials, and evaluates the performance of the board itself. The Committee is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of the current board and for recruiting tomorrow's leaders.
Members of the Governance Committee
Virginia Berkeley (Chair)
Berkeley served as Executive Vice President of CoBiz Bank from 2009-2012 after performing numerous other leadership roles at the organization. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Manager of Business Banking of Bank One, Denver and held several positions with Colorado National Bank. Berkeley’s extensive community involvement includes work with numerous Boards of Trustees, most recently with Colorado Public Radio, where she served as board chair, and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. Berkeley holds a BS degree in economics from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Oklahoma.
Rachel Bronson
Bronson is the president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, where she oversees the publishing programs, management of the Doomsday Clock, and a growing set of activities around nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, climate change, and disruptive technologies. Before joining the Bulletin, she served for eight years at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in a number of capacities including: vice president of studies, vice president of programs and studies, and senior fellow, global energy. She also taught “Global Energy” as an adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management.
Harold Jones
Jones is chief sustainability officer and executive vice president, Eaton Business System for Eaton, a global intelligent power management company. He also leads EBS, which enables Eaton to operate its businesses and functions in a common way. In both capacities, Jones provides thought leadership and promotes excellence. He also leads the company’s Quality and Continuous Improvement functions, Environmental, Health & Safety, Global Security, and co-leads Eaton’s Industry 4.0 initiatives. Jones joined Eaton in 2011 from GE Aviation; he held various leadership roles of increasing responsibility at GE, including Six Sigma Master Black Belt supporting the Structures Center of Excellence, and manager of EHS for all manufacturing and service operations. Before joining GE, he held positions in environmental engineering consulting. Jones also taught civil engineering at Marquette University. Harold holds a PhD, MS and BS degrees in civil engineering from Marquette University and is a licensed professional engineer.
David Kuhlman
Kuhlman is senior partner and chair at Lotis Blue Consulting (formerly Axiom Consulting Partners), a consulting firm that helps clients identify pathways to profitable growth and align their organizations for long-term success. For over 30 years, he has worked with people-intensive/asset-light businesses including accounting and law firms to establish and realize transformative strategies. Previously, Kuhlman was managing partner of Sibson Consulting, a leading HR consultancy and global head of Human Resources for Russell Reynolds Associates, a premier executive recruiting firm. As chair of the Governing Board, Kuhlman is a member of the Science and Security Board, ex officio.
Robert LoPrete
LoPrete is a Trusts & Estates attorney at Levenfeld Pearlstein in Chicago. His practice includes complex estate, gift, and tax planning for high net worth individuals and families. In addition, he organizes charitable entities and advises clients on tax compliance, governance, and fiduciary obligations, and assists clients with charitable gift planning through a variety of techniques.
LoPrete is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel; a member of the Chicago Estate Planning Council; a member of the Education Committee at Steppenwolf Theatre; and a Heritage Society Ambassador of the Chicago Botanic Garden. He also serves as trustee of a private family foundation based in Michigan. He received a BA from DePauw University and a JD from University of Michigan Law School.
Steve Ramsey
Ramsey is the former Vice President of Corporate Environmental Programs at General Electric, where he managed GE’s environmental strategy. He was previously the head of environmental practice at Sidley Austin in DC and was the first Chief of Environmental Enforcement Section at the US Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Ramsey has served as a Visiting Fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environment, the Chair of the Board of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, and as a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. He is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Texas School of Law.
Robert Socolow
Socolow is professor emeritus in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. He currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences Advisory Committee to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. From 2000 to 2019, he and Steve Pacala were the co-principal investigators of Princeton's Carbon Mitigation Initiative, a twenty-five-year (2001-2025) project supported by BP. His best-known paper, with Pacala, was in Science (2004): "Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies." Socolow is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His awards include the 2009 Frank Kreith Energy Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the 2005 Axelson Johnson Commemorative Lecture award from the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences of Sweden (IVA). In 2003 he received the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award from the American Physical Society.