Betty Azar TAAF receives $15,000 gift TAA member Betty Azar has made a $15,000 unrestricted gift to the TAA Foundation. Azar, the author of the bestselling Azar Grammar Series, published by Pearson Longman, said she hoped her gift would encourage other textbook authors of perennial bestsellers to support the Foundation... click for more

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Board Chair:
Michael Lennie
Authoring Attorney and Literary Agent for Lennie Literary & Authors' Attorneys
E-mail: michael@lennieliterary.com

Bio:
Michael R. Lennie is a literary attorney and agent, licensed in California and New York. He has been in legal practice for more than 30 years. More than ninety percent of his practice involves the representation of trade and text authors as an agent, or in contract negotiations or litigation. He graduated from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo/Pomona in 1966 with a degree in engineering. He received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1970 from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Lennie is a founding member of the Authors Coalition of America, a member of the Authors Guild of America, and National Advisor to TAA. He was lead counsel for Buffington, et al. v. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Co. (N.Y. Supreme Court and Federal Bankruptcy Court, N.Y. 1995), Anderson, et al. v. CBS, Inc., Holt Rinehart and Winston (N.Y. Supreme Court 1987, and Wesner, et. al. v. Times Mirror Company (California Superior Court, 1999).

He is 62, and has been married for 35 years. He has two children and three grandchildren.

Board Member:

Bio:
Charles P. "Pat" McKeague earned his BA in Mathematics from California State University, Northridge and his MS in Mathematics from Brigham Young University. He began his teaching career at Lompoc High School in Lompoc, California in 1970. In 1973 he became a full-time instructor at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California. A well-known author and respected educator, he is currently a full time writer and a part time instructor at Cuesta College. He has published over 16 textbooks in mathematics, from basic mathematics through trigonometry. He is very active in the mathematics community and is a popular speaker at regional conferences throughout the country. He is on the writing team for the AMATYC Crossroads project.

"I joined TAA as soon as it came into existence because of the respect I have for Mike Keedy, the founder of TAA. I knew he would put together a great organization, and he did. I attended the first TAA conference in Las Vegas and was very impressed with the other attendees. It was enlightening to talk with other authors, and share our concerns. I have served on the board of TAA and also on the TAA Foundation Board. I have used the TAA model contract to improve my own contracts, and have been very impressed with the legal referrals I have had from TAA. I always recommend TAA to anyone interested in writing a textbook."

Board Member:

Bio:
Mike Sullivan is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Chicago State University where he taught for 34 years before retiring a few years ago. Sullivan has been writing math texts for over 30 years. He currently has 15 books in print: three Precalculus series with Prentice-Hall and one Business series with John Wiley.

Sullivan is a member of the Council of Fellows of TAA and has been awarded a Texty and a McGuffey award for two of his books. He is currently Treasurer of the TAA Foundation and the Immediate Past President of TAA.

He has four children: Kathleen, who teaches college mathematics, Mike III, who teaches college mathematics and co-authors with his dad on two series, Dan, who is a sales representative for Prentice-Hall, and Colleen, who teaches middle-school mathematics. Eleven grandchildren round out the family.

Board Member:

Bio:
Stephen E. Gillen is an attorney practicing in Cincinnati, Ohio, and concentrating on publishing and entertainment transactions and disputes, internet issues, advertising law, computer law, copyrights, trademarks, technology transfer, trade secrets, and related matters. Prior to entering private practice in 1994, Gillen served for 8 years as house counsel for an educational publisher, and before that as an executive editor, editor, freelance writer, and published book author. In addition, Gillen has served on copyright and permissions committees with the Association of American Publishers. He has written and spoken nationally on various publishing and copyright topics and teaches a course in Media Business and Law at the University of Cincinnati and a course in Electronic Media Law at the College Conservatory of Music. He currently serves on the Council of Advisors to the Text and Academic Authors Association, the Board of Trustees of Voyageur Media Group, Inc., and is a member of the Authors Guild. Gillen is admitted to practice in Ohio and before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Board Member:

She taught writing at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, for 30 years while authoring or co-authoring over 30 trade books and college-level textbooks on a variety of topics including financial planning, dental marketing, art, literature, engineering, hospice care, reading, management and report writing. She currently is writing full time, keeping 10 criminal justice textbooks she has authored or co-authored current for Wadsworth Publishing Company, several going into their eighth and ninth editions. She is also the editor for Innovative Systems - Publishers, Inc., a company her husband owns and operates.

Dr. Hess is a charter member of TAA and served as the TAA Council secretary for two terms. She is also a member of the TAA Council of Fellows, as well as a member of several other professional organizations.

She has been married for 44 years and has two grown children. Timothy is a major in the U.S. Air Force. Christine Hess Orthmann, works as a writer and researcher for Kären.

"When I was asked to consider being nominated to serve on the TAAF Board of Directors, I was deeply honored. The mission of TAA has been in line with my own professional goals since its inception. As a charter member, I was very active in TAA, but as my life got busier, my involvement declined. I owe a great deal to TAA for what I have learned at the many conventions I have attended as well as from its newsletters. I am happy to give back to the organization by serving as a TAAF board member."

Board Member:

Bio:
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante is a Professor in Department of African American Studies at Temple University. Considered by his peers to be one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars, Asante has published 65 books, among the most recent are The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony (2007), Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait (2006), Spear Masters: Introduction to African Religion (2007), Handbook of Black Studies, (2005), co-edited with Maulana Karenga, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, (2004), co-edited with Ama Mazama, Race, Rhetoric, and Identity: The Architecton of Soul, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation, (2003), Ancient Egyptian Philosophers (2003), Scattered to the Wind, Custom and Culture of Egypt, and 100 Greatest African Americans. The second edition of his high school text, African American History: Journey of Liberation, 2nd Edition, (2001), is used in more than 400 schools throughout North America.

Board Member:

Bio:
Alberto M. Ochoa earned is B.A. in Sociology from CSU Los Angeles in 1968, his B.A. in Latin American Studies from CSU Los Angeles in 1969, his M.S. in Special Education from the University of Southern California in 1971 and his Ed.D. in International Education with an emphasis in community development, from the University of Massachusetts in 1978. He is a Professor in the Policy Studies Department, and Chair of the Department for Policy Studies in Language and Cross Cultural Education at San Diego State University. He is also a researcher and consultant to community development agencies. His research interests include public equity, school desegregation, language policy, critical pedagogy, student achievement, and parental leadership. In the last ten years, he has been involved in developing processes for forecasting the educational needs of school districts through demographic trends, socio-political conditions, fiscal allocation of resources, and educational reform trends.

Ochoa is also involved with teacher education programs promoting biliteracy/multicultural inclusion, the Diversity Committees of Planned Parenthood and United Way of San Diego County. He is one of a core group of people coordinating the San Diego Latino Coalition on Education. He is a founding member and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Parent Institute for Quality Education.

He has published more than 50 articles on non-formal education, educational planning and development, parental leadership, bilingual desegregation, language policy and evaluation. He has also edited journals, offered seminars, evaluated early childhood education programs, and developed advocacy oriented programs.