Bill Baldwin

Bill is originally from Massachusetts, where he graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. degree in Linguistics and Near Eastern Languages. He is a U.S. Navy veteran, and also served in the Middle East as a United Nations military observer. He received an M.S. degree from Simmons College in 1988 in Library and Information Science. He had a career in international banking and has traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He and his wife, Caroline, have three adult children and three grandchildren. They have lived in Silver City since 1994. Mary Ann has joined the WILL Board as Membership chairperson. She and her husband, Tom, moved to Silver City in August from Houston, although they have owned property in Silver and visited frequently for the past 13 years. Mary Ann believes strongly in lifelong learning. For the past 10 years she regularly took classes at Rice University's School of Continuing Studies. Professionally she has spent the majority of her career in hospital planning and project management. She also served as Executive Director of the Zoological Society of Houston where the membership program was one of her responsibilities. Kathie moved to Silver City in 1993 from Missippippi, where she retired from a full career as a professor of Economics at Mississippi State University. She taught economics at WNMU, as well as served as Vice President of Academic Affairs. She is currently the Special Assistant for Quality Initiatives and University Ombuds at Western, and serves on the Board of Directors of Quality New Mexico. She is Alumni Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and serves as Consultant with the Datatel Center for Institutional Effectiveness. She is "interested in most anything and everything, especially working with other colleges and universities on their quality efforts." Kathie is vice-president of the Executive Board and chairs the Facilities committee. Linda Kay was a Texas executive recruiter until 1984 when she moved to Silver City to stay one year - the rest is history. She served 21 years as director of the Silver City Grant County Economic Development Corporation (SIGRED), five of which she also was Chamber of Commerce director and sixteen of which she also served as director of the Small Business Development Center at WNMU. She is now with Western as a special presidential assistant for institutional advancement, economic development, and community relations. She and her husband, JP, have five children and eight grandchildren and love to golf, entertain, cook, and just try to make a difference. She is chair of the Marketing and Public Relations committee for WILL. Helen moved to Silver City in March from Raleigh, N.C. when she retired as a PA-C in Family Practice. She grew up in suburbs of NYC, Phila., and Chicago and got a BS-Ed in Chemistry from the U. of Wisconsin, Madison. After marriage she moved to Hanover, NH/Norwich, Vt., where she raised her 4 children, taught science, math and whatever, in Jr. and Sr. HS, and learned to figure skate, ski, play tennis, garden and take advantage of free courses at Dartmouth College. Helen joined the staff at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to do research and clinical trials in Cardiology. After 17 years in Cardiology, she left to attend Duke University to become a Physician Assistant. Her 4 children and 8 grandchildren continue to keep her running around the country. After owning an insurance agency in Breckenridge, Colorado, Frost retired ten years ago and moved to Silver City. She is a past president of the Mimbres Region Arts Council and Friends of the Silver City Public Library. While pursuing a masters in Business Administration, she took Shakespeare courses and became captivated by literature. She has taught Hamlet, The Tempest and will be teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream in April. She hopes to teach Tolstoy's War and Peace in the fall as the start of a continuing series on the Great Books. Anyone wishing to be involved in the Great Books please contact her. Frost is a member of the Curriculum committee and the Marketing committee. Frank grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and always wanted to be a teacher. He has taught all grade levels from elementary school to university level, and was a counseling therapist for ten years. He enjoys hiking, kayaking, yoga, reading, coffee, and an occasional afternoon nap. Frank has joined the Board as chairman of the Curriculum Committee. Jeannie Miller moved to Silver City three years ago from the Phoenix area where abundant lifelong learning opportunities were available through the Maricopa Community College District. She has taught several different courses for the Estrella Mountain Community College program. With degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, Jeannie had a 30-year career in information technology management. She participated for many years in community theatre, radio theater, and readers' theater, as well as teaching academic courses for the community college district. In Silver City, she has both taught and taken WILL courses, and continues to facilitate the Thursday afternoon GilaWriters expressive writing group. With her husband Glenn and two dogs, Sandulik and Pantouffe, Jeannie enjoys living at the edge of the Gila Wilderness. She is secretary of the Executive Board and chair of the Social Committee. Patty is one of the founding members of the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning, and she is currently the president of the Executive Board. She comes to WILL as an experienced lifelong learner as she attended courses at Duke Institute for Lifelong Learning when her mother, Betty Reed, was president of that organization. Patty and her husband, Fred Fox, have been residents of Silver City for 20 years, and have raised two sons, Nathaniel and Ben. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Counselor and has offered a private therapy practice in Silver City for the last 17 years. She has been a member of the Silver Consolidated School Board for 8 years. Patty prides herself in living a lifetime of learning adventure. After working as a librarian and teacher for more than 30 years, Katherine now oversees distance education programs at Western New Mexico University. Originally from Kansas, she has taught at every level of education from Head Start programs to community colleges and universities. She has worked in Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies, and on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona. Her passions are hiking, gardening and reading. She is treasurer of the Executive Board.