William Jewell College

Gary Armstrong joined the Board in 2005.  He has been active in IRC events for over a decade, often bringing his students from William Jewell College.  He received the IRC award for Distinguished Service for International Academic Leadership in 2002.  He currently serves on the IRC Programming Committee.  Gary teaches at William Jewell College where he is a Professor of Political Science, department chair, and coordinator of the International Relations major.

Park University

Dr. Eliot Berkley founded the International Relations Council in 1954 and served as its Executive Director until 1993. It is due to his leadership and vision that the IRC exists and serves the community today.

During his long career in academics, he served as a Lecturer in History and Government at UMKC, Vice President for Development and Dean of the Kansas City Art Institute, and Chair of Faculty Development Grants Committee of the Kansas City Regional Council for Higher Education.  He has served on committees and boards of many civic organizations.  He currently is a Member Emeritus of the Advisory Board, International Studies and Programs at the University of Kansas as well as Board Member of the Metropolitan Community Colleges Foundation.   His awards include: Johnson County Community College Community Education Award (1953), Kansas City World Citizen of the Year (1975), Park College Distinguished Service Award for Community Service (1992), Sons of the American Revolution Silver Good Citizenship Award (1993), and Baker University Award for Outstanding Leadership in International Relations (1993).

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Greg joined the IRC Board in 2007.  He is a Partner with the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. and heads up the firm’s International Litigation Practice Group.  His legal practice focuses upon the management and litigation of claims throughout the U.S. and internationally in Asia, Australia, North America, South America and Europe.  Greg is the General Editor and Author of the book, International Product Liability Law – A Worldwide Desk Reference (Aspatore, 2004) and has been an invited speaker on various litigation-related topics in the U.S. and oversees, including before the United States Library of Congress.  Greg has also published on a number of topics related to international litigation, product liability, product safety and government contracts.

Dr. Jan Heinen is the director of middle level education for the Olathe School District.  In addition to general administrative responsibilities for middle level education, she administers the district's English Language Learner (ELL) programs. Her responsibilities include curriculum development, parent communications, instructional support, school improvement activities, middle level summer school and staff development.

Dr. Heinen led a community/school district initiative to develop an International Studies program at the 4 Olathe high schools.  She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Kansas Committee for International Education in the Schools (KCIES), has served on the Kansas Chinese Language Task Force and currently serves on the Kansas Task Force for International Education.  She serves on the Board of Directors of Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farmstead and is former chair of the Olathe Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP William has been a member of the IRC for many years. He was elected to the IRC Board in 2003 and currently serves on the Finance Committee.

Baker University Lowell Jacobsen is the Elizabeth H. Rhodes Professor of International Business at Baker University.  Previously, he was Professor of Economics at William Jewell College.  He has had various academic visits to Europe and China over the many years.  His areas of teaching, research, and consulting include strategy, investments, and international economics.  For some twenty years, he has been a member of the IRC and served two previous terms on the board.

John Kopecky is the former Executive Vice President and CFO of Security Savings Bank.  Prior to that, he has served as Vice President for banks in Denver, Omaha, and several in the Kansas City area.  John received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and is active in its alumni association.  He has an MBA from Avila University and has served as an adjunct professor there.

Top Innovations, Inc. Benny Lee is founder, President and CEO of Top Innovations, Inc., which markets a line of steam cleaners, clothing steamers, fitness products and other innovative consumer products.  He was born in Taiwan, and moved here in 1995. He was recently honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Asian American Chamber; International Businessman of the Year by the International Relations Council; and he and his wife Edith, were presented the Pinnacle Award for honored philanthropy by the Northland Community Foundation. Benny is a Board Member of The Chamber, IRC, Southtown Council, Heart of America United Way, and is a Trustee of Park University.

Dr. Linna Place has been an educator in American universities for over 30 years.  In June of 2008, she assumed the position of Interim Director of International Academic Programming at UMKC and now supervises a broad range of internationally related academic activities.  Dr. Place has been in the IAP office for the past 8 years, where she has overseen all nationally competitive fellowship applications by UMKC students, including the Fulbright, Rhodes, Rotary and many others.  She holds a Masters degree in American Folklife and a Doctorate in American Studies.  Her primary teaching focus has been 18th and 19th Century American social history with a particular emphasis on the ways that material culture can be used to illuminate our understanding of the past.  For many years, Dr. Place has worked with colleagues to develop teaching strategies that will make history more appealing and more comprehensible to students who are increasingly influenced by technology and the internet. 

University of St. Mary Nicholas H. Riegg, who holds a Doctorate in Economics and a BA in International Relations, was a Foreign Service Officer and Diplomat for 30 years, serving in China, Britain, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. He has negotiated agreements in many areas, worked on African Affairs in the U.S. Treasury, served as Director of South Asia Regional Affairs at the State Department, was a Senior Visiting Scholar at the Fletcher School and taught Diplomacy and National Strategy at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. Most recently he served as the Founding Director of the Global Studies Institute of the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. He is married to Dr. Natalie T. Riegg, an accomplished Professor of Social Philosophy and Political Science.

Trans Am Group     Francois Sauer currently serves as the CEO of Trans Am Group which promotes importing and exporting between Mexico and the U.S.  He previously worked at KCCatalyst, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Kansas City that focuses on life science and technology-based businesses, and has worked on other life science initiatives. He has worked in Latin America and Europe. Francois has M.D. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School Program through The Pan-American Institute for Senior Management in Industry, and an M.S. in Systems Analysis from Spanish-American University.

Sprint Corporation Paul became a member of the IRC in 1992 after participating in his first Great Decisions, discussion group. Since 1992, he has volunteered his time on various IRC committees and events and in 2004 was elected to the IRC board.

Kansas State Senate Chris Steineger currently serves as a Kansas State Senator, representing the 6th District. He has worked on several political campaigns and as a retail securities broker.  Chris is heading a new IRC initiative to encourage regional participation in the German Marshall Fund's American Marshall Memorial Fellowship.

Linda became a Board Member in 2005.  She moved to Kansas City in 2003.  Thirty-three years of her Federal Government career was spent in the field of global health, including three years as Director of the DHHS Office of International and Refugee Health and three years as Health Attaché at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Switzerland.

TwoWest CEO of the firm he founded in 1997, Two West, Inc., a branding and communications agency, Whitehill has worked with several Fortune 1,000 and Forbes 500 clients. His own company has been listed among the 100 fastest growing companies in Kansas City and has been nationally ranked as a top 100 inner-city company by Inc. magazine. The Missouri native holds a BA in Advertising and Communications from Westminster College and an MBA from Baker University. Whitehill is also a graduate of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program and the Kansas City World Trade Center's Globe Program. In addition to his IRC participation, he serves on the board of directors for DeLaSalle Education Center and chairs that group's communications committee. He and his company support the March of Dimes and other charitable causes benefiting children and education. Whitehill's wife, Heidi, is a freelance geographer with Scout Maps & Analysis and a college instructor of cultural geography. They have two sons who love maps and travel.