President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions

WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve in key roles:

• Denise Grant, Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board 
• Lynn Tincher-Ladner, Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board 
• Marsha Borin, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• David Cicilline, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Paul R. Fine, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Susan E. Lowenberg, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Judith Schocken, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Cynthia Simon Skjodt, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Samantha Vinograd, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Mark Wilf, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board supervises the Fulbright Program and certain programs authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act and for the purpose of selecting students, scholars, teachers, trainees, and other persons to participate in the educational exchange programs. Appointed by the President, the 12-member Board meets quarterly in Washington, D.C. The Board establishes worldwide policies and procedures for the Program and issues an annual report on the state of the Program.

Denise Grant, Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board 

Denise Grant, founder and CEO of Overlook Strategies, is a highly regarded counsel to executives and Boards of Directors on complex issues across a range of business, leadership, organizational, governance, and policy matters. She has decades of experience developing strategies and implementing solutions for some of the most high-profile entities in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. She also serves as a Senior Advisor to Heidrick & Struggles, a global leadership and organizational consulting firm.

Her expertise is grounded in an extensive career spanning the global business, legal, and public policy arenas. Grant was Managing Director at Russell Reynolds where she led the Washington office and held other leadership positions. Prior to 2005, Grant was a senior executive at Fannie Mae where she served in a variety of roles including as head of the multi-billion-dollar mortgage-backed securities issuance business. She also was a practicing attorney for a decade, including at Morgan Lewis and on Capitol Hill. In private practice, she provided strategic representation on regulatory, litigation, compliance, and policy matters.

Grant has been active with many nonprofit organizations that promote opportunity, international diplomacy, culture, and education. She has served on numerous boards, including the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and Transylvania University. Grant has a B.A. from Transylvania University and a law degree from the University of Kentucky. A native of Kentucky, her home base is now Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Lynn Tincher-Ladner, Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board 

Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner serves as President and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and largest honor society for students seeking associate degrees and credentials from community colleges. With over 30 years in higher education, she has been a community college math, chemistry, and physics instructor; computer programmer; database administrator; institutional researcher; and university faculty member. She has served on national boards for the College Promise Campaign, the Center for Community College Student Engagement, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the Rural Community College Alliance, and the American Association of Community Colleges.

As an advocate for community colleges and community college students, Tincher-Ladner uses data to tell their stories and to advocate for the support of America’s community colleges and their students. Her passion and position have established her as a speaker with engagements crisscrossing the country: she frequently presents her state-of-the-art statistics on student success at national conferences and regularly speaks at college convocations and commencements.

Tincher-Ladner holds a Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Mississippi State University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi.

United States Holocaust Memorial Council

The United States Holocaust Memorial Council was established by Congress in 1980 to lead the nation in commemorating the Holocaust and to raise private funds for and build the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Once the Museum opened in 1993, the Council became the governing board of trustees of the Museum, an independent establishment of the United States government operating as a public-private partnership that receives some federal funding to support operations of the Museum building.

Marsha Borin, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Marsha Borin practiced law in Delaware before directing a professional ballet company composed of Russian dancers trained in renowned ballet schools across the world who were stranded in the United States. She then served as President of a pop ballet company that toured Europe with works set to popular music, and as Executive Director for a celebrity series presenting renowned guests.

In 2000, Borin worked with Celeste Maier of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and The News Journal to develop Why Remember, a year-long program in Delaware that cast light on the hatred of the Holocaust as well as on those who did not turn their backs on humanity. Why Remember presented survivor talks to high school students, a film about the Kindertransport in colleges, extensive histories and interviews of survivors printed in the News Journal, and a book and author luncheon featuring the work of a Holocaust survivor.

Borin has served on many boards, including Delaware Sterling Bank which was acquired by PNC, The United States International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, The Boston Foundation for Sight in Boston, Massachusetts, and The Irish American University in Dublin, Ireland. In 2021, Borin was the recipient of the Community Service Award presented by the Delaware Bar Association.

Borin is married to beloved Pediatrician, Howard Borin, M.D. They are parents of a daughter, Lisa, who served in then-Senator Biden’s office and the Obama-Biden Administration, parents to their late son, Joshua, and grandparents to Jack, a college sophomore. Borin enjoys teaching ballet, walking, travel, politics, and improving quality of life.

David Cicilline, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

David Cicilline currently serves as President & CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, one of America’s oldest and largest community Foundations. Prior to this position, Cicilline served for 12 years as a member of the United States Congress representing Rhode Island’s First Congressional District and served on the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees. While in Congress, Cicilline chaired the LGBTQ Equality Caucus, was vice-chair of the Progressive Caucus, and chaired the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law.

Prior to his Congressional service, Cicilline served as Mayor of Providence and in the state legislature in Rhode Island. Cicilline also served on the Board of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center in Rhode Island. He is a Senior Fellow at the Brown University Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, a member of the United Nations Foundation Global Leadership Council, the United States Global Leadership National Advisory Council, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Cicilline attended Brown University and Georgetown University Law Center.

Paul R. Fine, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Paul R. Fine is a longtime Delaware businessman, public servant, and philanthropist. He began his career as a second-generation automobile dealer. From 1989-1997, he was President of Delaware’s State Board of Education, working closely with the Governor’s office and the General Assembly to steer Delaware’s public school system through major education reform.

Fine also served as Chairman of the Board and Campaign Chair of United Way of Delaware. As one of the founding members of the Delaware Community Foundation, Fine also served as its Chairman of the Board. He also served as President of the Jewish Federation of Delaware and later chaired the Annual Campaign for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach in 2017 and 2018.

Along with his wife, Gloria, he established a “Vision of Hope” scholarship trust for 30 students at Conrad Middle School in Wilmington. These scholarships provided mentorship and full tuition for post-secondary degrees. In 1989, both were recipients of the National Conference of Community and Justice annual award for bringing together diverse groups through education and were awarded the University of Delaware’s Medal of Distinction in 2005: the University’s highest non-academic award bestowed by the Board of Trustees. In 1998, then-Governor Tom Carper presented Fine with Delaware’s highest honor, The Order of the First State.

Susan E. Lowenberg, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Susan E. Lowenberg is President of the Lowenberg Corporation. A graduate of the University of Oregon with a degree in Finance and Real Estate, Lowenberg is an active member of the real estate industry in Northern California.

Currently, Lowenberg serves as a Gubernatorial Appointee to the California Coastal Commission, Board Member of The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Board Member of American Jewish World Service, and Board Member of the Jewish Family and Children’s Services Holocaust Center. Lowenberg previously served as a Presidential Appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council from 2012-2020.

Lowenberg lives in San Francisco, California with her spouse Joyce Newstat.

Judith Schocken, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Judith Schocken is a daughter of survivors of the Holocaust. A member of the Speakers Bureau of the Holocaust Center of Humanity in Seattle, Schocken talks to schoolchildren about the escape from Europe just before World War II. Schocken tells the story of her family in Czechoslovakia as antisemitism increased and their harrowing immigration to the United States.

Schocken and her husband Joe support various philanthropies, nationally and in the Seattle area. They raised four children and have eight grandchildren. They strongly believe in keeping Jewish traditions and religion alive. Schocken, who formerly served as the owner and manager of a restaurant in Seattle, spends time skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking in the Cascades.

Cynthia Simon Skjodt, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Cindy Simon Skjodt has spent most of her adult life serving the Marion and Hamilton County, Indiana communities. She graduated from Carmel High School in 1976, earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1980, and earned her master’s degree in Family & Marriage Therapy from Butler University in 1996. Simon Skjodt continues to dedicate her time, attention, leadership, and financial resources to Central Indiana nonprofit charity boards as well as a few national and international charities. She was a founding director of the Pacer Foundation in 1981 and remains actively involved today. Simon Skjodt also meets the demands of her beloved Samerian Foundation, of which she is Chairman.

Within the last 25 years, Simon Skjodt has served on many local Boards of Directors, Action Committees, and Advisory Councils. Most recently, she was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by President Obama. Twice she has been awarded the highest honor in the State of Indiana, the Sagamore of the Wabash, by the Governor. She has also been bestowed with the honor of “Cindy Simon Skjodt Day” by three separate Indianapolis Mayors. Her additional honors include the Herman B Wells Visionary, Profiles in Leadership, Woman of the Year, Anne Frank Award, Living Legacy, and Major Benefactors Award.

Simon Skjodt remains active in civic and cultural organizations, in addition to overseeing the perpetuity of her private family foundation. She continues to lead the philanthropic legacy engrained within her as a child by her parents, for whom she credits her work around the globe. Simon Skjodt and her husband Paul Skjodt live in the Indianapolis area, where they raised their children Erik, Samantha, and Ian.

Samantha Vinograd, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Samantha Vinograd is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and has long been an advocate for Holocaust education and confronting antisemitism. Vinograd has dedicated much of her career to public service, working in critical security roles under three presidents.

She most recently served in the Biden-Harris Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism, Threat Prevention, and Law Enforcement Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. In that role, she led efforts to address antisemitism and other forms of hate-fueled violence. In the Obama-Biden Administration, she served on the National Security Council as the Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor, the Director for International Economics and Energy, and the Director for Iraq. She also worked at the Department of the Treasury in the Bush Administration as Deputy U.S. Treasury Attaché to Iraq and as an International Economist.

Currently, Vinograd is a Partner at Brunswick Group where she leads the firm’s U.S. geopolitical practice. She is also a Senior Advisor at the University of Delaware’s Biden Institute, a Trustee at Save the Children U.S., and a contributor at CBS News. Previously, Vinograd led global public policy at Stripe and worked for Goldman Sachs where she focused on building public-private sector partnerships on key policy issues.

Mark Wilf, Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Mark Wilf is President of Garden Homes, his family-owned real estate development firm. He is also Owner/President of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and Owner/Chairman of the MLS’ Orlando City Soccer Club and NWSL’s Orlando Pride. He graduated from Princeton University and then received his law degree from NYU School of Law.

As the son of Holocaust survivors, Elizabeth Wilf and Joseph Wilf, z”l, he has drawn upon his parents’ experiences to become an unwavering advocate for the needs of the Jewish people and promote Holocaust education. The Wilf family, through the Wilf Family Foundations, is a longtime supporter of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

Wilf serves as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He previously served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Wilf also chaired JFNA’s national initiative that addresses the needs of impoverished Holocaust survivors living in the United States. He serves on a variety of other educational, philanthropic, and educational boards including the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, Hillel International, NYU School of Law, Princeton University President’s Advisory Council, Yeshiva University, and Vanderbilt University. Wilf and his wife Jane reside in Livingston, New Jersey and have four children, Steven, Daniel, Rachel, and Andrew.

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