new board members
Lance C. Williams ’97 is an expert in marketing communications and strategy, with over 12 years of experience with cross-platform media campaigns for entertainment, fashion, and publishing. While still a student at New York University, Williams was part of the marketing team that launched the recordbreaking musical hit Mamma Mia! He subsequently oversaw the show’s advertising campaigns before becoming a senior marketing manager for Anne Klein New York in 2005. An avid traveler, Williams next joined the popular travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler, which named him Condé Nast “Marketer of the Year” in 2008. He was recently appointed the magazine’s executive director, brand management. Williams is also a vice president and director of Chicago’s Fred B. Snite Foundation, a family foundation that provides grants for an array of educational, medical, and social causes. Williams has championed the foundation’s support of several causes, including the Breast Cancer Research Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Network. He was also instrumental in securing $240,000 in grants for Webb and the Alf Museum, including leadership gifts for the renovation of the Hall of Footprints and the Hall of Life. Williams lives in New York City.
Dr. Gloria Stevens, M.D. P ’11, a respected dermatologist, has supported the Alf Museum since 2006. Her son, Peter Liskanich ’11, a two-time Rogers Peccary Scholar, participated in many Peccary trips, and Dr. Stevens herself had her “first real, official tenting experience” on the Gobi Desert as part of the 2008 Mongolia trip. She enjoyed it so much that she signed up for the 2009 Grand Canyon Rafting Trip and the 2010 trip to China, giving her a chance to explore her youthful dreams of becoming an archaeologist. Although her son has moved on to USC, Dr. Stevens and her husband remain strong supporters of the Alf Museum. “It’s a great opportunity,” she explains. “We wanted to continue to support them regardless of whether our son was a student there or not.” Dr. Stevens and her husband, Dr. Ronald Liskanich, practice dermatology at the Aesthetica Spa M.D. and Dermatology Laser Center in Upland, California. Dr. Stevens received her M.D. from Wayne State University and completed her residency at L.A.’s County-USC Medical Center, where she is now a clinical associate professor of dermatology. She is also a clinical professor of dermatology at Western University, her husband’s alma mater.
Michelle Plyley P ’12 learned about the Alf Museum from her son’s middle
wildlife rafted to Madagascar after the extinction of the dinosaur, on massive mats of vegetation that drifted out to sea during monsoons. This was Dr. Farke’s fifth trip to Madagascar and his first leading a group from the Alf Museum. The group was in the country for two weeks, visiting sites like the lemur-populated forest of Ankarafantsika, the dinosaur beds near Berivotra, and the beaches of Toliara.
school coach: Jeff Nelson P ’95 P ’97, husband of Susan Nelson, Webb’s former head of schools. At Nelson’s recommendation, Plyley’s son, Austin ’12, entered the paleontology program as a freshman, going on to become a Rogers Peccary Scholar. Plyley credits her son’s paleontology work (and upcoming scientific publication) with helping him earn admission to the University of Richmond, his first-choice college. Plyley is a full-time mom, but she regularly volunteers with organizations in which her children are involved. Plyley and her husband Don, president of Philadelphia Recycling Mine in Mira Loma, California, have hosted several trustee-alumni trip dinners and contributed numerous peccary dinner sponsorships. Plyley herself joined the 2008 Mongolia trip and 2009’s Grand Canyon rafting trip. When Dr. Don Lofgren asked her to join the board of trustees, she responded enthusiastically. Plyley says her main goal as a trustee is to help promote awareness of the museum and the paleontology program. “I would like other kids to be more aware as they come in of what Webb and the Alf Museum have to offer,” she explains. “I just think it’s a wonderful organization.”
d i s c o v e r The Webb Schools • Webb.org
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