The Ringling Names New Members to Board of Directors Jeffrey Hotchkiss Elected as Chair

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is pleased to announce the election of several new board members and the installation of Jeffrey R. Hotchkiss as the board chair.

Mr. Hotchkiss is a retired President of Teradyne, a Boston based manufacturer of systems for the testing of electronic products. Mr. Hotchkiss is currently on the Board of Overseers for the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and serves on the Research Oversight Committee. He is also on the board of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) New England Chapter and serves as the chair of the Audit Committee.

Dr. Sarah H. Pappas will serve as vice chair. Dr. Pappas served as president of State College of Florida (formally Manatee Community College) from 1997 until 2008. Following that, she served as President of the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation. Dr. Pappas has been a resident of Florida for the past 53 years.

H. Michael Bush is the president/Owner of Home Resource, Inc. located in Sarasota. Mr. Bush has served on the boards of the Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, Theatre Odyssey, SaraSolo, Sarasota Season of Sculpture, and the Sarasota Architectural Foundation in addition to a14 year term as the president of the Rosemary District.

Rebecca Donelson is the owner of The Dart Gallery, in Chicago specializing in Contemporary Art. She serves on the International Council of Anderson Ranch, Snowmass, Colorado, is a Fellow at The Aspen Institute and works with the Aspen Film Festival and Youth Entity in Carbondale, Colorado. 

Cynthia Louise Peterson, is the Founder and Board Chair Emeritus of the Center for Architecture Sarasota. She was the former curator of the University of Florida Architecture Archives and helped to establish the acquisition and collection of the historical archives in Florida.

Kelly Ann Romanoff joined the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation in 2015 as the project manager. Reporting approximately $95 million in total assets in 2018, the Foundation creates initiatives and awards grants in Sarasota and beyond that promote meaningful changes in the areas of education, humanitarian causes, arts and culture, the environment and medical research. Additionally, the Foundation reported partnerships with 154 nonprofit organizations.

Mayra Niubo Schmidt was born and raised in Cuba and moved to the United States in 1966. In addition to practicing law, Ms. Schmidt served as a Commissioner in the West Orange Historic Preservation Commission. She has also volunteered at the New Jersey Historical Society and the Thomas Alba Edison National Historic Site.  She is currently a member of the Garden Club of the Oranges, the Sarasota Garden Club, and a Circle member of The Ringling Museum of Art.

Mercedes Soler-Martinez currently serves as President of Solmart Media. She is a renowned bilingual keynote speaker at women-girls empowerment and media conferences. Mercedes is a five-time Peabody and GLAAD awards winning media personality and broadcast journalist. Mercedes also sits on the boards of The Community Foundation of Sarasota and The Affordable National Homeownership Coalition, 

Joan Uranga is the 2020-2022 Chair of the Volunteer Services Advisory Council (VSAC) at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. In 2016, Joan was honored as the Florida Association of Museums (FAM) Outstanding Volunteer.  She has also volunteered for Ringling special events and with the Membership Department, and she continues to volunteer as an usher for the Asolo Repertory Theatre. Ms. Uranga serves the board in an ex-officio capacity. 

Kirk Ke Wang has been a professor of Visual Arts at Eckerd College since 1993 and teaches courses in painting, drawing, digital photography, new genre art and Asian art. Mr. Wang has exhibited his artworks in art museums locally, nationally and internationally. Museums, galleries and private collectors in the U.S. and Asia, including the National Gallery in Beijing, have collected his works. The Cultural Ministry of China awarded Mr. Wang the bronze medal, and he is the recipient of numerous grants and awards from National Endowments for the Arts, the Freeman Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Asian Network, Florida Arts Council, etc. Additional members of the board include: Edward M. Swan, Jr., CFA, Treasurer, Dr. Judith F. Shank, Secretary, The Honorable Dennis Archer, Ellen S. Berman, Warren R. Colbert, Sr., Leon R. Ellin, Darrel E. Flanel, Margaret “Meg” Dunwoody Hausberg, Robert D. Hunter, Thomas F. Icard, Jr., Thomas W. Jennings, Ph.D., Ambassador James A. Joseph, Michael A. Kalman, M.D., Nancy Kotler, Dr. Lisa Merritt, Tina Shao Napoli, Leslie Pantin, Margaret A. (“Peggy”) Rolando, Debra (Deb) Short, Javi Suarez, Howard C. Tibbals,  Dr. Larry A. Wickless, and Leslie Young.

About The Ringling 
The Ringling is a preeminent center for the arts, history and learning that is dedicated to bringing the past and contemporary culture to life through extraordinary visitor experiences. From its inception, The Ringling has joined the diverse visual traditions and theatrical spectacle of yesterday with the genre-defying global practitioners of today. 

 A place of exploration, discovery and respite, The Ringling’s campus in Sarasota, Florida – which includes the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, an historic mansion, an 18th-century theater and bayfront gardens – is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

 As the State Art Museum of Florida and part of Florida State University, The Ringling fulfills an important educational mission. The Ringling offers formal and informal programs of study serving as a major resource for students, scholars, and lifelong learners of every age within the region, across the country and around the world.