The Ringling Announces Six New Board Members

October 3, 2023 – Sarasota

The Ringling is pleased to announce the recent appointments of six new members to the board of the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation, Inc. Board members serve three-year terms, with an option to continue a second term.

Adele Fleet Bacow is the author of Designing the City: A Guide for Advocates and Public Officials and has given the TED talk The Role of Art in Urban Development. Bacow has served as Director of Design and Development at the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Government Land Bank and is currently on the board of Artists for Humanity Boston, a Cummings Foundation reviewer, and an honorary Trustee of Temple Emanuel. Bacow recently retired as President of Community Partners Consultants.

David W. Benfer is the current Chairman of The Benfer Group LLC, a healthcare provider advisory service, and serves on the Board of Stereotaxis, Inc, a leading surgical robotics company, where he is also the lead independent director. Benfer was a member of the Board of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, served as Chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives and as a member of their Board of Governors. He is the current director of a privately held financial institution in Illinois and Vice President of Sun and Surf Colony, Inc., in Sarasota.

Amy D. Berk began a career in healthcare as a Registered Nurse in Cardiology, which included more than a decade in cardiothoracic ICU, and is now the Director of Population Health for US Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft. Berk has worked for IBM, Accenture and Optum on notable projects around the world. She currently serves on the board of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University and teaches at the Jefferson College of Population Health.

Elma Felix, an Urban and Regional Planner with a professional background in architecture, urban design, and land use policy, came to the Sarasota area over 10 years ago from Miami, Florida, where she worked with Dover, Kohl and Partners as an Urban Designer and Project Director from 2006 to 2013. Joining Sarasota County Government in 2013, she served as a Long-Range Planner, Principal Planner and, in 2021, she was further promoted to Manager of Long-Range Planning and Neighborhood Services, leading planning and urban design efforts. Now serving as the planning manager for the Town of Longboat Key and an advisor for planning related issues to the Planning and Zoning Board and Town Commission, Felix holds a focus on resiliency and new urbanist initiatives at the cross-section of society and social equity. Elma is also the author of Ti Kay Nou, a publication meant to recapture the essence of traditional vernacular architecture in Saint Lucia, and the Creative Director of Ebijou, a wearable art brand inspired by her West Indian heritage.

Howard D. Noble is a retired Board-Certified Diagnostic Radiologist who served our military veterans for 24 years at the VA Medical Center in Hampton, VA, and in Gainesville, FL. Noble also worked as an Engineer for the Westinghouse Aerospace Corporation in Baltimore, MD, and for the General Electric Reentry and Environmental Systems Division in Philadelphia, PA. He served as Secretary while on the Board of Trustees for the Gainesville Dance Alive National Ballet and was a member of the Advisory Board of Directors for the University of Florida Performing Arts and the Board of Directors for the Gainesville Friends of Jazz.

Keebler J. Straz is President of the David A. Straz, Jr. Foundation of Tampa, FL, where she furthers the organization’s commitment to advancing the arts as a cornerstone of Tampa’s cultural foundation and improving its accessibility to the entire community. Straz is also a Trustee on the boards of the Florida House on Capitol Hill, Lowry Park Zoological Society of Tampa, Inc., Metropolitan Ministries, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts center Foundation, and Tampa Museum of Art. Outside of Tampa, she serves on the Wake Forest University School of Law Rose Council and is a Managing Director for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

The new members join Chair Warren R. Colbert, Sr., in his sixth year as a board member and his second year as chair; Vice Chair Margaret “Meg” Dunwoody Hausberg; Treasurer H. Michael Bush; Secretary Mercedes Soler-Martinez; and board members Jasleen “Ritu” Anand; The Honorable Dennis Archer; Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig; Florida State University Provost James Clark; Larry J. Cuervo; Rebecca Donelson; Andrew M. Economos; Leon R. Ellin; Dr. Ronald A. Johnson; E. Marie McKee; Cynthia Louise Peterson; Frederic D. Pfening, III; Kelly Ann Romanoff; Mayra Niubo Schmidt; Debra Short; James B. Stewart; Janice Tibbals Mobley; Marla Vickers; Kirk Ke Wang; and Joan Uranga.

The Ringling board members represent a broad base of the community who convene in three meetings a year to support the mission of The Ringling as the legacy of John and Mable Ringling—a place of art, architecture, and circus in an environment that inspires, educates, and entertains. The first meeting with the new board members will take place on Thursday, Oct. 12, and Friday, Oct. 13. Members of the public may attend by written request. The John & Mable Ringling Museum Foundation acts as the direct support organization for The Ringling, under the direction of Florida State University and outlined in section 1004.45, Florida statues.

More information on board members and meeting dates can be found at ringling.org.