Leadership
Justin Shubow, Esq., Chairman and President. A 2008 graduate of Yale Law School, Justin Shubow works at the intersection of law and social media in Washington, D.C. A member of the New York and D.C. Bars, he has previously litigated cases alledging massive fraud committed against the federal government. He spent four years in the University of Michigan’s Ph.D. program in philosophy, and has taught philosophy and Great Books at Michigan and Yale. During law school, Shubow worked as a research assistant to former dean Anthony Kronman for his book Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. Shubow was also a Yale Journalism Scholar and studied in the International Security Studies’s Program in Grand Strategy. As an undergraduate at Columbia University, Shubow majored in philosophy, minored in physics, and was the student representative to the Faculty Committee on the Core Curriculum. A former editor of Commentary magazine and The Forward newspaper, he has contributed reviews and architectural criticism to numerous publications.
Milton W. Grenfell, Vice Chairman. From his architectural firm’s inception in 1986, Grenfell has committed himself to practicing in the great tradition of Western architecture and urbanism. Grenfell’s design endeavors range from town centers to fireplace mantles. He also finds time to lecture, write essays for Traditional Building and other journals, and serve on professional panels. His work has been published in numerous books including Building Classical: A Vision of Europe and America (1993), Southern Style (1999), and the Institute of Classical Architecture’s A Decade of Art & Architecture 1992 – 2002 (2002). Grenfell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College and a Master’s in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a founding member of the Charlotte, N.C. chapter of The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America. In 1997 he received the prestigious Arthur Ross Award from Classical America, which subsequently merged with the Institute. Grenfell has recently designed an extension to the eighteenth-century colonial capital of Edenton, North Carolina, and has proposed a traditional neighborhood for the expansion of Duke University’s campus. In 2005 Grenfell moved his practice from Charlotte to Washington, D.C.
Reginald Greer, Treasurer. Reginald Greer is a government affairs associate at the American Waterways Operators, the national trade association for the U.S. towboat, tugboat, and barge industry. Greer received a B.A. in government and history from Georgetown University, where he focused his studies on education and social policy. During his undergraduate years, Greer served as speaker and vice-speaker of the Georgetown University Student Association Senate. Greer is originally from Wichita Falls, Texas, and co-chaired the North Texas United Way Youth Cabinet.
Eric Wind, Secretary and Chairman Emeritus. Eric Wind is the senior analyst at a consulting and law firm in Washington, D.C. Wind graduated with honors from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service with a major in international politics, receiving the Dean’s Citation in recognition for outstanding contributions to the school. Wind is particularly interested in public monuments and their importance to civic culture and remembrance.
Erik Bootsma, Director. Erik Bootsma is an architect and planner in Washington, D.C. He holds an undergraduate degree in liberal arts from Thomas Aquinas College, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame. He has written articles on ecclesiastical architecture and the philosophy of beauty and writes about other architecture-related topics on his blog. He has traveled extensively in the U.S. and Europe studying and sketching his favorite architecture. Bootsma currently works for Dale Overmyer Architects in Georgetown and lives in Arlington, Va.
Michael Curtis, Director. Curtis studied classical architecture at the University of Michigan and painting, sculpture, and engraving in Florence, Italy. He has been a sculptor for more than 25 years. Major commissions include The History of Texas at the Texas Rangers Ball Park in Arlington, Texas, the largest American frieze produced in the 20th Century; as well as portrait busts for the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Thurgood Marshall Building, and many other public venues. His specialty is portraiture and fine medals. On the architectural front, Curtis currently is designing a classical office building for Sundance Square in Fort Worth, Texas. He has taught and lectured widely, and served on numerous boards, including the Board of Governors of the University of Michigan’s School of Art. He is past president of the Michigan Chapter of Artists Equity. Curtis is currently involved with the establishment of a classically-oriented graduate school of architecture and fine art in Alexandria, Va., where he lives.
James Lucier, Director. James Lucier is a Managing Director at Capital Alpha Partners, LLC, where he leads the energy & environmental practice. Lucier provides predictive, insightful analysis of trends in Washington energy and climate policy for an array of clients. Before founding Capital Alpha Partners, Lucier was a Senior Vice President at Prudential Equity Group, where he was a member of the Washington strategy group and equity research teams covering oil & gas, power & utilities, and industrials. Lucier has worked in Washington for more than 25 years as a consultant and policy analyst. He is an avid travel photographer.
Ronald T. Lyman, Director. Lyman is a businessman and former architect with extensive experience in the recovery of distressed assets, especially real estate. His knowledge of architecture history, grounded in studies at Harvard and Cambridge Universities, is a key resource in his business activities. As an architect with an M.Arch. from Yale, Lyman specialized in residential design and restoration while working in offices in New York City and Boston. He also has been involved in historic preservation in Cambridge, Mass., and Washington, D.C., where he lives. Lyman is an active member of Historic New England, the American Friends of the Georgian Group, and the Washington Decorative Arts Forum.
Howard Segermark, Director, Chairman Emeritus. Segermark is a businessman with decades of prior experience as a Congressional staffer involved with economic policy issues. He has long had an amateur interest in classical art and architecture, and his strategic vision has been central to the development of the Society’s agenda. He is president of Howard Segermark Associates, his wholly-owned government relations and association-management firm. He also is executive director of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets and the International Prepaid Communications Association, as well as a senior consultant to the American Family Business Institute. Segermark is a longtime resident of Washington, D.C.
William Upton, Director. Upton works for Americans for Tax Reform. He previously worked for The American Conservative. Upton graduated from Northwestern University with a major in political science.
Board Members on Leave
Jubal Biggs, Director, Chairman Emeritus. Biggs is a political and foreign policy analyst with experience as a Congressional staffer, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency practitioner in the Middle East, and with several political campaigns. His attachment to classical art goes back to his youth, when he was a California State Summer School for the Arts scholar. He has worked in public policy toward a revitalization of Western Civilization and sees the restoration of our civic culture as central to that effort. Biggs is an independent researcher for Washington think tanks including the Heritage Foundation and a graduate student in National Security and Statecraft at the Institute of World politics.
Andrew T. Olivastro, Director. After living in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill district for more than a dozen years, and developing executive communications and public policy engagement platforms for leading citizens, companies, and organizations, Olivastro returned to his native Connecticut to lead the global community affairs and charitable giving portfolio for a multi-national corporation. Olivastro, who occasionally blogs at andrewolivastro.com, received a bachelor’s degree from Troy University with a dual major in print journalism and political science.
Board of Advisors
Herman Belz, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Philip Bess, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.
The Honorable Bruce Cole, Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C.
Patrick Deneen, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Marcia Feinstein, Alexandria, Va.
Ronald Lee Fleming, F.A.I.C.P., The Townscape Institute, Cambridge, Mass.
Cherie Harder, Trinity Forum, Washington, D.C.
Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Little Compton, R.I.
Peter H. Miller, Restore Media, Washington, D.C.
Henry Hope Reed, Jr., New York City
Roger Scruton, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.; University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland
Bridgett G. Wagner, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.
George Weigel, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.
Founding Directors Emeriti
Michael M. Franck, AIA, Franck and Lohsen Architects, Washington, D.C.
Catesby Leigh, Art and Architecture Critic, Washington, D.C.