Isaacson, Miller is led by a team of directors who, with a group of talented and experienced associates, manage our searches. Each Isaacson, Miller director works across all our practice areas but many of these principals also have particular search specialties which are reflected below. The firm as a whole convenes on a regular basis to share information and review search strategies.

Sheryl Ash has recruited for environmental organizations, arts and culture organizations, foundations, associations and universities since joining Isaacson, Miller in 1996. She has been an executive search recruiter for not-for-profit organizations since 1989, and prior to that managed not-for-profit client services for a public relations consulting firm. Sheryl has extensive experience as a teacher and program administrator. In addition to teaching at the high school level, she has been a course director and instructor for the North Carolina Outward Bound School and developed programs for gifted students with disabilities in Connecticut public schools. Sheryl has a Master's degree in teaching from Wesleyan University and an MBA degree from the Yale School of Management.

Michael A. Baer joined Isaacson, Miller in 2005 from the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation's institutions of higher education. As Senior Vice President of ACE, Michael oversaw all ACE programs—including those that identified and prepared women and minorities to move into senior administrative positions—with responsibility for a staff of 100 and a budget of $25 million. Prior to joining ACE in 1998, Michael served Northeastern University for eight years as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. A political scientist, Michael began his academic career at the University of Kentucky, where he was a professor and department chair before serving for nine years as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. He has led and served on numerous national and community boards and published extensively on interest groups in American politics, on civic participation, and in the area of state and local government. Michael’s undergraduate degrees in chemistry and political science are from Emory University and his MA and doctoral degree in political science are from the University of Oregon.

David Bellshaw served as a director at Isaacson, Miller from 1992 to 2000 and rejoined the firm in 2003 in San Francisco. David entered the field of executive search in 1990 with Heidrick & Struggles before joining Isaacson, Miller at its Boston headquarters. After moving to California, David served as Senior Vice President (of People and subsequently Operations) at campsix, a technology business incubator in San Francisco. He then joined Ethos Consulting, a retained corporate search firm in the San Francisco Bay area, before returning to Isaacson, Miller. David has experience recruiting executives for the most senior roles in corporations as well as leading dean, president, and research institute director searches in higher education; searches for senior administrative and technical officers in academic medicine; and recruiting executive directors and senior staff for environmental and advocacy organizations. David holds a BS in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the University of California at Davis.

Vivian Brocard joined Isaacson, Miller in 2003 and has focused on leadership positions within higher education, advocacy, and arts and culture. She came to Isaacson, Miller with nearly 20 years of executive search experience, most recently as a partner at Gustin Partners, a retained corporate search firm headquartered in the Boston area. She helped grow and run that firm's technology practice and led searches for senior executives in early stage technology companies and functional leaders in both mid-sized and Fortune 500 corporations. As the senior operations executive at Gustin Partners, Vivian oversaw firm-wide search execution and delivery. Vivian's early career was in marketing and sales support with Air France and Dennison Manufacturing Company. She then served in senior human resource and operational management roles with Resource Planning Associates, a strategy-consulting firm working with natural resource industries. Vivian holds a BA in French from Simmons College.

Michelle Cruz-Williams came to Isaacson, Miller in 1985 from the American Friends Service Committee, where she served as a fundraiser and activist. Michelle grew up in Boston's South End and attended the Boston Public Schools and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she studied early childhood education. Her first professional role was to direct the Child Care Center at Boston State College. She remained in the role for eight years, learning the arts of small not-for-profit entrepreneurs. In the early 1980s she took her considerable experience in fundraising to the American Friends Service Committee, where she had responsibility for resource development in the New England states. At Isaacson, Miller, Michelle has built upon her well-founded understanding of activism as she has taken on a wide range of searches with organizations that enrich and empower communities and work for social change. Her searches have included key leadership positions in social services, economic and community development and advocacy organizations working on both local and national scales. Michelle has applied her understanding of community and social issues in her work with a range of educational institutions including early childhood education programs, K-12 schools and school systems, and community and technical colleges. She brings to her work a deep personal knowledge of the players in her fields and the issues that drive them, and an informed passion for the value and missions of the organizations she serves.

Kristin S. Demong joined Isaacson, Miller in 2007, after more than 30 years of public and private sector leadership and management experience. She has specialized in employment and human resource management in large and complex organizations, and as co-chair of the Transition for Governor-elect Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, overseeing and organizing the recruitment process for his Cabinet structure. Previously, Kristin was President of Harvard University's Real Estate Corporation and head of Human Resources for the University. She also served in the public sector as the Assistant Secretary of Finance for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Director of the Division of Employment Security for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Kristin was the Director of Finance for Governor Michael Dukakis in his 1982 Gubernatorial Campaign and 1988 Presidential Campaign. Kristin subsequently co-founded a private real estate development, management and marketing business and raised equity funds for a private business offering pre-paid housing and healthcare in Providence and Boston. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Marietta College.

Julie Filizetti came to Isaacson, Miller in 2007. Prior to joining the firm, Julie was the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Julie was selected as an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow, the nation’s premier higher education leadership development program that prepares senior leaders to serve American colleges and universities, and served her fellowship at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon during the 2005-2006 academic year. She also spent 12 years as a naval officer, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Julie serves on the governing boards of Menlo College and Monterey College of Law and on advisory boards for Santa Clara University. She holds a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a degree in mathematics from Villanova University. She is also a graduate of Leadership California.

Denise O'Grady Gaffney joined Isaacson, Miller in 1985. She spent the early years of her career working for the White House Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Spanish Speaking People in Washington, DC and then joined the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the World Health Organization, where she spent the next ten years in human resources and senior management roles. Her last assignment with the agency was as Chief Operating Officer of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, located on the University of the West Indies campus in Kingston, Jamaica. At Isaacson, Miller, Denise helped the firm launch its healthcare practice and, more than any other partner, she has developed our presence in the field. Denise has worked closely with the leaders of major academic medical centers, recruiting senior operations roles in research, finance, nursing and strategy for a select group of the nation's most prominent and progressive acute and post-acute healthcare providers. Denise has also led searches for the senior executives in advocacy organizations, higher education, and major professional associations. She holds a BA from Mary Washington College and an MPA from The George Washington University.

Sue Gambaccini joined Isaacson, Miller in 1999. In her early career, she managed a unit of government and community relations at New Jersey Transit, a statewide public transportation agency. She then commenced a legal career by clerking with the Honorable Geoffrey Gaulkin of the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. From 1992 to 1997, Sue worked as an associate at a large law firm in Philadelphia where she practiced employment law and general litigation. After relocating to Washington, DC in 1999, Sue joined the firm's Washington office, becoming involved with a wide range of searches including major advocacy organizations, foundations, universities, and public agencies. Sue is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Douglass College at Rutgers University and a graduate of Rutgers-Newark Law School.

Jack D. Gorman joined Isaacson, Miller in 1995. Jack came to the firm after serving as Treasurer of Bay State Health Care in Boston, where he developed and managed the treasury and cash management functions for this $700M health maintenance organization. Jack brings to his search practice an understanding of the complex financial challenges faced by mission-driven, charitably supported organizations. At Isaacson, Miller, he has led searches on behalf of a range of not-for-profit organizations, including foundations, educational, advocacy, and cultural institutions. He has a particularly strong track record recruiting executives in institutional advancement, including development and communications, and has a deep set of networks in the field. Jack holds a BS from Stonehill College.

Jane Gruenebaum joined Isaacson, Miller in 2004 with 30 years of experience in nonprofit management, advocacy, and academia. Most recently, she was Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Policy Alternatives, an advocacy organization advising state legislators. Prior to that she served as Executive Director of the League of Women Voters and as Senior Staff in the Center for Public Policy Education at the Brookings Institution. Jane began her career as a Congressional staffer. After earning a PhD in political science from Columbia University, she taught at Columbia and at Sarah Lawrence College before returning to Washington, DC and to advocacy work. Jane has in-depth knowledge of strategic planning, resource development, executive training, and staff recruitment and retention. Over the course of her career, she has developed a national network of nonprofit leaders, political activists, academics, and foundation officers. Jane brings her commitment to mission-driven work to Isaacson, Miller's Washington office, where she focuses on searches for advocacy organizations, associations, educational institutions, government agencies, and foundations. In addition to the PhD, she holds a BA in political science from Earlham College, and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

David A. Haley joined Isaacson, Miller in 1995. By then, David was well known to the firm both as a seasoned line manager and senior staff player in demanding public and nonprofit leadership assignments. Early in his career, he was Associate and then Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. Later, he was Associate and Acting Deputy Commissioner of the NY State Office of Mental Health, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Personnel Administration, Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Cambridge, and Executive Director of two community-based nonprofit organizations. He also served as Director of Development Operations and Special Projects for the Harvard Medical School and as Vice President of a Boston-based outplacement firm. At Isaacson, Miller David has conducted searches in all of our disciplines, including higher education on both the management and academic sides, community-based social services and economic development, transportation, foundations, government, and private sector companies. He is a veteran of the United States Army and holds a BS in finance from Boston College.

Sarah Herman joined Isaacson, Miller in 1997 to assist in the recruitment of a number of finance positions for the Partners HealthCare System, Inc. In her tenure with the firm, Sarah has recruited executives for a wide range of leadership roles in administration, finance, and institutional advancement for clients in higher education, academic medicine, and professional associations. She has served many of the firm’s most prominent higher education clients, including Columbia University, Harvard University, New York University, Princeton University, and Smith College. Prior to joining Isaacson, Miller, Sarah held management and consulting positions in human resources with several Boston-area academic medical centers and teaching hospitals for over 16 years. She also worked for one of the nation’s leading recruitment advertising firms. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Vermont.

John M. Isaacson founded Isaacson, Miller in 1982. He grew up in Maine and was carefully groomed to be a third generation Maine lawyer. John was diverted from his natural career in his twenties by unlikely success in academics, which took him to Dartmouth for a BA, to Oxford University on a Rhodes and to Harvard Law School. Following law school, he chose a career in public service. He launched his career as the assistant to the Secretary of Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was employed immediately as the state's recruiter for commissioners in the human services. John served three governors and five secretaries of human services over eight years, recruiting cabinet officers and commissioners. In between recruiting assignments, he served as an Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, as an Assistant Secretary of the Executive Office of Human Services, and as the Director of the Office for Children. By the end of his years of public service, John had benefited from working with a number of colleagues who had gone on to prestigious careers in higher education, academic medicine, public authorities, and national foundations. Over a two-year period in the early 1980s, they became the founding client base of the firm. In his time with Isaacson, Miller, John has led searches in every part of the firm's practice. He has helped the firm to develop its cumulative knowledge of the craft of search—the missionary purposes of institutions, the disciplines of markets and the emotional and intellectual learnings that leaders acquire in a committed working life. See also: A Talk with John Isaacson.

Gale Merseth joined Isaacson, Miller in 2004 after an extensive career in higher education, business and government. Gale was a faculty member and administrator at Harvard Business School for 13 years, serving as Director of Admissions for the MBA Program and Assistant Dean for Executive Education and External Affairs. His research and teaching were in the areas of corporate strategy and regulatory policy. He left Harvard in 1982 to serve as the founding Executive Director of the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), which developed an innovative system to provide loans for students at public and private colleges and universities in Massachusetts. As President and CEO of The New England Council in 1986-87, Gale led the organization’s work on trade, energy, and environmental issues. He went to Claremont Graduate University in 1987 as the first Dean of The Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. He returned to the Boston area in 1991 where he consulted to large and small companies and co-founded a company that developed interactive web-based software applications to support individualized and project-based learning. Gale has an AB in economics, an MBA, and a doctoral degree in business administration from Harvard University.

Arnie Miller joined the firm in 1983 very soon after its founding, serving as our president for many years. In his early career, Arnie served as the District Representative for Congressman Allard Lowenstein of New York, soon thereafter co-founding the Contract Research Corporation, a management consulting firm in Boston. He later served as the Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office during the Carter Administration, recruiting more women and people of color to leadership positions in the Executive Branch and the Independent Regulatory Agencies than ever before in our nation's history. Arnie then entered the search profession with Nordeman Grimm in New York. After running for the US Congress on Long Island, Arnie joined Isaacson, Miller, where in addition to his overall leadership role, and his work recruiting for the full range of functions and clients, he has anchored the firm's high profile practice among some of the nation's most consequential advocacy and policy organizations. Throughout his career with Isaacson, Miller, Arnie has managed numerous large scale projects involving several simultaneous searches for new and expanding organizations, and has assisted two US Presidents and two US Secretaries of State as they staffed senior government positions. In 40% of the searches Arnie has conducted over the past ten years, people of color have been hired. An Army veteran who served in Korea, he is a graduate of Hofstra University and studied for several years at Harvard's Russian Research Center. See also: Advice from Arnie Miller.

Monroe "Bud" Moseley joined Isaacson, Miller in 1989 after a distinctive higher education and corporate career. As a Student Affairs Dean, Bud launched his career at his alma mater, the University of Rhode Island, working in early efforts to make the university more diverse, before moving on to Boston College to assume a directorship focused on improving student academic performance, retention, and social development. He entered corporate human resources management at Analog Devices, Inc. before joining Arthur D. Little, Inc. and the former Bank of Boston with executive recruitment responsibility. At Isaacson, Miller, Bud, like many of the senior partners, has combined a powerful commitment to mission with a consistent interest in business. His clients range from universities and colleges to healthcare institutions, foundations, associations, government and quasi-public agencies. He has also anchored our community economic development and affordable housing practice and has led many of the firm's human resources and finance searches. Bud is a member of several national and local nonprofit boards serving education, housing, healthcare and human rights advocacy. Bud holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in counseling from the University of Rhode Island.

Jerome A. Pieh joined Isaacson, Miller in 1994 after serving for 18 years as the headmaster of Milton Academy, a leading northeastern private day and boarding school. He committed to his career in education from the beginning, as the co-founder and first program director of Minnesota Outward Bound. Following Outward Bound and a stint teaching at Philips Andover, Jerry became an assistant to the Dean at the Harvard School of Education. He moved rapidly into line management, becoming principal of an excellent public, regional high school and then, at the age of 32, headmaster of Milton Academy. At Isaacson, Miller, Jerry has led a variety of school reform and independent school searches, and has rapidly extended his reach, creatively combining his interests in science, the environment, and institutions of higher education. He is associated as a director/advisor with Expeditionary Learning, Project Adventure, the Saltwater Institute, hm Study Skills, and several other educational ventures. Jerry earned his BA from Duke, and his master's and EdD from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Lisa Savereid came to Isaacson, Miller as a Vice President in 1994 from a background in government and business. She began her career managing a mix of economic and community development, public safety, and civil rights issues for Boston Mayor Kevin H. White. She then joined the general management consulting practice of Price Waterhouse, and later served in executive positions at two of Boston's most successful real estate development and investment firms: Cabot, Cabot & Forbes and The Beacon Companies. At Isaacson, Miller, Lisa plays an important role in our higher education practice, leading a series of senior academic and administrative searches for some of our most prominent university clients. Her practice also includes leadership recruitment for advocacy, philanthropy, and economic and community development clients. She has developed a specialty in serving client organizations that cross sector lines to build partnerships among business, government, and the civic sector. She holds a BA in ancient Greek and philosophy from the University of Kent at Canterbury, Kent, UK.

Jonathan F. Saxton joined Isaacson, Miller in 2008, bringing with him over 25 years of experience working in public policy and advocacy. For the past 11 years, Jon served as Special Assistant to the CEO of Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center/Chair of the Board of Emory Healthcare. In that position, he was involved in a broad array of projects and initiatives to build world-class health professions schools, research facilities, clinics, and hospitals. He also authored and edited more than a dozen articles and reports on critical issues in health policy and management, and established an award-winning health sciences quarterly. Before that, Jon served as Director of Health Policy and Governmental Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also held senior positions in several civic and public policy organizations, and for many years worked as a freelance speechwriter to select executives, professionals and politicians. Jon brings to the firm a keen appreciation for leadership and management challenges in both the civic and private sectors, and the intersection between them. Jon is an Honors graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law. He also holds a BA from Haverford College and an MA from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research.

Peter W. Stanley joined Isaacson, Miller as a Vice President in 2004 after more than 30 years in education and philanthropy. Peter was President of Pomona College from 1991 to 2003, retiring after successfully completing the largest fundraising campaign in the College's history. Prior to this, he headed the Education and Culture Program at the Ford Foundation for seven years, with responsibility for the Foundation's work in all levels of education as well as the arts. He was the Academic Dean of Carleton College from 1979 to 1984. An undergraduate and a graduate student at Harvard, and a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Jesus College in Cambridge University, Peter earned his PhD in history in 1970 and has received honorary degrees from Occidental College and from Rhodes College. He taught American and Asian history at Harvard and at the University of Illinois before assuming Carleton's deanship. Peter has chaired the board of trustees of the College Board, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Pacific Basin Institute. He has also chaired the board of directors of The James Irvine Foundation and is a past trustee of Barnard College. He is the author or co-author of three books concerned with the history of America's relations with the nations and peoples of East and Southeast Asia.

Barbara R. Stevens joined Isaacson, Miller in early 2000 after extensive experience in higher education, including 20 years in senior management roles at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown University. At Isaacson, Miller she has led the development of the firm's higher education presidential search practice. A commitment to partnerships among different constituencies has been a cornerstone of her work. At Yale she worked closely with the officers of the university, leaders of the state and city government and community organizations to link university, government and community objectives. In her role as Chief of Staff to the President at the University of Pennsylvania, she spearheaded a number of university/West Philadelphia initiatives in the areas of economic development, education, and urban greening. As Vice President and Secretary of the University of Pennsylvania, she was the primary liaison between the President, the Board of Trustees and the Boards of Overseers of the university's 12 schools. In this role she also was responsible for internal and external communications, including press and media, and managed dean and presidential searches. Most recently, at Georgetown University, she served the executive committee of the President's cabinet and the Senior Vice President in their re-sizing and administrative improvement endeavors. Barbara attended Wellesley College and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Alan Wichlei joined Isaacson, Miller in 1986. In his early career, Alan gravitated to innovative human service initiatives, helping translate imaginative concepts into practical programs. He co-founded the first psychiatric group home for adults in the state of Rhode Island. Over the next ten years, he grew this endeavor from a single program design in one residence to a multi-state agency providing the full range of residential and psychosocial rehabilitation services for the chronically mentally ill and their families. After a mid-career hiatus at Harvard, he was persuaded to join Isaacson, Miller, where he has not only participated in nearly every practice area in the firm, but has also contributed substantially to its management and development. He led the introduction of the firm’s information systems and its professional development program and has consistently guided its knowledge management systems. His practice includes leadership searches for academic institutions, faith-based organizations, private and community foundations, human service endeavors, organizations redefining their market strategy, and the convergence of IT and library leadership in the academic world. He earned his BA from Yale and his MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Karen A. Wilcox joined Isaacson, Miller in 1985 and has overseen searches in the full range of the firm's practices. She heads our conservation practice, having recruited CEOs for many of the country's leading environmental and conservation organizations. She has also led searches in the foundation community for independent, family, community, and corporate philanthropies and for infrastructure organizations in the field. In addition, Karen works with a variety of research and educational institutions, advocacy groups, cultural institutions, and socially responsible businesses. She focuses primarily on CEO searches, working with board search committees. She also serves as a permanent member of Isaacson, Miller's five-person management committee. Karen started her early career in magazine publishing and later worked as a consultant with urban housing and nuclear disarmament organizations. After graduate school, she worked in New York as an organizational and management consultant to entrepreneurial companies before returning to her hometown of Boston to join Isaacson, Miller. She holds a BA in English from Harvard University and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University.