Sherdren Burnside
Sherdren Burnside is an accomplished nonprofit executive, educator, and community leader with extensive experience in organizational development, educational equity, and leadership development. She currently serves as Director of Posse New Orleans, where she leads efforts to expand college access, cultivate emerging leaders, and strengthen partnerships that create opportunities for young people. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles in education and community-based organizations, demonstrating a deep commitment to service and social impact. Sherdren is an alumna of Loyola University New Orleans and Teachers College, Columbia University. Guided by her faith, she is passionate about empowering individuals, strengthening families, and developing the next generation of leaders.
Jeremy Collins
Jeremy Collins joined The National WWII Museum in 2001 while earning his history degree at the University of Missouri. After working in Collections & Exhibits, where he co-curated When Baseball Went to War, he moved into the Museum’s Travel & Conference Department in 2008, helping develop and lead tours around the world. Today, Collins oversees the planning and execution of the Museum’s major public programs, including book launches, distinguished lectures, symposia and the annual International Conference on World War II, as part of the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.
Dr. Scott Cowan
Dr. Scott Cowen is President Emeritus of Tulane University and Chair of the Celia Scott Weatherhead Leadership Institute at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management. He served as Tulane’s 14th president from 1998 to 2014, guiding the university’s recovery and transformation following Hurricane Katrina, and as interim president of CWRU from 2020 to 2021. A nationally recognized leader in higher education, Cowen has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award and the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education. He is the author of several books on leadership and higher education and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a doctorate in business administration from The George Washington University.
Daniel Goldmark
Daniel Goldmark is Professor of Music, Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of CWRU’s Center for Popular Music Studies. His research focuses on American popular music, film and cartoon music, and the history of the music industry. An accomplished author and editor of several books on music and media, Goldmark also brings professional experience from the animation and music industries, including work with Rhino Entertainment and Spümcø Animation.
Dr. Noël M. Voltz
Dr. Noël Mellick Voltz is the Climo Assistant Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University where she specializes in African American, early American, and African diasporic histories. She is also the acting Director for CWRU's Africana Studies program. Voltz’s research and teaching interests focus particularly on black women in slavery and freedom in the United States and the wider Atlantic World. Voltz’s current book manuscript, The Sword in Her H