The purpose of SOMD Advancement Council is to represent the mission of the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance. As advocates for the school, members of the council are asked to assist in three key responsibilities: advocacy, fundraising and sharing of expertise.
Jon and Mary Hogen
Chair(s)
Pasadena, CA
Joined 2015
Jon and Mary’s son, Palmer, graduated from the UO in June 2019 with degrees in Computer Science, Math and Music. He is their only child.
Jon is a financial advisor with LPL Financial in Pasadena. Mary sits on the board of her family’s foundation based in Montgomery, Alabama. The foundation annually awards small scholarships to local high school students attending college.
The Hogen’s also serve on the Parent Leadership Council under the direction of the Office of Student Life. Jon was a longtime board member of the Ojai Music festival (termed off).
Jan Monti, '69, ’71
Vice Chair
Seattle, WA
Joined 2015
Janice (Jan) M. Monti founded The JANUS Group in 1991 to work with organizations and individuals wanting to improve their effectiveness. Growing from a foundation in career transition counseling, her work spans leadership training and coaching, team development and facilitation, culture change and retreat facilitation. The focus of her work rests on a three-part model of creating a clear and compelling picture of the future, developing a strategy to get there, and internalizing the discipline & practices required to stay the course.
Jan was Founding Director of the Executive MBA Program at the University of Washington. Under her leadership, the program achieved a top 20 ranking in Business Week as one of the nation's leading EMBA Programs. Prior to joining the UW, Jan was recruited by one of the Northwest's leading commercial banks to initiate and manage all training activities associated with its highly successful transition to retail banking. She also led a nonprofit training institute and worked as a college counselor and faculty member.
Jan holds a B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oregon. She is an active member of the community where she has served on several non-profit boards. She is a long-standing member of the King County Junior Achievement Board. She completed ten years as a Trustee of the University of Oregon Foundation in 2014 and is a past Director of the University of Oregon Alumni Association. She is the 2008 recipient of the U of O’s Jean Johnson Award given to the outstanding alumni of the year.
Connie Kulick
Eugene, OR
Joined 2017
Connie graduated from California State University in Sacramento, California in 1971 with a BSN, PHN in nursing and public health.
During her professional career in nursing spanning 39 years, she was a Navy nurse during Vietnam, village nurse in Guam, nurse manager of an Urgent Care and an Emergency Room and a staff nurse at multiple Level I and Level II trauma centers.
Upon her husband Tom’s retirement from the US Coast Guard, the couple returned to his family home in Eugene. They have two adult daughters.
Connie has been committed to several Eugene non-profits organizations over the last 17 years including WomenSpace and SOMD. She has sat on both the Looking Glass and Eugene Opera boards. She is one of the founders of the opera guild, Opera Ambassadors, and was their first President.
Sherrie Barr
Corvallis, OR
Joined 2020
Sherrie Barr earned her MFA in performance and choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a Certified Practitioner in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies. Hailing from northern New Jersey, she has a rich history of teaching dance at many locales including Potsdam College of New York, University of Oregon, Michigan State University, Happendance School, and Wayne State University. Returning to Oregon to retire in fall of 2015, Sherrie now has a courtesy professor of dance appointment at the University of Oregon. She is passionate about teaching movement practices, including creative dance and improvisation, modern and contemporary dance practices, somatic practices, and skills fordance making.
Michael Bullis
Sisters, OR
Joined 2024
Michael Bullis earned his Ph.D. in Special Education and Rehabilitation from the University of Oregon in 1983. In 1994, he returned to the College of Education as a professor.
His scholarship focused on the transition of adolescents and young adults with disabilities or high-risk behaviors to adult roles, with an emphasis on competitive employment. He has authored more than 120 publications and received 36 external grant awards to study transition issues.
Dr. Bullis served as the dean of the College of Education from 2005 to 2013. During his tenure, he oversaw the college’s $50+ million building project, which included the renovation of the historic education complex and the construction of the HEDCO Education Building. Under his leadership, the COE was ranked among the top 10 colleges of education nationally. The faculty were recognized for their scholarly productivity and success in securing external grant awards, and the number of tenured faculty doubled.
In 2013, Dr. Bullis returned to the faculty in Educational Policy and Leadership, teaching courses on professional writing, research methods, and administrative decision-making. He retired in the fall of 2017 but continued part-time in the department. He held a Knight Professorship from 2005 until retirement. After retiring from the University of Oregon, Dr. Bullis and his wife, Cathy, moved to Central Oregon.
Ann Cole
Eugene, OR
Joined 2020
In Eugene, Ann has worked in nonprofits for over 20 years as a board member and completed a one year nonprofit management course from Lane Community College in 2011. She often serves when a transition is underway and has worked with Village School and Tamarack Aquatic Center through transitions that required reorganization and role clarifications.
Currently, she serves as a community member on the 4j Equity Advisory Committee to the Superintendent.
Ann is trained as a Dance/ Movement Therapist that brings together the fields of dance and psychology. She is a dancer and licensed professional counselor. Her work integrates the mind and the body through movement and touch. Three years ago, she became a licensed massage therapist. Massage therapy and her ongoing training in Body Mind Centering have deepened her work with the body.
She has taught dance/ movement therapy to graduate students at Marylhurst College in Lake Oswego and served as a Dance therapy supervisor to graduate students at Antioch University in Keene, NH.
Ann Musgrove
Eugene, OR
Joined 2019
Ann was born in England and finished her education in Western Australia. After moving to the United States she began her career as a computer programmer in San Francisco. Ann moved to Eugene in 1973 as a faculty wife at the UO. Her career at the UO spanned 18 years before retirement as a Director for Development with the Central Development office.
Upon retirement she and husband Wayne Musgrove, retired president of Musgrove Family Mortuaries, made a gift to create a vocal scholarship at the School of Music. Thanks to friends and colleagues the gift became an endowment.
Ann has two children. Son, Christopher Lamon, graduated from the UO in 1992 with a degree in Political Science and is executive with Kimberly Clark. Daughter resides in Washington state.
Ann is a strong champion for the SOM opera program and attends the performances of her scholarship students whenever possible. She is also most interested in the progress of opera in Eugene having attended the first Eugene Opera performance in 1973 and later serving on the Eugene Opera Board of Directors.
Jay Namyet
Eugene, OR
Joined 2024
Jay Namyet is the former Chief Investment Officer for the UO Foundation. He served in that capacity from 2000-2021. Jay has an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from NYU.
He and his family are passionate about the arts. His daughter, Rebecca, is a UO College of Education graduate and participated in some UO Dance performances. Jay in particular values classical music and visual art.
Natalie Guistina Newlove
Eugene, OR
Joined 2012
Natalie Newlove was born and raised in Eugene. She attended summer school at University of Oregon in 1968, and Graduated from Lake Erie College in Ohio. She says she attended Lake Erie to explore and experience other parts of the country. Natalie had a career in banking in San Diego County until birth of her son in 1986. After that she devoted her time to community volunteering.
Natalie became involved with School of Music and Dance after the death of aunt, Euphemea Laraway Culp, who loved music and made a bequest to the school at her death in 2002.
She is a strong supporter of the SOMD, JSMA and the library.
Leslie Scott
Eugene, OR
Joined 2024
Leslie Scott has lived in the Eugene area for over 40 years. She was the general manager of the Oregon Country Fair from 1992 to 2008 and founded the OCF Culture Jam, an 8-day arts-focused camp for teens ages 14–18, which she continues to support.
She and her husband, Charles, founded the Oregon Truffle Festival, a non-profit organization, in 2006, and she continues to serve as its general manager.
Leslie received both her bachelor’s degree (1988, International and Peace Studies) and her master’s degree (1991, International Studies and Community Development) from the University of Oregon. She also completed a Peace Education Internship at Columbia University. From 2004 to 2014, she served as an adjunct professor in UO’s PPPM program, focusing on Nonprofit Organization and Event Management.
Her previous board service includes the Tamarack Wellness Center, Lane County Human Rights, and the McKenzie River Gathering. She has also served on the sustainability committees for the Olympic Trials and Eugene’s Bold Steps initiative.
Leslie is deeply passionate about the role the arts play in society.
Lavinia Touchton
Mercer Island, WA
Joined 2022
Lavinia is originally from Tampa, FL, but moved to the Seattle area 27 years ago. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Liberal Arts in Psychology from Harvard University. Lavinia’s son, Chris, is currently in his first year at the School of Music and Dance. Lavinia’s partner, Jeff Adberg (U of O Graduate School of Architecture, 1989) and she divide their time between Mercer Island and nearby Vashon Island, where they are building a home.
Lavinia’s professional background primarily has included non-profit volunteer and Board of Director experience, particularly in areas of middle and secondary independent education and parent peer support, with a focus on board development, fund development, and capital giving. In addition, Lavinia served for eleven years on the National Selection Committee of a foundation-supported, merit-based scholarship at the University of Virginia, and for the past eight years she has chaired the Seattle Regional Selection Committee for that scholarship.