Mr. John McNamara, Chair of the Advisory Committee, was appointed in 2009 by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to serve a term that expires in September 2013. He is Senior Development Officer at Rockford College in Rockford, Illinois. Prior to his tenure in development, Mr. McNamara joined the College as assistant to the president and then as the director of the Jane Addams Center for Civic Engagement. Before joining Rockford College, he worked at a private law firm and a real estate investment firm. Mr. McNamara has a strong history in public service, which includes serving in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Vietnam, as an assistant public defender for the County of Winnebago, and as a city council member and then Mayor of the City of Rockford from 1981 to 1989. He is also very involved in his community and his church, St. Peter Cathedral, and multiple boards and committees. He received a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame '61, and a law degree from The University of Michigan '64.
Dr. William T. Luckey, Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee, was appointed in 2009 by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to serve a term that expires in September 2013. In 1998, Dr. Luckey became the eighth president of Lindsey Wilson College. He has served Lindsey Wilson since 1983, holding the positions Vice President for Enrollment Management, Vice President for Development, and Vice President for Administration and Finance. As president of one of Kentucky's fastest-growing and most diverse independent liberal arts colleges, Dr. Luckey leads a faculty and staff of more than 400 and a student body of more than 2,700. The college's annual budget is more than $54 million. The focus of President Luckey's administration is to continue Lindsey Wilson's development as a liberal arts, church-related college that is distinguished for being one of the best undergraduate teaching colleges in the nation. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Wabash College, and a master's degree in business administration and a doctorate in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University. He has published and lectured widely on the subject of the "scholarship of teaching." President Luckey has served as a commissioner for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), been a member of the Committees on Compliance and Reports, and has chaired several on-site and off-site accreditation visits.
Mr. David L. Gruen was appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 2009 to serve a term that expires in September 2013. Mr. Gruen has been in the financial aid profession for 37 years, and, currently, is semi-retired, doing consulting work for colleges and universities in financial aid operations. He retired as Director of Financial Aid at the University of Wyoming in 2010, a position he held for seven years. Mr. Gruen was chair of the 2008-09 NASFAA Board of Directors and has also served as president of the Southwest Regional and the Oklahoma and Wyoming State Associations of Student Financial Aid Administrators, having been the first national chair from Wyoming. Prior to serving at the University of Wyoming, Mr. Gruen held the position of Director of Student Financial Services at the University of Denver, and Director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Tulsa, at Alfred University in New York, and at Southeastern Community College in North Carolina.
Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick was appointed in 2012 by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to serve a term that expires in September 2016. Dr. Harper-Marinick is Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost for the Maricopa Community College District in Arizona. She provides oversight for curriculum, academic research, student affairs, strategic planning and institutional effectiveness, university relations and transfer articulation, grants development, international education, faculty professional development, high school to college pathways programs, workforce development, and small business development. She also works closely with the Chancellor in three major areas: definition and implementation of the District's strategic plan and allocation of resources; leading initiatives to enhance access and increase student success; and building the stature and recognition of the District and its ten colleges locally, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Harper-Marinick serves on national and local boards and advisory committees including Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center, Chair; National Community College Hispanic Council, President-Elect; Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders, Chair-Elect; American Association for Community Colleges' Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity; American College & University President's Climate Commitment-Academic Committee; Arizona Business and Education Coalition; Arizona Higher Education Engagement and Communication Committee for PARCC; Arizona Public Engagement Task Force; Corporate Voices Community College Advisory Board; Florence Crittenton of Arizona; Getting Ahead Arizona, Policy Review Committee; Latino Advisory Committee and CTE Advisory Committee for the Morrison Institute for Public Policy; and the League for Innovation in the Community College. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Dr. Harper-Marinick came to Arizona as a LASPAU-Fulbright Scholar to attend Arizona State University (ASU). She holds a PhD in educational technology and an MA in instructional media from ASU.
Ms. Kathleen Hoyer was appointed by the Secretary of Education in 2009 to serve a term that expires in September 2013. Ms. Hoyer is the Advisory Committee's student member, and she was awarded a master's degree in education policy studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May 2011. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in the same field at College Park. Her research interests focus on the creation and implementation of federal education policy, especially with respect to both the interaction of federal policy with state- and district-level policy and the impact of federal policy on students from historically marginalized populations. In 2009, she served as a legislative fellow in the office of Maryland State Delegate Anne Kaiser, chair of the Education Subcommittee in Maryland's House of Delegates. Ms. Hoyer received her bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.
Ms. Deborah Stanley was appointed by the Speaker of the House in 2010 to serve a term that expires in 2014. Ms. Stanley currently serves as the Director of Financial Aid at the oldest historically black university in Maryland and one of the ten oldest in the country, Bowie State University, located in Bowie, Maryland. Ms. Stanley has more than 20 years of financial aid experience in both the private and public sectors. Over her career in financial aid, she has served in many capacities, including financial aid counselor, assistant director, and, prior to arriving at Bowie State University, as associate director at the University of Baltimore. She is an active member of DE-DC-MD Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Ms. Stanley received her bachelor's degree in psychology and her master's degree in administrative management from Bowie State University.
Mrs. Sharon Wurm was appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 2010 to serve a term that expires in 2014. Mrs. Wurm has had a lengthy career in student financial aid, and in June of 2011 rejoined the staff at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) as the Director of Financial Aid. In her current position, she oversees financial aid, scholarships, student employment, and veterans educational services. Mrs. Wurm has 22 years of experience in financial aid with the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), most recently working for five years at the NSHE System Administration Office as Director of Financial Aid. Prior to working at the System Administration Office, she worked for ten years at TMCC and for seven years at the University of Nevada, Reno, all in financial aid. In addition to her financial aid responsibilities, she serves as the campus-wide functional co-lead for TMCC’s PeopleSoft system, as the Nevada State Liaison for Complete College America, and as a member of the Nevada Statewide ACT Council. She is a member of several financial aid associations, and volunteers with the local Boys & Girls Club, helping low-income youth access college and apply for financial aid and scholarships, as well as serving as a mentor under their “Be Great Graduate” program. Mrs. Wurm holds an MS in counseling and educational psychology and a BS in business administration (computer information systems emphasis), both from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has been married for 28 years to her husband Mike, and they have two children, Megan, a college freshman, and Zach, a high school sophomore. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, going to sporting events, and is an avid reader.
Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
This page last modified— October 2, 2012 (js)