Steve Ball serves as Chair of the Forum. He is a retired a Colonel after over 27 years in the U.S. Army commanding at all levels from platoon to Battalion while serving in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Steve has lived and worked in Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. He has worked in or been in jobs focused on Asia for more than 15 years. Steve graduated from the University of Maine at Orono, Cornell University, and the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was the U.S. Army Senior Service College Fellow to Georgetown University from 2000-2001. Steve was the U.S. Army Defense Attaché to Hanoi, Vietnam from 2002-2005. Steve currently resides in Windsor, and has returned in May from a year in Vietnam working with ordnance removal. He remains connected to Asia working as a Consultant for private and government interests in Southeast Asia.
Joan Sanzenbacher is retired from Colby College and lives in Waterville.
Mary Benziger earned a B.A. degree in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts. With that degree Mary (and her husband John) raised four children and has been dedicated to community and international volunteer efforts. Mary designed and implemented an art appreciation program in the Waterville Public Schools; was a docent at the Colby College Museum of Art; was on the board of directors of the Keller Family Campership Program, the Let’s Talk Language School, and Partners in Health of Maine. She and John traveled to Nicaragua many times with PIHM and she painted murals in health clinics with Nicaraguan compañeros. In her spare time she enjoys biking, hiking, and traveling—-always up for an adventure and eager to learn about other cultures.
Sylvia Jadczak (grant writer) is the Librarian at Messalonskee High School where she coordinates student programming in the arts, cultural & civic engagement, and the locavore movement. Her professional interests include grant writing and adolescent literacy. She enjoys facilitating and participating in school and community book groups. She majored in American Studies at Rutgers University and received her Masters degree in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina.
Steve Knight serves a the Secretary and tries to manage the GF website. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of History at Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield, Maine, after 36 years of teaching mostly at Lawrence High School, also in Fairfield. After spending part of his high school education living in England, Steve received his Bachelors in History in 1970 from Ithaca College and his Masters in U.S. History from the University of Virginia in 1973. He has led student trips to the Soviet Union, England, France, Thailand and Vietnam, and has traveled extensively in South America, Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.
William A. Lee III is an attorney at O’Donnell, Lee, McCowan and Phillips, LLC, where he specializes in all aspects of litigation, personal injury, estate planning and municipal law. Bill began his practice as an attorney for the Colville Confederated Tribes in Washington state, where he represented the Tribes and individual tribal members in civil and criminal litigation. He relocated to Waterville in 1982, where he has practiced law since. Bill was a member of the Waterville City Council for six years (two as Chairman) and the Waterville School Board for three years. He serves as City Solicitor for Waterville, Town Attorney for Winslow, and legal counsel for several small municipalities, in addition to his role with the Mid Maine Global Forum. Bill is also a part-time professor at Colby College, where he teaches courses in Comparative Law and the U.S. Legal System. He is a graduate of Eckerd College and the University of Florida School of Law. Bill has two adult daughters and resides in Waterville with his wife, Linda. He is an avid runner, golfer, kayaker and bird-watcher, escaping to Baxter State Park whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Jerry Tipper, Emeritus Member. Jerry is one of the founders of the Mid -Maine Global Forum and has been a board member since its inception. He served six years as chairman of the board. A Williams College and Harvard Business School graduate, Jerry is the former owner and CEO of the Cascade Woolen Mill in Oakland, ME. In addition to his involvement with the MMGF, he is also the former chair of the Mid-Maine Medical Center, Waterville Boys and Girls Club and the Colby College Leadership Institute. His current volunteer efforts are focused on the environment and specifically on programs to improve the water quality of the Belgrade Lakes, as the founder and current board member of BRCA Youth Conservation Corps and the BRCA Lakes Trust. Jerry has engaged in extensive international travel in addition to his many local volunteer efforts.
He has decided to scale back his involvement, focusing on the Linda Cotter Lecture Series. Without his many years leading the GF Board, this organization would not be what it is today.
David Richards is Director of the University of Maine Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, where he has worked since 1996. From 1984 to 1991, he was Curator of Collections at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum in New Gloucester. He holds a B.A. in History from Bates College, a M. A. in New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine, and a Ph. D. in History from the University of New Hampshire. His first book, Poland Spring: A Tale of the Gilded Age, 1860-1900, tells the story of the famous Maine resort and water source. His current research project is “the man who taught America how to play,” Milton Bradley of Vienna. In his spare time, he has led over 350 Maine Humanities Council book discussions in schools, libraries, and jails throughout the state. David is also a member of the Maine Humanities Council Board of Directors.
Mike Griffin is a retired physician and serves as the Forum’s treasurer.
Crystal Shamas-Douglas is the librarian at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, Maine.
Margy Knight lives in Waterville.. She is serving as the vice-president of the GF. Margy is involved in numerous community organizations in the central Maine area.
Mid-Maine Global Forum 