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| Ronald Court, Founder and President
Ronald Court founded the Booker T. Washington Society six years ago to generate interest in Dr. Washington's philosophy of living, learning and leading; a philosophy grounded in three fundamental values: personal responsibility, a useful education, and economic independence. He spends much of each year traveling about the country, speaking about Booker T. Washington as an American Hero and real role model for all young Americans today, regardless of complexion. Ron attributes his late-in-life motivations to promote the vision and values of Booker T. to seeds planted while awaiting graduation from Boston University in 1965. He listened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver the Commencement address in which he declared "We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools." Upon graduation, Ron was commissioned an Officer in the US Army, served his country with distinction in Vietnam, and upon returning to civilian life, moving to the green mountains of Vermont. Along the way, he served as a Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington, Vermont and, as a thirty plus year Rotarian, he has served as an Officer or Director of several Rotary Clubs. He is also a Founding Director of 'Vermonters for Educational Choice', and was an elected Trustee of both The Essex Alliance Church and Trustee of the Village of Essex Junction. He resides there, when not traveling and living in his conversion van. | |
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| Jennifer Therrien, Executive Director
Jennifer Therrien keeps the day to day activities of the Society running smoothly while managing the website, doing all the graphic design, and creating most of the newsletters, brochures, and publications. She was born in Basingstoke, United Kingdom, moving to Austin, Texas in 1995 with her father's job transfer. She moved to Vermont in 2010 and began working for the Society. She lives in Burlington VT with her newly-wed husband, Michael Therrien. She loves eating sushi, spending time with her Persian cat, Mia, and is a proud supporter of the NY Yankees! | |
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| Preston Dobbins, Big Mouth Presentations
Preston (aka: "The Rapper Jesse") Bio Coming Soon! |
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| Chris Priebe, Big Mouth Presentations
Bio Coming Soon! |
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| Michael Therrien, Web Master
Michael Therrien arrived in Burlington from Gorham, New Hampshire in 2006 to attend Champlain College. Founder Ron Court met Mike one day when he (Ron) called Champlain's Help Desk for computer assistance from "anybody who knows his stuff". Mike answered the call and ever since, Mike was Ron's 'go to man' for all things computers, even after Mike graduated in 2009. Mike's degree in Computer Networking and Information Security led to a full-time position as Director of Information Technology at a large Vermont-based chain of auto parts retail stores. Ron still calls on Mike to resolve any of the inevitable computer/website glitches that occasionally crop up. Good thing too, for when Mike responded to one of Ron's call for help back in April, 2010, he met the love of his life, newly hired Jennifer Faulkner (now the Society's Executive Director). The two were married December 30, 2011 in a beautiful snowy winter wedding. | |
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| Peter Ambush, Artist
Peter Ambush was born and raised in Frederick, Md. and at a very early age he wanted to be an artist. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Md. where he received a bachelor's degree in fine art. He also studied at the duCret School of Art in Plainfield, N.J. where he taught for several years. Through the years, Peter worked in various fields of art such as greeting cards, caricatures, children's books, computer graphics and portraiture. For more than a decade, he worked for the Star-Ledger newspaper in Newark, N.J. as a graphic artist and illustrator, creating over 400 covers for the paper's weekly "Scanner" TV guide. Peter now live in Stroudsburg, Pa. with his wife and daughter where he is a member of the Pocono Arts Council. He is also a member of the International Guild of Realism. Peter's work with the Society has ranged from painting his amazing portrait of Booker T. Washington to providing graphic design expertise for the society's publications. | |
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