Friends of Ryerson Woods

About Us
Meet the Board

Chair

Nick Bothfeld joined the FRW Board of Directors in the fall of 2010, first serving as Treasurer, and since June, 2011, as Chair. To this role Nick brings financial expertise from his years as a financial planner and investment advisor with Lincoln Financial Advisors. His interest in environmental conservation is evidenced by his long Board involvement with the Alliance for the Great Lakes, where he also served as Treasurer and on the Executive Committee.

Nick received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College magna cum laude, and he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Bobbie) Brown, live in Lake Forest, where every day they enjoy viewing the Middlefork Savanna as an extension of their backyard. Nick and Bobbie have two children in their twenties.

Treasurer

Henry W. Barkhausen, Jr. is President of Settlement Advisors, a firm that specializes in structured settlement annuities used in the settlement of personal injury claims. He has been in the field for 19 years. Prior work experience includes various accounting and treasury positions including as Treasurer of a Fortune 500 company. Henry has a BA from Trinity College (Hartford, CT), an MBA from the University of Chicago and is Certified Public Accountant. Henry was treasurer for six years of a nonprofit professional organization in the healthcare area.

Henry is an active outdoorsman and enjoys sailing, skiing, fishing, camping, bird watching and canoeing. He is certified whitewater canoe instructor. Members of his family have been involved with Ryerson Woods for a number of years. Prior to joining the board Henry attended many FRW events and has enjoyed hiking and skiing on the preserve and in a prior era skating on the Des Plaines River along the Ryerson property. Henry lives with his wife, Lele, in Winnetka, Illinois.

S ecretary

Judy Iacuzzi serves as the Secretary on FRW's Board. She has been an executive with Iacuzzi Associates, Inc. for 20 years, a communications consultancy with branding, marketing and graphic design expertise. For the bulk of her career, Judy’s clients have been not-for-profit organizations, many of them professional associations. Early in her career she worked as development director for Openlands where she first learned about Ryerson Woods.

Valerie Searle Lewis has enjoyed Ryerson Woods ever since she and her husband Michael moved to Bannockburn 35 years ago. The farm animals used to be a big attraction for her two daughters. Now the birds that visit Ryerson draw Valerie, as do many of the programs offered by FRW. As a competent Spanish speaker she has volunteered with the Mano a Mano program. In 2008 her husband had a photography show at Brushwood. Many of those photographs came out of the extensive travels of Valerie and her husband on all seven continents, including a number of birding trips.

For several years Valerie worked as a volunteer at the Field Museum, first in the Mammals Prep Lab and then in the Ornithology Department. She has been a member of the Field Museum Women’s Board for more than thirty years.

Valerie earned a B.A. in geography from Edinburgh University (U.K.). She taught geography in Ghana, in the British Voluntary Service Overseas program, as well as in Argentina and Switzerland. Her travels in many parts of the world led to her teaching English as a Second Language and to an M.A. in linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University. She now teaches English to adults in a program at Oakton Community College.

George A. Ranney is President and CEO of Chicago Metropolis 2020, a nonprofit civic organization created in 1999 by the Commercial Club of Chicago to promote long-term planning, better regional cooperation and smart investment in the Chicago region and its people. George also serves as chair and chief executive of Prairie Holdings Corporation, the firm developing Prairie Crossing, a nationally recognized conservation community in north suburban Grayslake. He served in various capacities over many years for Inland Steel Industries, including vice president for raw materials and also general counsel. He was deputy budget director for the State of Illinois under Governor Richard Ogilvie.

George also is senior counsel to the Chicago law firm of Mayer Brown LLP and has served as a trustee of many civic and non-profit organizations including the University of Chicago and Chicago Public Television (WTTW). George is a former trustee of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He has known and enjoyed Ryerson Woods his entire life, as his grandparents were Edward and Nora Ryerson. His service on advising boards including Friends started shortly after his grandparents’ gifts to the Forest Preserve in 1972.

Barbara H. Rosborough is a partner in Rosborough Partners, Inc., which she co-founded in 1991. Rosborough Partners, Inc. designs, installs, and maintains both residential and commercial landscapes for people who appreciate fine gardens. Throughout the years, Rosborough Partners, Inc. has won several statewide landscape awards for quality of work from the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association. Barbara served as past President of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association and remains an active member of the board as well as multiple committees. She is a board member of the Mid-American Horticultural Tradeshow and the Garden Club of Evanston. Barbara also serves on various Chicago Botanic Garden committees. A graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Ornamental Horticulture, Barbara has over 25 years of industry experience. She is a registered landscape architect in Illinois.

Judith Stockdale became executive director of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation in 1994. Her previous positions were executive director of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, senior staff associate at the Chicago Community Trust, and from 1978 – 1986 she was executive director of Openlands. Judith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geography from Durham University (U.K.) and a Master of Forest Science degree from Yale University. Judith is an independent director of the Nuveen Funds, a member of The Chicago Network, and a board member of Donors Forum. She and her husband, Jonathan Boyer, live in Chicago where Judith battles shade in an urban garden and cooks enthusiastically. Their two daughters are now grown but the family remembers many happy times together at Ryerson Woods: feeding the farm animals, birthday party nature walks, cross-country skiing, and woodland hikes in all seasons.

Lake County Forest Preserve District Liasions

Aaron Lawlor joined the FRW Board in 2010 when he was appointed as a liaison from the Lake County Forest Preserve District Board. He serves on the Lake County Board representing District 18. On the Board, Aaron chairs the Health and Community Services Committee and serves as a member of the Finance and Rules Committees. He also represents the County Board on the Community Development Commission and Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) Board. As a member of the Lake County Forest Preserve Board, Aaron is the Vice Chair of the Planning and Restoration Committee and member of the Finance Committee.

Prior to joining the County Board, Aaron served as Board President and Trustee of the Cook Memorial Public Library District for six years where he led an effort to build a new branch library in Vernon Hills and expand the main library in Libertyville without a tax referendum. Aaron previously served as Political Director and Deputy District Director to Congressman Mark Kirk (IL-10) and served as an aide to his successful 2010 U.S. Senate campaign. Aaron works as a political consultant and resides in Vernon Hills.

Ann Maine has served on the FRW Board since 2002 when she was appointed as a liaison from the Lake County Forest Preserve District Board, where she currently serves as President. Ann's love of the outdoors stems from her grandmothers, one of whom was a gardener and the other a birder. Each took her in hand at the young age of three and for that she is forever grateful.

Ann has a BA in Biology from Williams College and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Rochester. She is a senior lecturer at Lake Forest College, where she has been a member of the Biology Department since 1993. Ann and her husband Gordon chose their house in Lincolnshire 18 years ago because it was five minutes from Ryerson Woods. With four boys, Ann estimates that someone from her family is walking, running, cross country skiing or birding in Ryerson every week of the year!

^{Friends of Ryerson Woods    21850 N.
Riverwoods Rd., Deerfield    847.968.3343

info@ryersonwoods.org}
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