Board of Visitors

To ensure the J-School continues to provide an education that reflects the challenges and demands of the field, we created an alumni Board of Visitors to provide guidance and professional perspective. These alumni donate their time and expertise to help shape the J-School’s short- and long-term plans for education, research, fundraising and outreach.

Ray Allen
Scott Anderson
Betsy Brown
Marj Charlier
Ben Deutsch
Ellen Foley
Michael Gousha
Phil Haslanger
Robert L. (Bob) Klein (Vice Chair)
Kristine Kurey
Cindy Mori
Phil Rosenthal
George Stanley
Jonathan Stern
Ali Zelenko (Chair)

Ray Allen
Ray is currently administrator of the Division of Corporate and Consumer Services in the state Department of Financial Institutions. This is the latest in over 15 years of service to the state of Wisconsin, including positions with the Department of Employment Relations and the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations. Ray earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at UW-Madison in 1974 while working as a general assignment reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal. He joined the John Deere Company after graduation and later became its Marketing Manager. Ray earned his M.S. in management at Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee in 1985. His volunteer service has been extensive and includes the State Council on Affirmative Action, the Executive Board of Madison N.A.A.C.P., the Dane County Education for Employment Council and the Madison Metropolitan School Board.

Scott Anderson
Scott is the Washington-based senior political producer for CNN.com. Prior to joining CNN in 2005, Scott worked as a national, international and political news producer at washingtonpost.com, where he was the editorial lead for the 2004 election results system and as a technologist for the Online NewsHour, the Web site of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, where he helped developed the NewsHour’s first interactive television and mobile news products. Scott graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and zoology and from the Georgetown University in 2003 with a master’s degree in communication, culture and technology.  While at Georgetown, Scott studied network and information economics and organizational structure.

Betsy Brown
During her 13 years at Cramer-Krasselt, Betsy Brown has established a reputation for consumer insights and an ability to form strategic partnerships with clients. As Executive Vice President/General Manager and a part of the senior management team, Betsy is uniquely positioned to deliver on C-K’s media neutral philosophy of brand building. Betsy’s special areas of expertise are foods and packaged goods (brand experience includes Birds Eye, Reddi-wip, Armour and Gardetto’s) and the OTC health care and supplement category (Rexall-Sundown and GNC). In addition to serving on the J-School’s BOV, she also serves on the board of the Sojourner Truth House and the Penfield Children’s Center and was recently nominated as a 40 under 40 candidate to watch by The Milwaukee Business Journal. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Marj Charlier
Marj Charlier, Vice President of Investor Relations at Real Networks, has spent more than 30 years in journalism and strategic communications. Prior to her current position, she served as Director of Investor Relations at Expedia, Inc., IAC/Interactive Corp., Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. and Amax Gold Inc. In addition, she created and developed clientele for the investor relations practice of Johnston Wells Public Relations Company in Denver. She also served as Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for two years at Expedia, Inc., creating the first corporate philanthropy and cause-related marketing programs at the company, including the conception and negotiation of the World Heritage Alliance with the United Nations Foundation. For a dozen years prior to her investor relations career, she was a reporter with the Wall Street Journal. She has a BA in Journalism and International Studies from Iowa State University, where she was Phi Beta Kappa; a masters degree in Journalism and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and an MBA from Regis University in Denver. In 2006, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wisconsin Journalism School. She serves on board of the international non-profit organization, the Global Heritage Fund. Her husband, also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, is an editor at the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Ben Deutsch
Ben is director of Corporate Communications in the Worldwide Public Affairs and Communications function.  In this role, he is responsible for positioning the Company, senior management and its brands with the media in a manner that promotes Coca-Cola’s reputation among shareowners, customers, consumers and other constituents throughout the world. Ben is directly responsible for all corporate communications in support of the Finance, Legal, Human Resources and Marketing, Strategy and Innovation functions.  He is also responsible for internal communications.  Ben was named to his current position in May 2006. He most recently served for three years as Corporate Communications’ director of Financial Communications. Ben joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1993 as a public relations manager for Coca-Cola USA, and held numerous positions in the communications function during his career with the Company.  Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Ben worked at the PR firms of Shandwick USA in Bloomington, Minn., and Wells & Miller in Minneapolis, Minn. He also was a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
Ben serves on the board of Special Olympics Georgia.  He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley is editor of the Wisconsin State Journal and was a Pulitzer Juror in Commentary in 2005. Previously, she was managing editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, which chose “People Paper” journalism ---also known as civic journalism --- as a focus during her tenure there. It has won awards for its 9/11 coverage and it continues to be the leading source on coverage of the federal investigation into pay-to-play corruption among Philadelphia city officials. Previously, Ellen earned a reputation as a creative editor and reporter at newspapers in Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Kansas City. She has won several writing awards and the journalists in her care have earned numerous honors, particularly for civic journalism, lifestyle coverage, design and in-depth reporting. She is a member of the board of directors of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press Managing Editors. She earned her B.A. in political science and her master's in Journalism & Mass Communication from UW-Madison in 1987.

Michael Gousha
Mike Gousha serves as a Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy at Marquette University Law School. He joined Marquette in January of 2007 after concluding a 25 year career at WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee. In his role at Marquette, Gousha organizes and coordinates forums and conferences which address important public policy issues. He also brings newsmakers and political debates to campus, acting in the role of interviewer, moderator, and facilitator. In addition, Gousha continues to work as a contributing anchor and reporter for WISN-TV in Milwaukee. He is the host of the weekly Sunday morning program "Up Front with Mike Gousha." He also offers political analysis and does long form reporting for the ABC affiliate. Gousha has earned numerous national and local awards during his journalism career, including two Emmy awards. He has received the Associated Press' prestigious Carol Brewer award for outstanding, long-term contributions to broadcast journalism in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Press Club named him a Knight of the Golden Quill, the club's rarest and highest honor. During his career at WTMJ, Gousha served as lead anchor and host of the popular interview program “Sunday Night.” As a reporter, he has covered a wide array of local, national and international stories. He traveled to El Salvador and Nicaragua in the 1980’s to produce an award-winning series on the flight of refugees to Milwaukee. He has covered Presidential inaugurations and funerals, reported from eight national political conventions, and has been the solo host of more than a dozen political debates. He also was the moderator and a panelist at the 2004 Democratic Presidential Debate on the Marquette campus. As host of “Sunday Night,” Gousha interviewed more than 800 people over 17 years. The roster of guests includes a “who’s who” of business, political, and religious leaders, along with actors, athletes, and authors. Before coming to WTMJ-TV in 1981, Gousha worked at WSAW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin and at WIBA Radio in Madison. He also worked as a print reporter for the Capital News Bureau in Madison. He joined WISN-TV in January of 2008. Gousha graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978 with a degree in journalism. He has deep roots in the Milwaukee area and his father was a former superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Phil Haslanger
Phil Haslanger is a contibuting editor at The Capital Times in Madison. He has a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While at UW, Phil was a reporter for the Daily Cardinal. He has worked at The Capital Times since 1973, covering politics, then education, working as city editor from 1979 to 1984, as editorial page editor from 1984 to 1998, and as managing editor from 1998 to August of 2206. He has been active in the National Conference of Editorial Writers. He helped host that group's 1997 convention in Madison and served as the organization's president in 2002. In addition to his job in journalism, Phil is also working on a master's degree in theology from Lakeland College in Sheboygan and towards ordination as a minister in the United Church of Christ.

Robert L. (Bob) Klein (Vice Chair)
Bob is founder and "chief optimism officer" of FirstJob, a consultancy dedicated to helping college students in their job search. In addition to his leadership of FirstJob, Bob serves as executive account director for AnswersTV, a cutting-edge on-demand, online, interactive television network. Most recently Bob served as executive vice president & managing director of J. Walter Thompson, part of the country's largest and best known advertising agency. He spent the majority of his career at DDB Worldwide (3rd largest global agency network) serving in a variety of executive functions including the DDB Management Council, director of business development and senior vice president/group account director. In the Chicago and Midwest community, Bob has served on numerous charitable boards as an active member and fundraiser, including The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, The Lawson House YMCA, The Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, The March of Dimes and The Hadley School for the Blind. He is an Honors graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism where he also served as President of the UW Student Advertising Club and was a two-time national finalist in the American Advertising Federation Student Ad competition.

Kristine Kurey
As a journalism major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kristine specialized in the print media, emphasizing skills in graphics, typography, layout and design to enhance the writing. After receiving her BA in 1976, her first job was as editor and photographer at the weekly newspaper in New Glarus, Wisconsin. A move to New York City brought Kristine to a Madison Avenue ad agency, James Neal Harvey, where she made TV commercials with Brooke Shields and Priscilla Presley, wrote new product marketing plans and introductions and bought ad specialties for her client Wella Balsam. Kristine moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1981, and helped to put the first independent TV station on the air in Anchorage, working as its National Sales Manager. In 1984, she founded the Kurey Company in Seattle, specializing in promotional advertising. She's now working on starting up her long-wanted second company, Seattle Sachet, which will market through the promotional products channel to companies nationwide. Kristine was one of the founders and first president of the Promotional Product Association of Oregon and Washington. She's served on the national Promotional Products Association International Distributor Committee and the Dispute Resolution Committee.

Cindy Mori
After graduating from UW-Madison in 1989, Cindy moved to Washington, D.C. where, she landed a job at CNN as an Associate Producer for "The Capital Gang." After four years at CNN, Cindy moved to New York to work for "Good Morning America" where she worked as a Segment Producer for the next six years (the first three in New York, the last three in Los Angeles).  She covered several trials (O.J. Simpson, Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols), school shootings, booked newsmakers and feature stories.  In 1999, she moved to Chicago to work for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" as an Associate Producer.  Her job includes everything from developing show ideas and pre-interviewing and booking guests to writing scripts and editing taped segments for the show.  Her current title is Manager of Booking Relations, and her responsibilities include booking celebrities and handling breaking news.

Phil Rosenthal, the Chicago Tribune's media columnist, has been a working journalist since 17, when he talked his way into a regular freelance gig with the Waukegan News-Sun while still in high school. As he earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Rosenthal covered sports, spot news and media for The Capital Times in Madison, Wis. He spent 11 years at the Los Angeles Daily News, first as a sports writer, then a television critic and ultimately as a columnist whose work was nationally distributed by the New York Times News Service. He returned to his hometown and joined the Chicago Sun-Times in 1996, serving as deputy sports editor, sports columnist and television critic. He moved to the Chicago Tribune in 2005. An award-winning journalist, Rosenthal is virtually certain no one actually reads biographies all the way through, and would congratulate you for making it this far.

George Stanley
George Stanley was named managing editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in January 1997. His role is to oversee day-to-day operations of all Journal Sentinel news departments, except for the Editorial/Opinions staff. George began working for the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1989 as a roving state reporter who covered the environment, agricultural issues and Indian affairs. He was named business editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1993, and led the merger of the Journal and Sentinel Business News Departments in 1995. Before joining the Sentinel, George was the outdoor and environment writer for the Wichita Eagle in Wichita, Kansas. Before that he was a senior staff writer at Ducks Unlimited magazine. His first job was assistant editor of the Lake Geneva Regional News – the junior member of a two-person staff, in charge of sports, school and police news. George is a member of the board of directors for the Associated Press Managing Editors association, past-president and a current board member of the Wisconsin AP Editors, and represents the newspaper and the Associated Press on the Freedom of Information Council. George graduated with distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.

Jonathan Stern
Jonathan Stern is Senior Director of Brand Public Relations for Miller Brewing Company. He is responsible for leading and directing brand communication programs for all brands in the Miller portfolio, including Miller Lite, Genuine Draft, High Life, Icehouse, Peroni’s, Pilsner Urquell, Milwaukee’s Best, Foster’s, Mickey’s, Olde English and Leinenkugel. He is also responsible for leading public relations activities surrounding sports and music sponsorships. Before joining Miller, Jon was senior vice president/director of CKPR’s Milwaukee office, coming to Wisconsin fresh from his role as the Director of Marketing Communications for NYC2012, the bid group chosen by the United States Olympic Committee to represent our country as the candidate city for the 2012 Olympic Games. Jon's agency experience includes positions with Burson-Marsteller, Bozell Worldwide and Dan Klores Communications. Earlier in his career, Jon worked at the National Basketball Association in the marketing communications group.  During his tenure, he managed the overall communications relationship between the NBA and its licensees comprising a $3 billion consumer products group worldwide. Jon is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and a frequent lecturer on public relations and sports marketing at universities across the country. 

Ali Zelenko (Chair)
Ali is Vice President, Communications for TIME. In this role she oversees all communications and public relations activities for one of the world's most powerful and influential news organizations. She has been with Time Warner since 1998, having served in successive roles as Associate Public Relations Director for PEOPLE, Director of Public Relations for CNN's Washington Bureau and Executive Director of Corporate Communications for Time Inc. Earlier in her career she worked for several public relations firms in Washington and New York. A Connecticut native, Ali graduated from UW-Madison's School of Journalism in 1993 (maiden name: Weisberg), and she received the Nafziger Award in 2003.