The Board of Trustees welcomes four new undergraduate, graduate and law student representatives to the board. All have been deeply engaged in student activities while pursuing diverse career paths and will bring new insights to the governance process.
The undergraduate representatives are Luwam Ghebremicael ’25, a senior in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and German Alejandro Nolivos ’26, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School. The graduate representative is Ava Breitbeck ’22, a graduate student in the science teaching program in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the law student representative is Brett S. VanBuren L’25, a third-year law student in the College of Law.
The new student representatives join current dean, faculty and staff representatives to the board, all of whom are serving out the second year of their two-year appointments. They are Michael Speaks, dean of the School of Architecture; Christine Ashby, professor of inclusive special education and disability studies and director of the Center on Disability and Inclusion in the School of Education; and Kathleen (Kati) Foley, project director and administrative assistant to the dean in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Each representative brings a unique voice to the board and its various committees, ensuring that the campus community is well-represented in the implementation of strategic objectives that support the University’s mission and vision.
Michael Speaks
Michael Speaks
Speaks was named dean of the School of Architecture in 2013. Previously, he was dean of the College of Design and professor of architecture at the University of Kentucky from 2008-13. As former director of the graduate program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, Speaks has taught in the graphic design department at the Yale School of Art, and in the architecture schools at Harvard University, Columbia University, The University of Michigan, UCLA, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and the Berlage Institute and TU Delft, in the Netherlands.
Speaks has published and lectured internationally on contemporary art, architecture, urban design and scenario planning. His accomplishments include the establishment of the Harry der Boghosian Endowed Fellowship Program for emerging professors in architecture, the Patrick Ahearn Workshops, the Design | Energy | Futures post-professional M.S. degree program and the Hal and Nina Fetner Architecture + Real Estate Summer Internship Program. In addition, Speaks established the China studies program, including studios in Beijing and Shanghai, the Three Cities Asia Summer Studio Program, a research partnership with the Institute Building Research in Shenzhen and a high school recruiting initiative. He also established a faculty and student exchange, research and project collaboration with Ewha Womans University, Yonsei University, Korea University, University of Seoul, Yeungnam University and Pusan National University in South Korea; and a scholarship program for overseas study in arts and design, organized by the Taiwan Ministry of Education. He was selected three times as a Design Intelligence Most Admired Educator and served as an advisory group member for the Syracuse University Campus Framework and Campus Framework Refresh.
Speaks participates, ex officio, on the board’s Academic Affairs Committee and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.
Christine Ashby
Christine Ashby
Ashby is a professor of inclusive special education and disability studies and the director of the Center on Disability and Inclusion, a research center that promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of school and society—both locally and globally. She has also served as coordinator of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to certification in childhood and special education. Since joining the School of Education faculty in 2007, her teaching and research has focused on inclusive education, communicative diversity, disability studies and inclusive teacher preparation, with specific emphasis on the experiences of autistic and neurodivergent students. Her work seeks to disrupt dominant notions of disability as deficiency and underscores the importance of centering the voices of disabled people in research and practice.
Ashby earned an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York College at Geneseo and a master’s in special education, certificate of advanced study in disability studies and Ph.D. in special education from Syracuse University. She was an inclusive special education teacher before beginning her university career. Ashby served as co-chair of the Public Impact Working Group for the Academic Strategic Plan and was a member of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Senate from 2018 to 2023. She was also selected as a member of the inaugural Women in Leadership cohort.
Ashby participates, ex officio, on the Board Academic Affairs Committee and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.
Kati Foley
Kati Foley
As project director and administrative assistant to the dean, Foley is responsible for administering strategic projects for the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and directing the daily operations of the Office of the Dean and the college. She provides high-level analyses and recommendations on facility utilization, strategic budget and long-range planning, policies, programs and new and ongoing initiatives for the college.
Prior to joining VPA in 2007, Foley worked at the Maxwell School for 10 years, managing the U.S. office of the Luxembourg Income Study, headquartered at the University of Luxembourg. This cross-national data center acquires datasets with income, wealth, employment and demographic data from many high- and middle-income countries, harmonizes them to enable cross-national comparisons, and makes them publicly available to researchers.
Foley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Ithaca College. Foley participates, ex officio, on the board’s Advancement and External Affairs Committee and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full Board meetings.
Luwam Ghebremicael ’25
Luwam Ghebremicael
Ghebremicael is a rising senior in the Maxwell School, majoring in political science and policy studies on a pre-law track. A first-generation student, she has been actively involved in various roles, including president of the African Student Union, peer educator with Community Standards, resident advisor, director of Multicultural Affairs, First Year Seminar peer leader and a Dimensions Intern. Her passions lie in embracing her identity, engaging with communities and bringing diverse perspectives to the table.
Ghebremicael serves as one of two undergraduate student representatives for the 2024-25 academic year. She participates, ex officio, on the Student Experience Committee and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.
German Alejandro Nolivos ’26
German Alejandro Nolivos
Born and raised in Venezuela, Nolivos is a first-generation college student who settled in Florida after fleeing the socio-political turmoil in his homeland. Currently, in his junior year, he is pursuing a dual major in political science and public relations in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School. A recipient of the Posse Foundation Full-Tuition Leadership scholarship, he currently serves as president of the Student Association.
Previously, his roles included president of the Naranjas Spanish Club, student senator in the University Senate, vice president of Community and Government Affairs within the Student Association, and student representative on the Syracuse University Alumni Association Board of Directors. His professional journey includes internships with such organizations as Telemundo, NBCUniversal, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Recognized for his dedication to diversity and inclusion, he was honored with the 44 Stars of Excellence Award by the Office of Student Engagement in spring 2024.
Nolivos participates, ex officio, on the Student Experience Committee and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.
Ava Breitbeck ’22
Ava Breitbeck
Breitbeck is a graduate student in the science teaching program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Specifically, she conducts research into how the public forms attitudes about science, both inside and outside the classroom. She works as a teaching assistant in the Department of Physics and as a graduate intern in the Office of Admissions. She served as a student representative to the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee for the 2022-2023 academic year. Originally from Syracuse, Breitbeck holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and political science from Syracuse University. Outside of Syracuse University, she is an event supervisor for the New York State Science Olympiad organization.
Breitbeck serves as the graduate student representative to the board for the 2024-25 academic year. She participates, ex officio, on the board’s Academic Affairs and the Student Experience committees and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.
Brett S. VanBuren L’25
Brett S. VanBuren
Brett S. VanBuren is a third-year law student in the College of Law and is receiving a certificate of advanced study in national security and counterterrorism law in addition to his juris doctor. He was recently elected president of the Corporate Law Society at the college, where he is a member of the Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Honor Society and won the 2024 Entertainment and Sports Law Arbitration Competition. He also serves as a procedural advisor for undergraduate students during conduct investigations. Additionally, VanBuren is the business editor of the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce. VanBuren spent the summer of 2023 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with the United States Army as a Judge Advocate General’s Corp (JAG) intern; he is serving again as a JAG intern during the summer of 2024 with the Southern European Task Force – Africa, located in Vicenza, Italy. During the 2022-2023 academic year, he served as class president for the Student Bar Association.
Prior to coming to Syracuse, VanBuren had a three-year career in the advertising industry with a focus on finance. His undergraduate degree is in history from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
VanBuren serves as the law student representative to the board for the 2024-25 academic year. He participates, ex officio, on the board’s Academic Affairs and the Student Experience Committees and reports to the board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.
