.
Biographies:
Angela Aufegger – President
Angela Aufegger was born in Chicago and educated
in Germany, completing a degree in business (Diplom-Betriebswirt)
from the Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen. She is the President of
S.H.O.E.S. Inc., the proprietor of Salamander of Chicago and is
currently serving on the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors and part of the Chamber Promotions Committee. Angela and
her husband, who is also of German/Austrian decent, are raising
their 2 children bilingually. Contact
Mariam Pahl, Dipl.-Kfm. – Vice President
Mariam Pahl was born in Teheran and educated at
the German School of Teheran. She completed a degree in business (Diplom-Betriebswirt)
at the Universität Hamburg. After working in marketing for a fashion
company in Munich, she joined her husband in his international
assigments in Zurich, Berne, Stockholm, Greenwich CT, London, and
now in Chicago. She has been very involved in the PTAs at her
children’s schools. Currently she serves as the President of
the North Shore International Network. Mariam and her husband, who
is also German, are raising their three boys bilingually.
Christine Luscher – Treasurer
Christine Luscher was born and educated in
Germany. During the course of over 30 years, she has owned several
thriving businesses in Lincoln Square. As a member of the Lincoln
Square Chamber of Commerce, their Board of Directors, as well as
serving a term as President, she worked to improve the local
business community. During her many years in business she has
supported German businesses and cultural groups and has been a
member of the German/American National Congress. Currently, she is
serving as Vice-President of the Advisory Board of the SSA 21 and
operating the Giving Tree Resale Shop that contributes a portion of
its proceeds to several charities, including German School Chicago,
NFP.
Alexandra Pradella-Ott – Assistant
Treasurer
Alexandra Pradella-Ott, (ret.) German & music
teacher for 33 years, Chicago Board of Education where she
co-founded the Foreign Language Academies. She has taught German,
directed the DANK Spatzen Children”s Choir and served as principal
at DANK North Saturday School and Adult School (German American
National Congress). She continues as Co-Chair of the National School
Committee for DANK. Alexandra holds many degrees in education and
music from Germany and the US and has achieved many awards including
the Bundesverdienstkreuz Federal Republic of Germany,1988 and the
Best German Teacher of the State of Illinois IFLTA, 1986.
Karen Irvine, Secretary
Karen Irvine is Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. She is also an instructor of photography at Columbia College Chicago. She has a BA in French and International Relations from Tufts University, an MFA in photography from FAMU, Prague, and is pursuing an MA in art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a member of the Associate Board of the Foundation for Retinal Research and the Young Philanthropists Board of the Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind and Visually Impaired. Karen and her German husband are raising their son bilingually.
Rhonda Duffaut, Ph. D. – Director of the School
Rhonda Duffaut is a former German language and
literature professor from Pennsylvania State University, where she
taught courses before moving to San Francisco, CA. In San Francisco
she taught English, history, and ESL at the German-American
International School. As the Head of the English Department there,
she played an essential role in establishing an interdisciplinary
curriculum as the school gained its International Baccalaureate
accreditation. She and her German husband were founding parents of
Kinderhaus, a German language preschool in San Francisco. Contact
Kirsten Brandt, Board Member
Kirsten Brandt was born and raised in Germany. Her professional background is in shipping & international transportation/logistics and she is currently the Director of Marketing & Sales at Orion Marine Corporation in Chicago. She originally transferred from Reederei Hamburg Sued in Hamburg to company US headquarters in New Jersey in 1996. She has been in Chicago since 2003. Kirsten and her husband are raising their children bilingually. She is an appointed member of the Hamburg Committee of the City of Chicago Sister Cities International Program and is involved in work to improve local Chicago neighborhood schools.
Christa Garcia, Board Member
Christa Garcia, born and raised in Germany, she holds a B.S./B.A.(French
and Art), M.A. in German Literature/Philosophy and an ABD in Ed.
Administration. She is ZfA Coordinator for Chicago, Superintendent
of DANK German Language Schools Chicago Northern Suburbs, Project
Director for the DACH website www.spurensuchemidwest.org. Prior
teaching and administrative positions were held in universities and
public schools. In addition she served as President of AATG, IFLTA,
DANK National, Newsletter Editor for IFLTA and Newspaper Editor of
the German American Journal. She is the President of GAEF, the
German American Education Fund.
Annegret Harnischfeger, Ph. D., Board
Member
Annegret Harnischfeger, Professor (ret.) of
Education & Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Prior positions in Education at the University of Chicago, Stanford
University, Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung (M-P-Institute
for Educational Research), Berlin, Deutscher Bildungsrat (German
Council on Education), Bonn, Germany. Her research includes
teaching-learning processes, school administration and evaluation.
Board Members:
Jan Henrich and Alexandra Hauber
