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About Us

Board of Trustees

Meeting Dates and Times : All board meetings are held in the Tenvold Student Center, beginning at 6 PM. Meetings are open to the community.

The Seven Hills School Board of Trustee Members 2008-2009

Michael A. Coke: Member of the Board since 2007.  He is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Terreno Capital Partners. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer for AMB Property Corporation and four time recipient of the Realty Stock Review's Annual Outstanding CFO Award. Prior to that Mike was with Arthur Anderson for seven years. Mike has a BA in Business Administration and Accounting from California State University Hayward, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Urban League. Currently, he is a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc.  Mike has a son in Kindergarten and a daughter in sixth grade.

Catherine Cutler: Vice President and member of the Board since 2006. Cathy has a B.A. from Yale and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.  An environmental/land use attorney, Cathy has been Deputy Chief Counsel of the California Coastal Commission and was in private practice. She served on the Orinda Planning Commission for six years through 2009. She is also a professional humor columnist/writer, published monthly in a CA magazine.  She has performed with Lamplighters’ Music Theater since 1989. Her twin son and daughter are in fifth grade at Seven Hills. Cathy serves on the Development Committee and the Committee on Trustees.

Scott DeVries: Secretary and member of the Board since 2005. Previously the Firm-wide Managing Partner of Nossaman Guthner Knox and Elliott law firm in San Francisco, Scott is now a litigation partner in Winston & Strawn's San Francisco office where he Chairs the law firm's Insurance Recovery Group. He has specialized in civil litigation (both trial and appeal) for 30 years with a diverse range of clients in aerospace, apparel, automotive and automotive parts, finance; metals, technology, energy, real estate and chemical industries. Scott has a son in second grade, a daughter in fourth grade and another daughter who is an eighth grade student at Seven Hills. Scott is a current member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Kent Godfrey: Former President of the Board of Trustees, member since 2001. Dividing his time between Europe and Silicon Valley, Kent has more than 25 years of executive management, strategic planning, sales, marketing and business development experience in the high-tech industry and has been with pond for 4 years. Before coming to Pond, Kent served for five years as Chairman and CEO of Frictionless Commerce concluding with the sale of the company to SAP in June 2006. Kent served for four years as the Chairman and CEO of Andromedia, Inc. Having just filed its S-1 prospectus for an initial public offering, Godfrey merged Andromedia with Macromedia, Inc., where he later served as executive vice president of strategic business development. He has also led sales, business development, and marketing efforts at a number of companies including IA Corporation, Epoch Systems (acquired by EMC), Sequent Computer (NASDAQ: SQNT, then acquired by IBM), Pyramid Technology (NASDAQ: PYRD, then acquired by Siemens Nixdorf) and Varian Associates, Inc. Kent previously served on the board of several companies and organizations, including: TRM Corporation (NASDAQ: TRMM), Softcoin Inc., Hipbone Communications (acquired by Kana), Pixel Devices (acquired by Agilent), Invention Machine Corporation and Vocal Point Inc. (acquired by Telecom Italia). Kent is currently on the boards of 4Home, Liverail and Broadway Networks. Kent earned a Master of Science degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Operations Research from Babson College.

Kevin Katari: President of the Board of Trustees, member of the Board since 2005. Kevin is a Managing Member of Watershed Asset Management, LLC, an investment management firm.  Kevin was a co-founder and Vice President of Bluefire Systems and a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. He earned an AB in Physics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.  Kevin has a kindergartener, fourth grader, and sixth grader at Seven Hills.

Carolina Melara Katz: Member of the Board since 2007. Carolina has a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and MBA in marketing from the Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona. Carolina has over 20 years experience in the non-profit sector with specific emphasis in Development and Fundraising. Her professional experience includes the Diablo Regional Arts Association, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and The United Way. She currently serves as a Trustee for the Diablo Regional Arts Association (DRAA) and has also served as a Director for DRAA. Carolina and her husband, Jerry, are the parents of a sixth grader and a 1^st grader at Seven Hills. Carolina serves on the development committee.

Louis J. Lavigne, Jr.: After 23 years with Genentech, Inc., Lavigne is now a management consultant specializing in the areas of corporate finance, accounting and strategy. He retired from his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Genentech in March, 2005. Lavigne was responsible for Genentech’s Financial, Corporate Relations, and Information Technology groups and was named the Best CFO in Biotech in 2005 in the Institutional Investor survey. In June, 2006, he received the  Bay Area CFO of the Year-Hall of Fame-Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Accuray (and its' Audit Committee),  Allergan, Inc. (and its’ Audit and Finance and Science and Technology Committees) and BMC Software (and chairs its’ Audit Committee).  In the past, he has been a Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of several other public BioPharma and Information Technology companies: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Equinix, Kyphon and Xenova, PLC. He is member of the Pacific Southwest Audit Committee Network of Audit Committee Chairs. He is also a member of the faculty of Babson College’s Bio-Pharma: Mastering the Business of Science program for industry executives and is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).  Lavigne earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Babson College in 1969 and a master’s degree in business administration from Temple University in 1976.  Lou serves as chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee.

William H. Miller:  Appointed Headmaster of The Seven Hills School July 1, 1992.  Prior to coming to Seven Hills, Bill was Headmaster of Stuart Hall for Boys, Schools of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco, California.  He attended the University de Grenoble, France, 1969, has a B.A. from the University Notre Dame, 1970, and an M.A. in Private School Administration from the University of San Francisco, 1980. Bill is the parent of 2008 and 2004 alumi. Bill serves on the Committee on Trustees.

Shami Patel: Member of the Board of Trustees since 2009. Shami has a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from Trinity University, and an M.B.A. and J.D. from Duke University. His most recent professional experience was as Chief Operating Officer of Alesco Financial. Prior to that he was Managing Director of Financial Services Asset Management at Cohen and Company. Shami is the father of three girls, two of whom attend Seven Hills. Lena is in 8th grade, Sonya is in 3^rd grade, and Mira is a 3-year-old.

Susan Safipour: Member of the Board of Trustees since 2009. A native of New York City, Susan graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder journalism school. She worked as a reporter and editor with newspapers for 15 years, often with an emphasis on education. Susan has been Diablo magazine’s editor in chief for the past 10 years. She is responsible for managing the budget, directing the staff, and leading the directorial direction for the magazine and its website, Diablomag.com. Her team also produces Napa Sonoma magazine. Susan lives in Clayton with her husband, Fred, and her 10-year-old son, John, who is a 5th grader at Seven Hills.

Edward P. Scherr:  Treasurer and member of the Board of Trustees since 2004. Ed has a B.A. in Mathematics, Computer Sciences from the University of Rochester in 1985, and an M.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Oregon in 1989. He previously held the position of senior manager with Deloitte & Touché LLP.  Ed also has served as treasurer on the board of Water Watch of Oregon.  He is a parent of a currently enrolled 7th grader and enjoys running, soccer, hiking, canoeing and fly fishing.  Ed serves on the Finance Committee.

Brian Sharpes: Member of the Board of Trustees since 2004. Brian is a Senior Vice President with the PRIME Asset Consulting Group of UBS Financial Services.  His specialized area of expertise includes working with Public/Private Foundations including College and University Endowments, Community Foundations, and Family Foundations.  He is a national speaker on subjects ranging from portfolio design and implementation, investment committee structure, fiduciary liability, spending/finance policy design, and industry ethics.  Brian holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst Designation under the Joint auspices of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Investment Management Consulting Association (IMCA).  He currently holds a position on the ethics committee within IMCA.  Brian earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada.  He has two children at Seven Hills (5th and 3rd grade) and is active in the community by serving on the Board of Directors of the Diablo Regional Arts Association. He serves on the Finance Committee.

Brad D. Skepner: Member of the Board since 2007. Brad attended California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo for three years of undergraduate work in the field of Architecture with a minor in Computer Aided Design before leaving school in 1983 to join Albert & Wurzburger Architects where he ultimately became an associate partner.  He completed his education at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) graduating in 1988.  He is a licensed Architect in California and a member of the American Institute of Architects.  After fulfilling his goals in architecture, Brad became a developer of Commercial Real Estate and opened Skepner Development Corporation in 1994.  He has developed and supervised the construction of numerous retail, office and industrial projects throughout northern and southern California.  He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Building Owners and Managers Association. Brad lives in Alamo with his wife Amy and 3 young children: Jacob, a current 6th grader, Hannah, a current 4th grader and Grace, a kindergartner. When not attending his children’s sporting events, he enjoys softball, tennis and skiing. Brad serves on the Building & Grounds Committee.

Bahman Taheripour: Member of the Board since 2008. Bahman has served as the Vice President of California Lithographers, a 100-person printing company in Concord, California since 1985. Bahman is a champion of thought diversity and is known to continually solicit the input of company employees in order to harness their individual and unique skills and opinions to ensure the company’s competitive edge, and ensure its relevance and prominence in the field of printing. Prior to California Lithographers, Bahman served as a partner in Inkwell Printing, in Walnut Creek California from 1982 – 1985. Bahman received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980.  He has also completed a Leadership Development Program at the Haas School of Business and a Management Development Program for Entrepreneurs at the Anderson School of Management.  He is an avid golfer, enjoys exercising, reading, wine and travel and is a loving husband to Mardjan Taheripour and father of two boys, Dhara a 2009 alumna, and Parsa, in 7th grade. Bahman serves on the Development Committee.

Mary True: Member of the Board since 2008. Mary McMahan True is a professor of psychology at Saint Mary’s College. Her area of specialty is child development;  she  teaches  courses in Human Development, Infancy and Early Childhood,  Middle Childhood and Research Methodology as well as the Collegiate (Great Books)  Seminar. She has been at Saint Mary’s since 1995 and has been elected to the Faculty Senate and on the Educational Policies Board. She received her Ph.D. from University of California in Human Development in 1994. Her dissertation research examined mother-infant attachment among the Dogon of Mali. She lives in Oakland with her husband and two children. For the last ten years she has been involved as a parent at an independent school in the East Bay. Mary serves on the Committee on Trustees.

Roy Yih: Member of the Board of Trustees since 2004. Roy Yih is co-founder, and majority stockholder of BIOCARE MEDICAL, a cancer diagnostic company which sells reagents and capital equipment to histopathology laboratories around the world.  Roy is the CEO, and Director of Sales and Marketing.  He is primarily involved with sales, marketing and business development activities. Roy has spent over 16 years in the biotechnology arena.  He started his career as a researcher and Xoma Corporation followed by extensive sales experience at SangStat Medical and BioGenex Laboratories. He has a BS degree in Biochemistry from U.C. Davis and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara and is the parent of a current eighth grader and a Red Barner. He serves on the Development Committee.