Ruth Akers
Ruth Ruggles Akers has taught music at Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, and Palm Beach Community College. Her educational pedigree includes a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from FSU, where she was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, and a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University, where she was an associate instructor and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, national music honor society.
Dr. Akers has performed as a pianist in many venues and has been a presenter as well as an adjudicator at numerous state conventions. She served seven years on the FSU Alumni Association national board, and ten years on the boards of Opening Nights at FSU and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, for whom she has written the program notes since 2006. Other board service includes the Community Foundation of North Florida, Live the Life, and The Artist Series. Ruth is a member of Women4FSU and FSU’s University Musical Associates and is currently on the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
Married for almost forty-eight years, she and husband Les have established a Fund for Entrepreneurial Activity in Music. They have three children, five grandchildren, and one crazy beagle and enjoy Wildwood Church, FSU sports, and the abundance of Tallahassee’s artistic offerings.
Les Akers
A graduate of FSU’s College of Business, Robert L. “Les” Akers has had a lifelong career in the franchised automobile business. Among his many ventures, he is formerly the President of Wayne Akers Ford in Lake Worth, FL, and of Legacy Toyota (now Peter Boulware Toyota) in Tallahassee. Les has served on many boards including TMH Foundation, Seminole Boosters, FSU Alumni Association, College of Business Advisory Board, Phi Kappa Tau Board of Governors, University Musical Associates, and University Center Club Founding Board of Directors
In addition to the TMH Foundation, some of the organizations that have benefitted from Les’s philanthropy are Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Big Bend Hospice, Big Bend Habitat for Humanity, A Woman’s Pregnancy Center, Red Cross, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Opening Nights (formerly Seven Days), FSU College of Music, FSU College of Business, Seminole Boosters, and FSU Alumni Association.
Les is an avid golfer, enjoys traveling abroad, and is a dedicated supporter of Seminole Athletics. He and his wife, Ruth, members of Wildwood PCA Church, have been married for almost 48 years and have three children and five grandchildren.
Paula Smith
Paula Smith traveled from her home in Richmond, Va. to attend Florida State University in 1972. She graduated from the College of Health and Human Sciences in 1976, majoring in fashion merchandising. Following graduation, Smith worked for Burdines in Miami as an assistant buyer, then department manager.
Returning to Tallahassee in 1978, Smith followed her passion and began working as a volunteer. She created and chaired an eight-year project to advocate, fund and build a permanent home for the Leon County Public Library. Before her work, Tallahassee was the only state capital without a permanent library home. Following the completion of the downtown library facility, she chaired the project to renovate Tallahassee’s five central downtown parks. From 1992-94, Smith served as volunteer president of Myers Park Little Major League, fundraising, renovating the park and designing new scorekeeper/concession stands for all the Tallahassee Little League parks. She chaired the 2001 United Way Fundraising Campaign, and in 2002, successfully solicited a $1 million gift from Anheuser Busch Foundation to install the dolphin sculpture on the west plaza of the Florida Capitol. As a member of Leadership Florida Class IX, Smith served on their Board of Regents.
Smith is an FSU Alumni Association Circle of Gold honoree and has served on the organization’s National Board of Directors. She co-chaired the 50th Anniversary of FSCW becoming Florida State University. Smith chaired the Board of Governors of the College of Health and Human Sciences, served on the college’s Development Board, and was recognized with The Visionaries award in 2018. Paula was awarded the Mores Award from the FSU Faculty Senate in 2020
Smith is an active member of Trinity United Methodist Church and Bible Study Fellowship and is married to Bill Smith, chairman and CEO of Capital City Bank Group.
Craig S. Evans, EdD
Originally from Syracuse, New York, Dr. Craig Evans started his career as a public-school music teacher and freelance musician in Orlando, FL. He became a school administrator and served as an assistant principal and principal in Orlando and Ithaca, NY public school districts. Dr. Evans also served as an assistant superintendent in Ithaca, overseeing several areas of the school district, including mentoring school principals and supervising the district’s arts programs, among other responsibilities. He is a freelance musician and conductor.
Dr. Evans holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education from Ithaca College, a Master’s Degree in Performance (Violin) from the Florida State University, a Masters of Music Education from Florida State, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership, with a specialization in education law from the University of Central Florida.
Since 2004, Dr. Evans has served as a philanthropy leader in higher education, holding positions at Ithaca College, Syracuse University, and Wells College. He is currently the associate dean for development and external affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. He also served as the executive director of the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools (Florida), an organization that engages the local business community with the public schools. His philanthropic expertise includes planned giving, major giving, and working with complex gifts. Before arriving at Johns Hopkins University, he was the vice president for development at the Rochester Regional Health Foundations, where he oversaw fundraising activities in support of the five-hospital system.
Dr. Evans has over 30 years of experience leading and developing teams and new leaders. In 2021, he completed an International Coaching Federation-approved leadership coaching training series. He has been actively coaching new and seasoned leaders for the past 18 months to help them grow their performance and build their teams.
Doug Kreuzkamp
Doug Kreuzkamp is the Founder and CEO of Springshot, a cloud software company based in San Francisco, California. Since Doug launched Springshot from his dining room table in 2011, the company has expanded to include 50+ team members over four continents, raised over $25 Million in venture capital, and been recognized as a leader in the mobile workforce technology market. Today, global brands, like Delta Air Lines, Spirit, Avianca (Colombia), All Nippon (Japan) and Swissport (Switzerland), rely on Springshot’s applications to help their teams collaborate and safely execute time-critical tasks that keep the world on schedule.
Doug graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Music Education in 1997. During his time in Tallahassee, Doug was a brother at the Phi Sigma chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and five-year member of the Marching Chiefs. After leaving FSU, Doug attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Upon graduation, Doug practiced law at Atlanta-based King & Spalding LLP, where his clients included the Atlanta Falcons, the Coca-Cola Company, Home Depot and Arthur Blank.
Doug currently lives in Burlingame, California with his wife Karen and son Colton.
Carolyn Minear
Carolyn Minear maintains a lifelong commitment to a quality music education for all students. She is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, where she began her own musical journey accompanying choirs and playing low brass in church and schools. These experiences allowed her to enroll as an honors student at Florida State University. At FSU she found unwavering support and encouragement from faculty members and colleagues as well as the knowledge, skills, and firm philosophical grounding for the career ahead. This was enhanced by leadership opportunities in Sigma Alpha Iota, Marching Chiefs, Tau Beta Sigma, and Pi Kappa Lambda.
After graduation from the Florida State University (BME piano principal and MM in music history), she began her Orange County Public Schools career in Title I elementary music classrooms, specializing in Kodaly and Orff curriculum and beginning band. She is a co-founder of the Central Florida Orff Chapter. After teaching elementary and secondary music for almost two decades, Carolyn Minear then served as the Fine Arts Coordinator for the rapidly expanding Orange County Public Schools. As Fine Arts Coordinator, she recruited and supported new teachers, offered monthly professional development for the OCPS music faculty, facilitated community arts collaborations, and developed district and state curriculum and assessments. She is an author of the Music Expressions K-8 textbook series.
Following her retirement from OCPS in 2008, she accepted a graduate fellowship at Michigan State University to focus on music education research with a choral cognate. Prior to her second retirement in 2014, she taught music education at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. As a teacher of teachers, she has experience teaching elementary music methods, choral methods, research methods, introduction to music education, class voice, music assessment, and graduate music education, as well as supervising student and beginning teachers. A member of the American Choral Directors Association, she is an active conductor and adjudicator for district, state, and national choral festivals. In addition, she has presented music training and research sessions for state, national, and international professional development conferences.
In her state Minear served as the past president of both the Florida Music Supervision Association and Florida Music Education Association. She is a FMEA Leadership Award and FMEA Hall of Fame recipient. In support of continued lifelong learning opportunities for all music educators, Minear established the FSU Judy Bowers Scholarship for summer graduate studies of practicing teachers as they enhance their own musical and pedagogical artistry.
“Music remains a lifelong source of challenge, transformation, and beauty in my life. I am grateful for the lifelong FSU family that constantly inspires me, encourages me, and supports my journey to ‘make better’ through music and the arts.”
Gus Corbella
Agustin G. Corbella, Senior Director of the Government Law & Policy Practice of Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office, focuses his practice on legislative and executive branch lobbying and public policy advocacy. With nearly 30 years of experience working in and with state and federal government, as well as state and national campaigns, he is widely recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in Florida politics. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig in 2004, Gus previously served as Chief of Staff to the Florida Senate President, staff director for the Majority Offices of both the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives, and worked for a Member of the United States Congress. His role as an advocate and chief advisor to government’s most prominent leaders has provided Gus with a broad knowledge of the process and issues before the Florida Legislature, and state and federal government.
He is an active leading member of numerous national and state political, professional and charitable organizations, including serving as a Member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYS), Chair Emeritus of Opening Nights at Florida State University and Chairman of the UF Health Shands Hospital Tallahassee Leadership Council.
André J. Thomas
ANDRÉ J. THOMAS is an associated artist with the London Symphony Orchestra. Thomas is an Emeritus Professor of Music at Florida State University. He was visiting Professor of Choral Conducting at Yale University from 2020-2022. He previously served as a faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin.
Dr. Thomas received his degrees from Friends University (B.A.), Northwestern University (M. M.), and The University of Illinois (D.M.A). He is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician, and director of Honor/All-State Choirs throughout North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa.
Dr. Thomas has conducted choirs at the state, division, and national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His international conducting credits are extensive. They include conductor/clinician for the International Federation of Choral Musicians’ summer residency of the World Youth Choir in the The Republic of China and the Philippines. He was also the conductor of the World Youth Choir’s winter residency in Europe and a premier performance by an American choir (Florida State University Singers) in Vietnam.
He has been the guest conductor of such distinguished orchestras and choirs as the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England, guest Conductor for the Berlin Radio Choir and the North German Radio Choir in Germany, the Netherlands Radio Choir, The Bulgarian Radio Choir and Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, China’s People’s Liberation Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony. For the thirty-one season, he served as Artistic Director of the Tallahassee Community Chorus.
Thomas has also distinguished himself as a composer/arranger. Hinshaw Music Company, Mark Foster Music Company, Fitzsimons Music Company, Lawson Gould, Earthsongs, Choristers Guild, and Heritage Music Company publishes his compositions and arrangements.
Dr. Thomas has produced two instructional videos, “What They See Is What You Get” on choral conducting, with Rodney Eichenberger, and “Body, Mind, Spirit, Voice” on adolescent voices, with Anton Armstrong. His recent book “Way Over in Beulah Lan’. Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual” has quickly become a significant source in this area of study.
Various musical organizations have recognized Thomas. The African Diaspora Sacred Music honored Dr. Thomas as a Living Legend. In 2011, Thomas’ dedication to and accomplishments in the choral arts was recognized by his peers in Chorus America when the organization presented Dr. Thomas with its Distinguished Service Award. In March 2017, ACDA presented Thomas with its highest honor the Robert Shaw Award, and in November of 2017, NCCO (National Collegiate Choral Organization presented Thomas with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In January 2019, he was inducted into the Florida Music Educator’s Hall of Fame. In 2022 he was presented with the Award of Excellence from the Southern Region of ACDA. Yale University School of Music presented Thomas with the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal. It is the most prestigious honor conferred by the Yale School of Music.
He is a past president of the Florida ACDA and the past president of the Southern Division of ACDA and the current President of National ACDA.
Michael Lindsay
Michael Lindsay (Atlanta, GA) was lucky enough to grow up in the Florida panhandle within a musical family. His family and Okaloosa County Schools gave him a firm musical and academic foundation, preparing him to obtain 4 degrees from Florida State University (Music, Modern Languages, Education, Arts Administration). Upon completion of his graduate work, Lindsay moved to Atlanta to continue his career in university advancement and to explore opportunities in classical voice. Since arriving in the Peach State, he has performed with Capitol City Opera Company, the Atlanta Opera, Small Opera, ATLVocalite, and has held staff and music supervisory positions with First Presbyterian Church and Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta. Throughout his career he has had opportunities to perform in regionally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed venues such as the Cobb Energy Center (Atlanta), Westminster Abbey, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (Dublin), and the Kennedy Center. When away from the stage Lindsay works to raise funds for universities, serves as chair of Capitol City Opera Company’s board, and enjoys traveling and spending time with his family: Sami, Ella, and Max.
He is excited to join the Advisory Council and looks forward to working in partnership with the council members, dean, staff, and constituent groups to ensure the brightest, most inclusive, community-focused future for Florida State’s College of Music.
Russell Hilliard
Dr. Russell E. Hilliard, PhD, LCSW, LCAT, MT-BC, CHRC, CHC, CCTP, is an internationally recognized expert in hospice, palliative care, and elder care innovation, with a distinguished career spanning more than 25 years in clinical practice, executive leadership, research, and education. After graduating with a baccalaureate degree in music therapy from Florida State Univeristy, he became the nation’s first professional music therapist in hospice and palliative care, developing music therapy clinical services for hospice, palliative care, adult and children’s bereavement. He earned a master’s degree in social work from Florida International University and a PhD in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy and Social Work from Florida State University.
As Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at SUNY-New Paltz, he launched a master’s degree program in music therapy and the Center for Music Therapy in End of Life Care. His ground-breaking clinical work, research, and advocacy led to the development of hospice music therapy programs nationwide and throughout Thailand, China, and South Korea. Through his efforts, hospices became the largest employers of board-certified music therapists nationally.
Currently serving as Chief Growth Officer for BoldAge PACE, Dr. Hilliard leads national strategies for market expansion, government relations, branding, and advocacy to advance access to comprehensive elder care. His advocacy for music therapy in PACE is leading to new jobs for music therapists in PACE and affording PACE participants enhanced healthcare experiences. He also founded Apricity Consulting, where he provides expert guidance to healthcare organizations on Certificate of Need applications, securing numerous awards for hospice and PACE programs across multiple states.
Previously, Russell Dr. Hilliard led senior leadership roles at AccentCare and Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care, where he directed initiatives in patient experience, staff development, quality assurance, and market expansion. His efforts resulted in successful acquisitions, international partnerships, and the establishment of innovative programs such as Camp Kangaroo, Namaste Care, and We Honor Veterans. Dr. Hilliard’s strategic vision has shaped national standards for supportive care, compliance, social work, music therapy, and interdisciplinary team development.
A licensed clinical social worker and creative arts therapist, Dr. Hilliard is also a board-certified music therapist and a certified healthcare compliance and research professional. His pioneering work in music therapy at the end of life has influenced clinical practice worldwide. He has authored multiple books, including Hospice and Palliative Care Music Therapy: A Guide to Program Development and Clinical Care, and contributed chapters and peer-reviewed articles to leading journals. His research on psychosocial care and music therapy has been presented at major conferences across North America, Europe, and Asia, earning him numerous awards and honors, including the Clifford K. Madsen Distinguished Lecture at Florida State University.
Dr. Hilliard is a sought-after speaker and educator, having taught at institutions such as SUNY New Paltz, Berklee College of Music, and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He continues to serve on national and international boards, including the National PACE Association Public Policy Committee, and is a founding board member of state PACE associations. Clinical care remains paramount as evidenced by his on-going psychotherapy practice where he provides weekly sessions for clients virtually and is an active volunteer at the Covenant House of Florida serving youth experiencing homelessness. Through his leadership, scholarship, and advocacy, Russell remains committed to improving access, quality, and innovation in end-of-life and elder care.
Personally, Dr. Hilliard enjoys time scuba diving, hiking, and attending live music events, sharing time between his homes in Lauderdale by the Sea, FL and Palm Springs, CA. His love and appreciation for the College of Music stems from his childhood where he attended the Summer Music Program as a bass player. He later attended FSU on a bass performance scholarship and was able to complete his PhD with another bass performance scholarship and graduate teaching assistantship. With gratitude for the generosity bestowed upon him as a student, he has since endowed the Mary J. Hilliard Music Therapy Scholarship in memory of his mother who showed him the way to music and ultimately, music therapy.
Almena Pettit
Almena is a Tallahassee native. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science at Sweet Briar College and her MBA with a focus in healthcare management from Boston University. After graduating, Almena worked for the U.S. Congress and in business administration at Dartmouth Medical School.
Almena returned to Tallahassee in 1992 with her husband, Brooks Pettit, and became immersed in community service. She has served on the boards of the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Tallahassee Community College Foundation. She furthered her impact in the arts by serving on the FSU Theatre Patrons Association, the Arts and Humanities Committee and the FSU College of Fine Arts Dean’s Advisory Council.
Almena has volunteered in several capacities at Westminster Oaks, where she has resided for a number of years. She served as President of the Westminster Chapter of the Florida Life Care Residents Association and on the Cultural Foundation Committee. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Forum, which brings speakers on a wide variety of topics to the community and provides flowers for the Westminster worship service.
Almena enjoys being a mother to 4 children, a grandmother to 10 grandchildren, and is a soon-to-be great grandmother. Her hobbies include reading, playing bridge, hand-sewing, traveling and attending live performing arts events.