Board of Directors

President  

Gil Jacobs

Gil retired in 2011 from the Department of Homeland Security with 40 years of U.S. government service.

Gil served as Director of the Records Division, Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and was responsible for the maintenance, transfer, and location of over 60 million alien files and 500 million microfilm and microfiche files. He later served as Director of the Washington Processing Center, a jointly run Department of Justice and Department of State Agency, responsible for the administration of the in-country refugee program in the former Soviet Union.

Later postings included Regional Immigration Attache’ at U.S. Embassy Copenhagen where he administered U.S. immigration law enforcement, adjudications, training, and intelligence gathering in Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Upon returning to the U.S., Gil was Director of Management for the U.S. Asylum Program and Chief of Staff for the National Security and Records Verification Directorate of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Agency in the Department of Homeland Security. During his tenure as Chief of Staff, the U.S. Genealogy and e-Verify Programs were initiated.

Vice President

Jonathan Perkins

Treasurer

Thomas Ruppel

Thomas Ruppel has had a career in financial services, specializing in enterprise risk management and digital transformation.  The arc of that career has been investment banking and capital markets at J.P. Morgan, hedge fund management and, most recently, commercial banking at PNC Financial Services.  In addition to working with small and medium-size businesses as a fractional CFO, he teaches corporate finance at the College of Charleston, and is a mentor to cadets and advisor to the Distinguished Scholars program at the Citadel. His interests include world affairs & international relations, technology, and shotgun sports.  Thomas is certified Firefighter I in Pennsylvania and is an assistant chief and rescue technician with the Charleston County Rescue Squad.  He is also on the board of the Charleston Opera Theater.  He has an MBA from Harvard and a BA in Government and Asian Studies from Hamilton College.  He lives in downtown Charleston with his wife Jill.

Secretary

Susan Bissette

Susan is a retired adult nurse practitioner who moved to Charleston from the Washington, DC area in 1995. Susan worked in a private family practice in Moncks Corner before joining the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Hospital in 1998 where she worked in primary care for a number of years. Susan is honored to be currently serving on the Board of WACC as Secretary.  She also is serving as President of the Board of the Harleston Neighbor2Neighbor organization.  This organization is based on the Village concept of neighbors helping neighbors which was started in Boston on Beacon Hill. Previously, Susan volunteered as a Guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children in Charleston County; she also volunteered at the Lowcountry Orphan Relief for 13 years; this organization provides clothing, books, school supplies, etc., to abused and neglected children in foster care.  

Susan is married to Bill Bissette, a retired engineer. Susan and Bill love to travel the world and are very interested in current affairs. They enjoy attending WACC, especially the Great Decisions discussion groups. 

Immediate Past President

Monica Bohlen

Monica Bohlen is a retired attorney from Ohio. She mainly practiced law in Cincinnati with a general practice and served as a contract hearing officer for state and local entities in education matters. Monica continues to serve as a hearing officer since 2019, in South Carolina. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati (undergraduate and law school). During law school, she served as a summer extern with an NGO at the United Nations.

Monica, with her husband, David Elder, who is a retired law professor and legal author, joined WACC when they learned about the lecture series due to their strong interest in global affairs. They also joined the WACC Great Decisions program. Monica and David moved to Charleston 10 years ago and renovated a needy historic home with a cookhouse ruin in downtown Charleston. They operate a licensed short-term rental unit and a longer-term unit in the Cookhouse.

In the past, Monica and David co-owned and operated a historic inn on the southwest coast of Ireland during summers for 23 years. They have three daughters, two of whom reside in the U.S. and one in Australia.

Communications and Marketing

Catherine Kannenberg

Catherine Kannenberg is a former university professor. Born in Venezuela to Foreign Service parents, she also lived in Ecuador and Morocco as a child.

During her academic career with the University of Maryland, Catherine oversaw Maryland programs and taught American military personnel serving in Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Korea. Upon returning to the U.S., she joined the faculty at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, where she was awarded tenure.

Catherine left academia in 2004 to join her Foreign Service husband on postings in Ghana, Germany, Uganda, and Sudan. She took up freelance editing and has worked on numerous international development projects for USAID and other clients in Africa and Europe.

As outreach coordinator with the American Foreign Service Association in Washington, DC, Catherine worked to raise awareness about what diplomats do and why their work is critical to the safety and prosperity of our country.

Catherine has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a nationally board-certified massage therapist and an avid tennis player and traveler.

Programs

Jon Gundersen

Jon Gundersen, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer, has served for over 50 years with the U.S. government. He opened the American Embassy in Ukraine in 1991 as Chargé d’Affaires (acting Ambassador) and also served as Chargé to Estonia, Norway, and Iceland. He was assigned to Moscow, the United Nations, as Political Advisor to the Special Operations Command, and was a senior advisor for Iraqi Reconstruction.

Mr. Gundersen is a specialist in arms control negotiations, political-military issues and Nordic affairs, having spent over 15 years living and working in Scandinavia, Russia, and Ukraine. He lived in Norway as a child and did graduate studies at the University of Oslo. Mr. Gundersen has written extensively on Nordic Affairs and political-military issues. He edited the volume Unity of Mission, a reference for the service academies and other national security agencies on counterinsurgency and civil-military relations. He declassified sensitive documents for the U.S. government and has been a fellow at the National Defense University and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Currently, he teaches at the Joint Special Operations University. He has been awarded four Superior Honor Awards during his career.  

Prior to the State Department, Mr. Gundersen was an officer in the U.S. Army (1966-70), earning the Bronze Star for service in Vietnam. In addition, he was a member of the first U.S. counterterrorism unit (Sky Marshals) in the early 1970s and has worked as a merchant sailor (1965-66). He has written numerous papers and articles on Nordic, Russian, and political-military affairs, most recently, Sharing the Space: A Study on Education and Training for Complex Operations for the U.S. Institute of Peace and The Oslo Syndrome for American Diplomacy. 

Mr. Gundersen has a Bachelor’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University (1966) and Master’s degrees in Soviet Studies from Stanford University (1979) and in Strategic Studies from the National War College (1990). He speaks Norwegian, Russian, German, and some Vietnamese. Today, Mr. Gundersen is a guest lecturer at the College of Charleston, a mentor with Big Brother/Big Sister, and serves on a number of local boards. 

Mr. Gundersen is married to Eike Raudzus. They live on Sullivan’s Island and have three adult children (Jan, Kai, and Finn).

Programs

Albert Thibault, Jr.

As a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Mr. Thibault was Deputy Chief of Mission in Nepal, Saudi Arabia, and India; Consul General in Lahore, Pakistan and Deputy C.G. in Karachi. Also overseas, he was Political Officer in Guinea, Sri Lanka and India. In Washington, he was desk officer for Sri Lanka and for India; Office Director in the Bureau for Refugee Affairs; Senior Advisor for South Asia at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in New York; and on the Board of Examiners for the State Department.  

He is bilingual in French and fluent in Hindi and Urdu. He studied Arabic in Jordan and was a research scholar at the Indian School of International Studies in New Delhi. Born in Boston, MA, Mr. Thibault lived for many years in Canada. He is a graduate of the Universities of Windsor and Toronto and was a Ph.D candidate at the University of Pennsylvania.

Membership

Jonathan Perkins

Development

Marie Olasov

Marie Tenaglia Olasov retired as an executive director of J.P. Morgan in New York. She recently moved to Charleston with her husband, Brian Olasov, a native Charlestonian. She enjoyed a long career in global trade finance in New York and Atlanta, providing various services to companies engaged in international trade. She managed a staff responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance with the U.S. Patriot Act and AML, OFAC guidelines.

Marie earned an MBA in Finance from New York University, Stern School of Business, and a BBA in International Trade from Bernard Baruch College. Marie was a Founding Board Member of Atlanta Women in International Trade where she was awarded Atlanta Woman of the Year and served on the International Committee of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Marie published articles on letters of credit, supply chain finance, and bankers' acceptances, and contributed training materials to the American Bankers' Association. Currently, she volunteers with the Gibbes Women's Council and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League. 

Educational Outreach

Stephanie LeVan

Stephanie Levan has led the international programs of Charleston Southern University since 2016. As Director of the Center for Global Education, she oversees the expansion of global university partnerships, faculty and student exchanges, study abroad opportunities, international student recruitment, developing an internationally-friendly culture on campus, and the launch of an Intensive English Program (IEP) in January 2022.

Stephanie is from Rochester, New York. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Roberts Wesleyan College and studied international politics and law at the American College of Switzerland in Leysin. She began her career in international education in Hungary in 1991 and lived in Europe until 1999. As Area Director for Europe with the Free Methodist Church, she traveled to over 30 countries.

Stephanie is also on the Faith-Based Advisory Council for the International African American Museum, serves on the board of Study South Carolina, John Wesley Theological College in Budapest, Hungary, and is an active member of the SC Association of International Educators. She attends Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant.

Educational Outreach

David Neff

Dave Neff is a retired Health Care Administrator having worked in a number of university-based, teaching hospital settings, retiring in 2016 from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hospital System after 24 years, where he served as the Administrator for Ambulatory Care and Support Services. Prior to MUSC, he was the Clinic Director for The Kirklin Clinic at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) for 5 years and prior to his arrival in Birmingham, he was the Associate Administrator for Ambulatory Care Services for 5 years at NationWide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, his hometown.

HIs first job in healthcare was with the Greenville Hospital System in Greenville, South Carolina where he served as the Assistant Administrator at Greenville General Hospital. He has been actively involved in mentoring and advising graduate students in the MUSC and Ohio State University Master of Health Administration (MHA) programs for approximately 10 years and has also counseled students applying for Allied Health positions at MUSC.

As President in 2017-1018 of the Rotary Club of Charleston-Breakfast, he also mentored several undergraduate students in the College of Business at the College of Charleston. Dave is an Air Force veteran, having graduated from the Air Force ROTC Program at The Ohio State University where he completed his undergraduate BS degree in Health Education. After 4 years of active duty, he returned to school at Ohio State and completed his MHA degree and served in the Ohio Air National Guard during that time.

In addition to being an active member of his Rotary Club, Dave is a Board member of the World Affairs Council of Charleston (WACC) and the Charleston Charter School for Math & Science. He is also a member of a Committee of military veterans that is raising funds for an endowment at The Citadel to fund a minority scholarship for a Citadel cadet that is majoring in the STEM curriculum. The scholarship is named in honor of PFC. Ralph H. Johnson, a Charleston-born Medal of Honor recipient and for whom the Charleston VA Hospital is named. Dave and his wife, Elaine, raised their two, now adult children in Charleston and have lived here for 30 years.

Educational Outreach

Libby Paul

Libby Paul has been a member of WACC for approximately 10 years. As chair of the history department at James Island Charter High School, she was offered a membership as an incentive to expose high school students to world affairs. She continues to support WACC's educational outreach efforts. 

She has been in the classroom for 35 years, in national and international schools, focusing on literacy and history. She has a M.Ed. in reading and history and a degree as a literacy coach. Presently, she is an instructional coach at an inner city middle school.

Libby received a Fulbright-Hays grant to study the Arab-Israeli conflict in Israel and Egypt and to train teachers at national and local conferences. She taught in Japan and created an international teacher-training program called Classroots where she has trained teachers in India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan (summer 2024).

Wishing to close the reading achievement gap, she created Read2Be to promote equitable learning for students who are falling behind in reading proficiency. She is on the Board of the Trident Literacy Association. 

Strategic Planning

Peter Wild

Wild AML Solutions LLC

Peter is a "recovering banker" and a senior consultant specializing in the areas of anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CTF) and sanctions business and IT processes. He was a senior advisor with McKinsey until 2023 and, in 2016, retired from J.P. Morgan as a senior audit manager with over 11 years of experience of managing operational and IT audits of AML/CTF and Sanctions. 

Since arriving in the U.S. in 1980, Peter has held senior positions at Republic National Bank of New York, Coopers & Lybrand, and Melville Corporation. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (FCA). He is also a recipient of the Wasserman Award from ISACA for outstanding contributions to IT Audit and Security. 

Peter is a founding member of the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS) audit faculty and teaches the CAMS audit course. In 2016 he was a task force vice-chair to develop the CAMS certification examination and teaches the CAMS exam prep course. He authored the study guide for the Advanced Certification in Risk Management along with many of the exam questions. He is a frequent speaker at ACAMS conferences and is a recipient of the ACAMS Volunteer-of-the-Year Award. He co-chaired the ACAMS New York Chapter (2013-2018) and is currently on their advisory board. He is also a member of the Board of the ACAMS Carolinas Chapter.

In his motor cars hobby, Peter has been a judge at both the annual Concours d'Elegance at Greenwich, CT, and at the Historic Festival at the Lime Rock motor racing circuit for over 20 years. He also judges at the Chattanooga Motor Festival.

Special Projects

Rich Farrell

Rich Farrell graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS in Finance. He served 5 years in the US Navy aboard US Navy Destroyers. He graduated from the US Naval Destroyer School in Newport, RI.

Rich worked at IBM for 27 years in various marketing and management positions. In 1993 he became the Vice President of Information Services for the Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company. He retired in 2006.

Rich is a member of the Rotary Club of North Charleston. He has served as President, Secretary, Treasurer and Director. He has been a volunteer for VITA  - Volunteer Income Tax Assistance for 15 years. He has also volunteered at Trident United Way and Christ Our King Church.

He is married to Jane Wharton Farrell and resides in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

At Large

Richard Konrath

Prior to retiring in November 2024, Richard (Rich) Konrath practiced corporate law for 37 years in a variety of positions.  He began his legal career as an attorney for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., where he served for six years. Upon leaving the SEC, Rich held a range of legal management positions with Caterpillar Inc. for 16 years, including seven years leading Caterpillar legal offices in the U.K. and Brussels. Prior to retiring, Rich served for 15 years as General Counsel for CNH Industrial, Inc., a global manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment. 

Currently, Rich provides consulting services in the areas of corporate governance and corporate compliance. He also teaches a corporate compliance course at the Charleston School of Law and performs pro bono work on behalf of military veterans with the Veterans Pro Bono Consortium. Prior to moving permanently to the Charleston area in 2021, Rich served on the board of the World Affairs Council of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Rich and his wife Louise reside on Seabrook Island. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.  

At Large

Monica Neufang

In her role as vice president of Enterprise ESG Program Office, Monica works with external and internal stakeholders to define and drive a consistent, sustainable, and strategic governance and disclosure framework for the company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities and policies.

Monica leads the global strategic approach to delivering the annual Enterprise Health for Humanity Report, tracking and reporting the company’s Health for Humanity Goals as well as the process and governance for setting future goals. Relatedly, she oversees the implementation of the company’s ESG strategy and directs the management and reporting of ESG data, as well as other initiatives to drive efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of reporting, and maximize the positive impact of ESG information disclosure on corporate reputation and stakeholder engagement. She oversees the administration of the company’s Enterprise Governance Council, the primary governance body for ESG topics and issues, and serves on the Biopharma Sustainability Roundtable, the SASB Health Care Standards Advisory Group, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations ESG Working Groups, and the Bipartisan Policy Center ESG Taskforce.