PNDRI Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees

James M. Norman
Chairman of the Board

After a prominent career as one of the city's leaders in commercial real estate, Jim Norman continues to provide strategic real estate advice to health care, higher education, and business clients at Metropolitan Partners in Seattle.

After graduation from Central Washington University, Mr. Norman followed a career in commercial real estate holding executive positions with such firms as Wright Runstad & Company, the Trammell Crow Company, and most prominently The Norman Company, where he was founder and owner. He played key roles in the development of 1111 Third Avenue and One Bellevue Center while with Wright Runstad, and in the management and sales of major downtown office buildings, including the Bank of California, Park Place, Marsh McLennan and the Columbia Tower, while heading The Norman Company. Now at Metropolitan Partners, he is providing important consulting advice to clients throughout the region.

R. Paul Robertson, M.D.
President

Dr. Paul Robertson is the President and Scientific Director of the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute in Seattle. He has had a distinguished academic career. Among other appointments, he has served as Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Washington, as Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado, and as Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Minnesota, where for eleven years he held the Pennock Chair for Diabetes Research. He is currently an attending physician at the University of Washington and Director of Islet and Endocrine Research at Swedish Medical Center. He is also the director of a consortium of Seattle institutions engaged in the study of islet transplantation as a cure for diabetes.

Gilliat G. Schroeder, Jr.
Treasurer

After serving in the U.S. Navy and earning a BA at the University of Pennsylvania, Gil Schroeder worked in New York, Philadelphia and Seattle at Girard Trust Bank. He has since spent close to 40 years with Smith Barney in both Philadelphia and Seattle, where he is currently a Senior Vice-President.

Gil is the past President of numerous boards: Seattle Aquarium Society, Seattle Kiwanis Foundation, Sons of the Revolution, Washington Society, and Washington Alumni Association of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also past Secretary of the University Club of Seattle and was on the board of Lifetime Plus (Foundation for the Handicapped).

Sarah Armstrong
Secretary

Sarah Armstrong, a community volunteer, is Secretary of the Board of Trustees of PNDRI. She is a Registered Nurse licensed in Washington State, as well as a member of the Washington State Bar Association. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Vanderbilt University, a Master of Science in Nursing at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, Bachelor of Arts in English, with distinction at University of Washington, and Juris Doctor at University of Washington School of Law.

Between 2002 and 2004, Ms. Armstrong served as Associate in Health Law at Bennett Bigelow & Leedom in Seattle, where she represented and advised health care clients concerning regulatory, reimbursement, contractual, and legal entity formation matters.

She brings her combined experience as a critical care nurse, hospital administrator, and lawyer to PNDRI's diabetes mission, working to strengthen the healthcare system and promote diabetes care for all patients.

Frederick R. Appelbaum, M.D.

Dr. Fred Appelbaum is Director of the Clinical Research Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Head of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington. He has also served as the Executive Director of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance since its formation in 1998.

Dr. Appelbaum received his MD degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1972. He joined the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington in 1978 after spending four years at the National Cancer Institute. His own work centers on the biology and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. He chairs the Southwest Oncology Leukemia Committee.

Karl L. Aschenbach

Karl Aschenbach graduated from Bowdoin College in 1966 and began his high-tech manufacturing career immediately.

In 1979 he started Ultra Poly, Inc. in Tacoma, a synthetic sheet, rod and tube manufacturer of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. Two years later he also launched Plastic Supply Inc. (PSI).

Mr. Aschenbach has been a dedicated supporter of PNDRI for many years. He uses his extensive business experience as a member of PNDRI's Finance Committee, guiding the institution's fiscal growth and stewarding its assets in support of its diabetes mission.

Lois Jean Broadway

Lois Broadway is an architect with expertise in medical and technical design. She is a principal in the firm Taylor Gregory & Butterfield. She has extensive experience working with healthcare providers and their contractors. She is an advocate of client service through effective communication and a champion of therapeutic environments achieved through holistic design.

Ms. Broadway has developed broad experience in construction administration and a collaborative management style that brings design team, consultants and owners together, balancing design, budget, and schedule to meet project objectives and goals.

Both of her parents developed type 2 diabetes. She herself had gestational diabetes. Now at PNDRI, she is working to help the Institute's scientists conquer this disease and to advance—as she does in her profession-both health and healing.

Benjamin Danielson, M.D.

Dr. Benjamin Danielson attended the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed his residency training at Children's Hospital in 1995. He has been the Medical Director of the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic since 1999. Largely serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Seattle's Central District, the clinic offers dental, mental health and medical services and has special programs for children with Sickle Cell Disease, asthma, school underachievement and obesity.

Dr. Danielson splits his time between clinical care, clinic administrative responsibilities, community advocacy and hospital responsibilities. He serves on several community boards, is active in mentoring efforts, and is an inpatient attending physician at Children's Hospital. Dr. Danielson has also worked in the pediatric sports medicine clinic at Harborview Medical Center, a school-based teen health center, a primary care clinic in West Seattle, and the emergency department at Children's.

Jack Faris, Ph.D.

Jack Faris has been President of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association since February of 2005, where he is working to create a Washington State bioscience strategy that will contribute to better health for people everywhere.

Dr. Faris earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was an associate professor with tenure at Towson University in Maryland until returning to Seattle in 1985 to join advertising agency Cole & Weber. He was team leader for the Boeing advertising account for 12 years and was executive vice president and general manager of the agency. In 1999 he became director of community strategies for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and participated in the launch of the foundation's global health initiatives. In 2000 Dr. Faris was appointed Vice President for University Relations at the University of Washington.

Dr. Faris serves on the executive committees of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance for Education, and the Seattle Public Library Foundation. He is board chair of the Urban Enterprise Center, a member of the steering committee for the Initiative for Global Development and serves on the boards of United Way of King County and IslandWood.

Juanita Garrison

After serving for a year on PNDRI's Development Committee, Juanita Garrison joined the Board of Trustees in 2004.

Ms. Garrison's first link to PNDRI was to Dr. Bill Hutchinson, the Institute's founder. "His family and ours were close friends. I always admired Dr. Hutchinson's goals and the things he accomplished." Ms. Garrison's father, Senator Warren G. Magnuson, also appreciated Hutchinson's energy and achievement and worked closely with him in the early years of PNDRI to secure government funding and to personally help start the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Ms. Garrison was educated in Seattle, worked for KIRO TV and for Senator Brock Adams, and was appointed to the Washington State Gambling Commission. In her father's memory, she and her mother, Jermaine Magnuson, have established a fund for diabetes research and medical education at the University of Washington.

Carol L. Heimkes

Carol Heimkes is currently serving on PNDRI's Development Committee as a community volunteer. She was a member of the 2005 Wine Event planning committee, and is co-chairing the 2006 Wine Event.

At age 18, while entering the University of Washington, Ms Heimkes was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. Like many people with diabetes she developed some medical problems associated with the disease, including kidney failure and severe diabetic retinopathy. In 1987, she received a pancreas transplant, with a partial pancreas donated by her sister. One of the doctors attending Heimkes and her sister was Dr. Paul Robertson, now President of PNDRI.

As a result of the success of her surgery, Ms. Heimkes decided she wanted to volunteer to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes. Along with two other people, she founded the Board of Directors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Seattle, and today she continues her work with the Board of Trustees at PNDRI.

Ardythe Johnson

Since her son, Jeff, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, twenty-five years ago, Ardy Jonson has been working tirelessly to advance diabetes research.

A PNDRI Board member since 2003, Ms. Johnson is active in developing the Board's operational structure. She provides advice on organizational planning and communications. She also contributes great energy and experience to PNDRI's fundraising.

One of her paramount sources of satisfaction is helping individuals and families deal with type 1 diabetes. She helped found and now co-chairs an on-line diabetes support team. She works with families all across the country who are participating in local organizations dedicated to advancing diabetes research.

She has served for many years in many capacities for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and helped develop a scholarship endowment for Bellevue Christian School in memory of her uncle.

Richard J. Omata

Rick Omata is a partner at Karr Tuttle in Seattle. He earned his law degree at Georgetown University, and has spent more than twenty years building the labor and employment practice of the firm.

After graduation from Wesleyan and service in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Omata worked for the National Committee on Household Employment to develop innovative ways to improve employment conditions for domestic workers in America. The Committee successfully developed legislation to create the first federal laws including domestic workers under the provisions of Social Security and the minimum wage laws.

As a member of PNDRI's Board, Mr. Omata is enacting the principle that all Karr Tuttle attorneys are expected to espouse: to engage in important social service, to give back to the community in a significant way.

Stanley D. Savage

Stan Savage is the Chairman, President, and CEO of The Commerce Bank of Washington, headquartered in Seattle. For more than thirty years, he has held a series of increasingly responsible and influential posts in the banking industry of the Pacific Northwest. After graduating with an economics degree from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Southern California, he managed commercial banking, treasury, capital markets, retail brokerage, and domestic and international corporate lending for Rainier Bank. He then became President, Chief Operating Officer, and Vice-Chairman of Seafirst Bank, as well as Executive Vice-President of Bank of America and President of Bank of America's International Private Bank.