Board of Directors

Stephen Day

President
Stephen is an architect who works with a wide range of clients in putting together development projects, with a specialty in historic landmarks restorations and adaptive re-use. He is also an attorney with a specialized knowledge of historic landmarks law. Stephen was a student and teaching assistant to Astra Zarina with the Architecture in Rome program and has lived and practiced in Seattle and New York City.  website 

Iole Alessandrini

Vice President
Born and raised in Italy, Iole is an artist who has been living in Seattle since 1994. She received her diploma in Fine Arts from the First State School of Fine Arts in Rome and earned two master's degrees in Architecture: one from the University of La Sapienza in Rome and the other from the University of Washington in Seattle. It is the intersection between these two creative expressions "art and architecture" through which her work moves.  website 

Ron Gawith

Treasurer
Ron was born in 1951 in Pendleton, Oregon. He received a bachelors degree in fine arts from the University of Washington in 1974. Since 1976, he has been involved in the retail of design products. From 1982 to the present Ron has been the owner of Current, a northwest resource for contemporary European lighting, furniture and accessories.   

Ross Whitehead

Secretary
A Seattle resident, architect with Schreiber Starling & Lane, and alumnus of the UW Rome and Italian Hilltowns programs.   

Clark Pickett

Board Member
Inspired by his architectural studies in Italy, Clark has focused his work and volunteer energies on the urban built environment. He has chaired the Pike/Pine Neighborhoods planning committee, been a member of a special review committee for the Seattle City Council and has been an active NIAUSI board member for the last five years.   

Herschel Parnes

Board Member
Herschel Parnes is an architect in private practice in Seattle and is a past president of NIAUSI.   

John Ullman

Board Member
John Ullman, Graduate of the University of Washington Landscape Architecture Program, Student in the first Architecture in Rome Program in 1970. Founding Presdient o fNIAUSI, Co-Founder of the U of W Italian Hilltowns program with Astra Zarina and a Civita property owner for over 30 years. He has been a principal or owner of a number of Landscape Architecture and Planning firms. His primary focus now is his art work.   

Nancy Josephson

Board Member
Nancy Josephson has worked in the design, development, and construction industry since 1980. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree from the University of Washington in 1985 and a Masters of Architecture degree from Columbia University in the City of New York in 1989. Working with architecture firms in New York City and in the Pacific Northwest has given her opportunities to develop expertise in analyzing and managing complex development projects. Nancy has a specialty in the design of educational facilities Since 2001 she has focused her work on planning and project management services for the capital projects departments of the Northshore and Bainbridge Island school districts.  website 

Jim Corey

Board Member
Jim is a social worker, public speaker, and studio painter. He works for the Washington Initiative for Supported Employment expanding employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities across Washington State. He became acquanted with NIAUSI while living with his partner Clark in Civita for three months in 1999, hosted by Astra and Tony. He has returned to Italy frequently, and formally joined the board in 2007.  website 

Tom Miller

Board Member
Tom is a design consultant for residential and commercial interiors in Seattle. He has been a friend of NIAUSI since the 1980's, when he was a student on the University of Washington's Architecture in Rome program. Tom has returned to Italy several times since. In the fall of 2007, he stayed in Civita, visited with Astra and Tony, and met the fellows in residence. He looks forward to working with the board for the preservation and appreciation of Civita.   

Lauris Bitners

Erin Griffin Christie

Ann Hirschi

Board Member
Anne Hirschi is a graduate of UW's Architecture in Rome and Hilltown programs and has been working as an arborist in the Seattle area, with a particular interest in implementing community garden programs. During her fellowship in Civita she studied the ancient Chestnut grove in the valley adjacent to Civita, looking at its history, its meaning to the residents, and how community stewardship of the grove has evolved over time. The Chestnut grove in the valley below Civita has been owned and harvested collectively by the citizens of Civita since medieval times.  website 

Betty Torrell

Board Member
Betty Torrell is a Seattle architect. During her residency in Italy, she studied "Hearth as Home", an architectural and cultural analysis of more than fifty historic hearths located in Civita di Bagnoregio. This study was the first comprehensive documentation of this central feature of the historic houses and public cooking spaces of Civita.   

Cory Crocker

Past Board Member
Cory was a resident fellow who analyzed factors that have contributed to Civita's timeless inhabitability: local climate, integration of building and site, regional materials, vernacular technologies, and formal qualities. He is an architectural designer and sustainability consultant.  website