Board of Trustee Biographies:
Angela Aufegger, President
Angela Aufegger was born in Chicago and educated in Germany. She holds a degree in business (Diplom-Betriebswirt) from the Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen. She is the President of S.H.O.E.S. Inc., the proprietor of Salamander of Chicago and is currently serving on the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and part of the Chamber Promotions Committee. Angela and her husband, who is also of German/Austrian decent, are raising their two children bilingually.
Kirsten Brandt
Kirsten Brandt was born and raised in Germany. Her professional background is in shipping & international transportation/logistics. She is currently the Director of Marketing & Sales at Orion Marine Corporation in Chicago. She originally transferred from Reederei Hamburg Sued in Hamburg to company US headquarters in New Jersey in 1996. She move to Chicago in 2003. Kirsten and her husband are raising their children bilingually. She is an appointed member of the Hamburg Committee of the City of Chicago Sister Cities International Program and is involved in work to improve local Chicago neighborhood schools.
Rhonda Duffaut, Ph. D., Secretary
Rhonda Duffaut is a former German language and literature professor from Pennsylvania State University, where she taught courses before moving to San Francisco, CA. In San Francisco she taught English, history, and ESL at the German-American International School. As the Head of the English Department there, she played an essential role in establishing an interdisciplinary curriculum as the school gained its International Baccalaureate accreditation. She and her German husband were founding parents of Kinderhaus, a German language preschool in San Francisco.
Christa Garcia
Christa Garcia, born and raised in Germany, she holds a B.S./B.A.(French and Art), M.A. in German Literature/Philosophy and an ABD in Ed. Administration. She is ZfA Coordinator for Chicago, Superintendent of DANK German Language Schools Chicago Northern Suburbs, Project Director for the DACH website www.spurensuchemidwest.org. Prior teaching and administrative positions were held in universities and public schools. In addition she served as President of AATG, IFLTA, DANK National, Newsletter Editor for IFLTA and Newspaper Editor of the German American Journal. She is the President of GAEF, the German American Education Fund.
Annegret Harnischfeger, Ph. D.
Annegret Harnischfeger, Professor (ret.) of Education & Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Prior positions in Education at the University of Chicago, Stanford University, Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung (M-P-Institute for Educational Research), Berlin, Deutscher Bildungsrat (German Council on Education), Bonn, Germany. Her research includes teaching-learning processes, school administration and evaluation.
Karen Irvine
Karen Irvine is Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. She is also an instructor of photography at Columbia College Chicago. She has a BA in French and International Relations from Tufts University, an MFA in photography from FAMU, Prague, and is pursuing an MA in art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a member of the Associate Board of the Foundation for Retinal Research and the Young Philanthropists Board of the Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind and Visually Impaired. Karen and her German husband are raising their son bilingually.
Christine Luscher
Christine Luscher was born and educated in Germany. During the course of over 30 years, she has owned several thriving businesses in Lincoln Square, Chicago. As a member of the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce, their Board of Directors, as well as serving a term as President, she worked to improve the local business community. During her many years in business she has supported German businesses and cultural groups and has been a member of the German/American National Congress. Currently, she is serving as Vice-President of the Advisory Board of the SSA 21 and operating the Giving Tree Resale Shop that contributes a portion of its proceeds to several charities, including German School Chicago, NFP.
Mariam Pahl, Dipl.-Kfm., Vice-President
Mariam Pahl was born in Teheran and educated at the German School of Teheran. She completed a degree in business (Diplom-Betriebswirt) at the Universität Hamburg. After working in marketing for a fashion company in Munich, she joined her husband in his international assigments in Zurich, Berne, Stockholm, Greenwich CT, London, and now in Chicago. She has been very involved in the PTAs at her children’s schools. Currently she serves as the President of the North Shore International Network. Mariam and her husband, who is also German, are raising their three boys bilingually.
Alexandra Pradella-Ott
Alexandra Pradella-Ott, (ret.) German & music teacher for 33 years, Chicago Board of Education where she co-founded the Foreign Language Academies. She has taught German, directed the DANK Spatzen Children”s Choir and served as principal at DANK North Saturday School and Adult School (German American National Congress). She continues as Co-Chair of the National School Committee for DANK. Alexandra holds several degrees in education and music from Germany and the US and has achieved many awards including the Bundesverdienstkreuz Federal Republic of Germany,1988 and the Best German Teacher of the State of Illinois IFLTA, 1986.
Shahid Chishty, Treasurer
Jan Henrich
