CONCORD, N.H. - A veritable who's who in state and national leadership has signed on to serve as part of the inaugural board of advisors for the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Tom Rath and Joe Keefe will co-chair the board.

"It is a great honor to have so many distinguished leaders committed to supporting our work to train the next generation of leaders to seek justice, serve their country and work together for the common good," said John Broderick, executive director of the Rudman Center.

The board is committed to the Rudman Center's mission of hosting non-partisan forums and events promoting the civil, vigorous and informed discussion of national policy issues, of inspiring young people to public service to include underwriting the education of a select number of Rudman

Fellows at the law school who have a demonstrated interest in public service and of engaging the public at large. Board members will help identify interesting topics and speakers and participate in forums themselves. They will help promote regionally and nationally what the center is doing and encourage support of the center.

"The Rudman Center is what Warren Rudman was all about - rising above day-to-day politics to bridge differences and forge consensus on the most important challenges facing our nation," said Keefe, president and CEO of Pax World Management. "It is a place where serious discussions can perhaps help shape a more serious public policy agenda, and I am very pleased to be a part of it."            

"The Rudman Center has become a nationally recognized venue for informed, reasoned and thoughtful conversation on issues of state and national concern," said Rath, former N.H. attorney general and founder of Rath, Young and Pignatelli. "That it has done so, particularly in a non-partisan spirit, would please Warren Rudman very much. I feel privileged to be part of this most important work." 
The members of the board of advisors are as follows:

• Former U.S. senators Olympia Snowe (Maine), Bob Kerrey (Nebraska), and Slade Gorton (Washington)
• Former or current members of U.S. Congress: Donna Edwards (Maryland), Paul Hodes, Dick Swett, Bill Zeliff, Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass (all N.H.)
• Former governors Steve Merrill (N.H.), John Lynch (N.H.), John McKernan Jr. (Maine) and John Baldacci (Maine)
• N.H. senators Sylvia Larsen and Lou D'Allesandro
• N.H. House of Representatives speakers Terie Norelli and Donna Sytek (former)
• N.H. attorney generals Joe Foster, Mike Delaney (former) and Tom Rath (former)
• Former president of the N.H. Charitable Foundation Lew Feldstein; former director of the U.S. Secret Service Mark Sullivan; founder and president of NH1 Network Bill Binnie; Margaret Rudman, widow of Sen. Warren Rudman; former teacher Judith Havenstein; Susan Duprey, Devine, Millimet & Branch; Norman Stahl, senior judge, U.S. Court of Appeal for 1st circuit; Katrina Swett, founder, president & CEO of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice; Terry Shumaker, former ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago; John McKay, professor, Seattle University School of Law; Holly Sargent, former senior associate dean for strategy and external relations at the Kennedy School of Government; Dick Newton, executive vice president, Air Force Association; Frank Thorp, retired rear admiral, U.S. Navy
• Liz Hager, executive director of the United Way of Merrimack County; Joe Keefe, president and CEO, Pax World Management LLC and Pax World Friends; Ovide Lamontagne, general counsel, Americans United for Life; Rick Schubart, founding director and trustee, IECA Foundation; John Swope, former president of the Currier Museum of Art; Ed Dupont, former N.H. Senate president; Ned Helms, director, N.H. Institute for Health Policy and Practice; Eric Herr, former president and COO, Autodesk; Mary Tenn, president-elect, N.H. Bar Association; Steve Tober, past president, N.H. Bar Association; Bob Bixby, executive director, Concord Coalition; Rob Werner, N.H. state director, League of Conservation Voters; Brad Cook, attorney, Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green; Mary Collins, state director, NH Small Business Development Center; J. Bonnie Newman, chancellor emeritus, Community College System of New Hampshire.

In addition, Brad Cook, an attorney with Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green, was selected to chair the board's award committee.

"As Senator Rudman's former law partner, and one involved in his time in the Senate and afterwards, as well as co-executor of his estate, it has been an honor to keep his vision alive through the Rudman Center in which he believed so deeply," said Cook. "It has been a pleasure to serve as co-chair of the fundraising effort which is ongoing, and I look forward to chairing the Rudman Award committee which will select recipients who demonstrate the same qualities which made Warren Rudman a great public servant."

Upcoming events at the Rudman Center include the awarding of the first David Broder award to Washington Post Chief Correspondent Dan Balz. For more information: http://law.unh.edu/rudman-center/events-speakers