Syracuse University Board Representatives
Michael Speaks
Academic Dean Representative to the Board, 2023-25
Before joining Syracuse University, Speaks was dean of the College of Design and professor of architecture at the University of Kentucky from 2008-13. As former director of the graduate program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, Speaks has taught in the graphic design department at the Yale School of Art, and in the architecture schools at Harvard University, Columbia University, The University of Michigan, UCLA, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and the Berlage Institute and TU Delft, in the Netherlands.
Christine Ashby
Faculty Representative to the Board, 2023-25
Ashby is Professor of Inclusive Special Education and Disability Studies and Director of the Center on Disability and Inclusion (CDI), a research center that promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of school and society—both locally and globally. She has also served as coordinator of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to certification in childhood and special education. Since joining the School of Education faculty in 2007, her teaching and research has focused on inclusive education, communicative diversity, disability studies, and inclusive teacher preparation, with specific emphasis on the experiences of autistic and neurodivergent students. Her work seeks to disrupt dominant notions of disability as deficiency and underscores the importance of centering the voices of disabled people in research and practice.
Qingyang Liu
Graduate Student Representative to the Board, 2023-24
Liu is a graduate student in the Department of Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. She was elected as the graduate student representative to the HDFS Graduate Committee and Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics Promotion and Tenure Committee in 2022-23. Liu is an international student from Guangzhou, China, who pursued an undergraduate degree in psychology at San Francisco State University from 2016-18 and a master's degree in educational psychology and methodology at the State University of New York at Albany from 2018-20.
Nathanael A. Linton
Law Student Representative to the Board, 2023-24
Linton is a third-year law student in the College of Law. There he is a member of the Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Honor Society, both the national trial competition team as well as the appellate competition team. He is also a research assistant to Professor William C. Banks. He is the managing editor of the Journal of Global Rights and Organizations. Before coming to the College of Law, Linton served on the Board of Trustees at his undergraduate college, Pace University.
Dylan France
Undergraduate Student Representative to the Board, 2023–24
France is a senior studying finance and real estate in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, where she is a Whitman Leadership Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown Honors Program. She is minoring in global political economy in the Maxwell School. France is passionate about finance and was recently promoted to senior analyst in the Orange Value Fund.
William Treloar
Undergraduate Student Representative to the Board, 2023–24
Treloar is a senior studying economics and policy studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School and is currently the president of the Student Association. Treloar previously served as speaker of the assembly for the Student Association. He is also a class tutor and a Phanstiel Scholar. In his time at Syracuse, he has focused on organizing campus events, as well as community service opportunities.
Kathleen (Kati) Foley
Staff Representative to the Board, 2023-25
As project director and administrative assistant to the dean, Foley is responsible for administering strategic projects for the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and directing the daily operations of the Office of the Dean and the college. She provides high-level analyses and recommendations on facility utilization, strategic budget and long-range planning, policies, programs and new and ongoing initiatives for the college.