Tuft Team
Tuft’s premier team of search consultants, drawn from top leadership positions in associations, healthcare and nonprofits, offers rare insider experience, first-rate professional credentials and an extensive network of professional and personal contacts.The Tuft team approaches every search with hands-on knowledge of each sector’s unique needs and strategic direction. As a result, clients regard Tuft associates as valued partners, peers and colleagues, not outsiders. Experienced, informed and dedicated, the Tuft team offers unmatched skills for unparalleled solutions.
Mary Ann Tuft, MA, CAE, President & Owner
Associates
Kathleen Gainor Andreoli, DSN, RN, FAAN
Carole Z. Badger, JD, FASAE, CAE
Billye J. Brown, RN, EdD, FAAN
Jill Rubiner Christie, MA
Patricia J. Estok, RN, PhD, FAAN
Kathleen R. Henrichs, PhD
Kathy Kuntzman, MA
Jeanette Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN
Mary McMahon, BBA
Barbara S. Schneidman, MD, MPH
Director of Research
Cecile Margulies, MA
Mary Ann Tuft, MA, CAE, President & Owner
With more than 30 years' experience in recruitment and management within the non-profit sector, Mary Ann Tuft is considered a leading authority on association management and one of the nation's foremost specialists in executive search for association, academic and healthcare organizations.Prior to founding Tuft & Associates in 1988, she served for nearly two decades as chief staff officer of two not-for-profit associations, the Radiological Society of North America and the 35,000-member National Student Nurses Association (NSNA). Earlier, she served in key personnel, training and consulting roles for the National League for Nursing and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
Throughout her career, she has been an active member of several national boards of directors, including the American Society of Association Executives; the New York Society of Association Executives, where she also served as President; the Continuing Care Accreditation Association; and a trustee for the Foundation of the National Student Nurses Association. She also served as a public member for the Commission on Dietetic Registration for the American Dietetic Association; the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education; and the Committee on Accreditation of the American Library Association.
Tuft currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Cognitive Neurology & Alzheimer’s Disease Center of Northwestern University School of Medicine; as a board member for the American Friends of the Hebrew University; and as a Charter Member of the President’s Advisory Council for the School of Nursing, Saint Xavier University.
Her achievements have been honored by the New York Society of Association Executives with the First Outstanding Association Executive Award, by the NSNA, which established The Mary Ann Tuft Scholarship Fund; and by West Chester State College as a Distinguished Alumna. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE).
She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from West Chester State College in Pennsylvania, and a Master of Science in education from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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Kathleen Gainor Andreoli, DSN, RN, FAAN
Dr. Kathleen Andreoli’s career has influenced the work of major academic medical centers across the country, giving her unparalleled expertise in recognizing management needs in today’s challenging healthcare environment.
Her most significant contributions include participation in the development and implementation of the first Physician Assistant program and coronary care unit at Duke University Medical Center 1960-70; the authorship of a major textbook on Coronary Care for seven editions; authorship of numerous articles on nursing education in referred journals; national consultant and invited speaker; and leadership of one of the first national Family Nurse Practitioner Programs at the University of Alabama in Birmingham 1970-79. She created and served as Vice President of the Office of Educational Services, Interprofessional Education and International Programs at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston,1979-1987; and as Dean of the Rush College of Nursing and Vice President for Nursing Academic Affairs at Rush University Medical Center from 1987 to 2005.
Dr. Andreoli is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine of Chicago, American Academy of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, Leadership Texas and Leadership Illinois. She is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Health Care, and World’s Who’s Who in Education, among others. She has received distinguished alumni awards, both from Vanderbilt University and the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In 2003 she received the outstanding Dean national award from the honorary society, Sigma Theta Tau International. In 2004, for the Rush College of Nursing she received the Henry Betts, M.D., Employment Advocacy Award of The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In 2009 she received the GE Healthcare-AACN Pioneering Spirit Award for a significant career and contributions influencing acute and critical care nursing.
Dr. Andreoli retired from Rush University Medical Center in 2005 as the Kellogg Emeritus Dean of the Rush College of Nursing. She now serves on numerous health and cultural boards in Chicago, including the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Institute of Medicine of Chicago, Illinois Advisory Board on Nursing Spectrum, and the Leadership Illinois Advisory Board.
Her education includes a baccalaureate from Georgetown University, a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a doctorate from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Carole Z. Badger, JD, FASAE, CAE
Associate
Carole Badger offers unsurpassed association management expertise and a unique understanding of the needs of non-profits on the regional, national and international level.
Prior to joining Tuft & Associates, Badger served for nearly 25 years as the chief paid executive of professional and philanthropic organizations.
A Certified Association Executive (CAE), and a frequent lecturer and author on association management issues, Badger also has served as a board member of numerous non-profit organizations. Positions include President of TEMPO International; past President of the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives (WSAE); and a Board member of the American Society of Association Executives, where she served on the CAE Commission and chaired both the Peer Review Committee and the ASAE Foundation's Best Practices Task Force. She was named a Fellow of the American Society of Association Executives in 1993, and received the WSAE Hall of Fame Award in 2006.
Badger graduated magna cum laude from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. She received a law degree from University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison, and completed additional graduate work in public policy and administration.
Billye J. Brown, RN, EdD, FAAN
Associate
Internationally recognized as a leader in education and administration, Dr. Brown has been at the forefront of nursing for more than 30 years through her achievements as both dean and professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and as president of nursing's most distinguished professional organizations.
At The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Brown was a dean and professor of the School of Nursing for 17 years and earlier served in assistant and associate dean posts. Dr. Brown's visionary approach to teaching and administration led to her appointment as the LaQuinta Motor Inns Centennial Professor in 1983 and her induction into the Hall of Fame at the University of Texas’ School of Nursing at Galveston in 1992.
Her numerous professional awards and honors include being named Nurse of the Year by the Texas Nurses' Association; her selection as one of the Most Influential Women in Education by the Austin American Statesman; and resolutions passed by the State of Texas Senate and House of Representatives acknowledging her contributions to nursing.
At the national and international level, she is widely respected for her service as past president of both the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI). As chairman of the fundraising task force for STTI, she led a successful multi-year campaign that produced more than $7 million in planned gifts. She was honored by the AACN with the Sister Bernadette Armiger Award.
In 1999, STTI selected Dr. Brown for its Mary Tolle Wright Award for Excellence in Leadership and announced the formation of the Billye Brown Society to pay homage to her dedication to planned giving efforts that contribute to the advancement of scholarly nursing. She was recognized with the Nell J. Watts Lifetime Achievement in Nursing Award at the 2007 STTI Biennial Convention. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1984. Dr. Brown was recognized as the 2010 American Academy of Nursing Living Legend, and in 2011 she was selected to receive the prestigious National League for Nursing President's Award for an Enduring Legacy in Nursing Education.
She graduated from nursing school at Arkansas Baptist Hospital in Little Rock and received a bachelor's degree in nursing education from the University of Texas’ Medical Branch School of Nursing at Galveston, Texas. She earned her master's degree in nursing education from St. Louis University and a doctor of education degree from Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
Jill Rubiner Christie, MA
Associate
Jill Rubiner Christie has 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience as an Executive Search Consultant and Executive Director. A Tuft Consultant for 6 years, she has led dozens of nonprofit Executive Director and senior-level management searches and successfully placed high-caliber talent in the association, healthcare, foundation, university and social service sectors.
Prior to joining Tuft & Associates, Ms. Christie spent 10 years as Executive Director of a community-based nonprofit organization serving disadvantaged children, where she managed staff and 400+ volunteers, and worked closely with elected leadership to develop and implement strategic planning, fundraising, and communication strategies. In addition to bringing a unique understanding of the needs of nonprofits at the local level, she has association management expertise at the national level. She spent five years in professional staff roles at the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Ms. Christie currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, is a member of the National Network of Nonprofit Search Consultants, and an active volunteer in school and community activities in Oak Park, Illinois.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. She received a Masters of Arts in Sociology from DePaul University in Chicago.
BACK TO TOPPatricia J. Estok, RN, PhD, FAAN
Associate
An acknowledged leader in nursing education and research, Dr. Patricia Estok has pursued the majority of her nearly 30 years in academic nursing at Kent State University School of Nursing and currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus.
Her career at Kent State University includes posts as Professor, Coordinator of the Graduate Nursing Program, and Program Director of Parent-Child Nursing. Dr. Estok was made Interim Director of the Center for Nursing Research in 1991. Her professional focus has centered on women's health, having led pioneering research in these areas over the past three decades. She was co-investigator on a National Institute of Aging funded granted entitled “DXA: Health Beliefs and Osteoporosis in Men.”
Dr. Estok has also held posts in the clinical realm, serving as an industrial nurse, camp nurse and staff nurse. She currently is an emeritus member and serves on the Board of Directors of the University Hospitals Health System’s Bedford Medical Center, Bedford, Ohio, and also on the Council of Diplomats of the University Hospitals Health System.
She is a member of several nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association, Midwest Nursing Research Society, American Academy of Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau International. A highly respected author and lecturer, she has published or presented her work in many publications, conferences and workshops.
Included in her honors and awards are Best of Image Award, the Midwest Nursing Research Society’s Honor a Nurse Researcher Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau Delta Xi Chapter Excellence in Nursing Research Award. Dr. Estok was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1989, and is listed in Who's Who in Professional Nursing.
Dr. Estok graduated from the Washington Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, Pennsylvania, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in sociology from Kent State University in Ohio.
Kathleen R. Henrichs, PhD
Associate
With 30 years’ experience in association management and education, Dr. Henrichs is a nationally known expert on leadership, governance, fundraising, and membership in associations and healthcare organizations. Dr. Henrichs possesses a deep knowledge of medical organizations and governance issues.
Prior to joining Tuft & Associates, Dr. Henrichs was Senior Vice President at the American Medical Association (AMA) where she was responsible for governance, international affairs, fundraising, headquarters operations and organization-wide risk management. Dr. Henrichs’ responsibilities included AMA’s Board of Trustees, House of Delegates, and sections on residents, students, young physicians, international medical graduates, and women and minority physicians.
Dr. Henrichs also served as Executive Director of the American Medical Association Foundation. One of her most notable achievements was turning the AMA Foundation into a thriving philanthropy with a $20 million endowment, a new Board of Directors, and an innovative program about health literacy that was touted in The New York Times.
Dr. Henrichs’ career with the AMA began as Director of the Health Policy Agenda project, a national health policy development effort involving more than 150 health-related, business and consumer groups. She also was Director of Membership and achieved record numbers of AMA members. She also managed AMA’s strategy and policy during the national health system reform debate in 1992-1995.
An expert on changing medical practices, Dr. Henrichs is the author of Practice Profiles in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and Practice Profiles in Family Medicine for the California Academy of Family Physicians. Her most recent written contribution is a chapter, “The Future of Physician Practice,” in a forthcoming three-volume publication, The Business of Healthcare.
In 1980, Dr. Henrichs received her PhD from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Prior to joining the AMA, she was with Educational Testing Service and the Indiana Department of Education, where she managed the statewide testing program. She has been on the faculties of Kent State University and Indiana University.
Dr. Henrichs serves on the Board of Trustees of Marietta College in Ohio.
Kathy Kuntzman, MA
Associate
Kathy Kuntzman has more than 30 years of medical association management experience, including 15 years in senior leadership at the American Medical Association. Her most recent position at AMA was Vice President of Health Policy. She managed AMA field operations for the county, state and national medical specialty societies as well as constituent services for medical students, resident and young physicians, and other special interest groups. She has also worked at major medical organizations including the American College of Surgeons and the Chicago Heart Association.
Her areas of expertise include the facilitation of relations between medical societies, management of member segments and health policy development. Kuntzman has served on the American Association of Medical Society Executives Board. She serves on the Roosevelt University College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board, as a Secretary of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, and as a Board Member of the United States Bone and Joint Decade.
Kuntzman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Blackburn College, Carlinville, Illinois, in elementary education and English. She also has a master’s degree in public administration from Roosevelt University, Chicago.
Jeanette Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN
Associate
Dr. Jeanette Lancaster is widely recognized for her leadership in nursing education and health care scholarship.
She served as Dean and Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing at the University of Virginia from 1989 until 2008. During that time, she also served as Associate Chief Nursing Officer for the University of Virginia Medical Center. From 2008-2009, she served as a visiting professor of nursing at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Lancaster currently serves as the Medical Center Professor at the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia and as a Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt University.
In recognition of her valuable contributions in securing funding for and overseeing the construction of the new School of Nursing building at the University of Virginia, the street in front of the school has been named in her honor: Jeanette Lancaster Way.
Dr. Lancaster served as President of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the national organization setting standards and advocating for baccalaureate and higher degree education in nursing in the United States from March 2006 until March 2008. She is the editor or coeditor of eight textbooks in the areas of public health and mental health nursing, leadership and change. She edits the interdisciplinary journal, Family & Community Health.
Dr. Lancaster is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. In 2007, she was elected by her peers as a Distinguished Scholar in the National Academies of Practice.
Professor Lancaster received her PhD in public health from the University of Oklahoma, her master’s degree in psychiatric mental health nursing from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Tennessee College of Nursing in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mary McMahon, BBA
Associate
Mary McMahon has more than 15 years of association experience, with strategic and professional expertise in human resources, recruiting, employee relations and other areas critical to workplace performance and productivity.
McMahon served as Director of Human Resources for SmithBucklin Corporation, the world’s largest association management company. She managed recruiting and employee relations for the Chicago, St. Louis and Minneapolis offices of SmithBucklin; she also served as Interim Director of Human Resources for the Washington, D.C., office.
She was responsible for full life cycle recruitment, planning and executing search strategies for executive director positions, and for professionals in client services including marketing communications, convention, trade show, education and program development, finance/accounting, information technology, legal and sales. McMahon recruited for these positions for a range of SmithBucklin clients including business trade associations, professional societies, health care associations and technology user groups.
Her employee relations experience encompasses performance management, separations, counseling and coaching staff and management, reductions in force, and providing guidance on policies and procedures to ensure compliance with corporate policies and federal and state employment law.
McMahon previously served as Employment Manager with Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Chicago, where she led and managed support staff recruiting. She also held the position of Human Resources/Account Management Administrator at DDB Needham (now known as DDB Chicago) where she oversaw the assistant account executive college recruiting program.
She is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing.
Barbara S. Schneidman, MD, MPH
Associate
Dr. Barbara S. Schneidman, MD, MPH, specializes in searches for schools of allopathic and osteopathic medicine. As a leading health care executive, she was the Vice President of Medical Education at the American Medical Association from 2002-2008. Prior to this position, she served as the Associate Vice President of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) from 1993-1998. During 2009 she served as the Interim CEO and President of the Federation of State Medical Boards.
A board certified psychiatrist, Dr. Schneidman currently holds the position of clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is also an associate professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. She is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists (ACP) and chaired the Psychiatry Residency in Training Examination (PRITE) Commission. She is also a member of the ACP Board of Regents where she serves as 2nd Vice President. She is a director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Medical Specialties. Dr. Schneidman has been a member of the Illinois Psychiatric Society (IPS) since 1993 and has served as a member of the Fellowship Committee as well as serving as a councilor from 2003-2008. She is currently a member of the Washington State Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Schneidman is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School and underwent training as an intern at Providence Hospital in Seattle. Following her internship, Dr. Schneidman received her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Washington School of Public Health and completed her residency in psychiatry in Seattle. She also taught consultation liaison psychiatry to primary care medicine residents at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Cecile Margulies, MA
Director of Research
A seasoned administrator whose career spans numerous not-for-profit organizations and professional/trade societies, Cecile Margulies has more than 20 years of experience in association management.
Prior to joining Tuft & Associates, Margulies served as Continuing Education Director for the International Interior Design Association in Chicago. At IIDA, she developed a strategic plan to bring educational programming to 9,000 professional members worldwide, created the association's first compliance process for registering continuing education credits, and worked hand-in-hand with national officers and committee chairs to set and achieve critical program goals.
Earlier, Margulies served the Illinois CPA Society in a variety of key administrative posts over the course of a decade. As Manager of Special Projects, she facilitated the development of products and services designed to keep the Society's 25,000-strong membership at the forefront of the accounting profession. As staff representative to many of the organization's 35 committees, she acted as both liaison and resource for committee chairpersons and members, managed all volunteer solicitation, and provided guidance and support to ensure committee objectives were attained.
Margulies has also served as a member of numerous professional organizations dedicated to association management, including the Association Forum of Chicagoland, the Association for Volunteer Administration, and the Illinois Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. As an instructor at the City Colleges of Chicago, she also taught English as a Second Language to multinational adults.
Margulies graduated with honors and highest distinction from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the history of architecture and art, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.