You are here: Home / ABOUT CID / CID LEADERSHIP
  • CID – Central Institute for the Deaf brick sign

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President
Mr. David J. Schepers

Immediate Past President
Mrs. Carrie L. Johnson (P)

Vice Presidents
Ms. Mariquita L. Barbieri
Mr. Frank S. Childress
Mrs. Laurie Haffenreffer
Mrs. Joanne P. Knight (L)
Mr. Ned O. Lemkemeier (L, P)
Mr. William B. Sheldon (L)
Mr. James M. Snowden, Jr. (L)
Mr. W. Bruce Springer (L)
Mr. Jeffrey R. Tucker

Treasurer
Mr. Dennis M. Reagan

Assistant Treasurer
Mr. Garrick R. Hamilton

Secretary
Ms. Laurie W. Miller (L)

Assistant Secretary
Mrs. Amy R. Tighe (nonvoting)

Executive Director and Assistant Secretary
 Dr. Heather Grantham (nonvoting)

Members
Dr. Claudio F. Abreu
Mr. John R. Arenberg
Mr. Theodore M. Armstrong (L, P)
Mrs. Kathy A. Beilein
Ms. Barbara H. Boyle
Mrs. Virginia J. Browning (H, L)
Dr. Craig A. Buchman (H)
Mrs. Tiffany D. Charles
Mr. Robert G. Clark (P)
Mr. Mark S. Cochran
Dr. Jerome R. Cox, Jr. (L)
Mr. Robert Crumpton
Mr. C. Baker Cunningham (P)
Mrs. Elizabeth C. Dorr
Mr. Benjamin F. Edwards, IV
Mrs. Linda L. Goldstein
Mr. Louis S. Goltermann, Jr.
Mrs. Jane-Ellis Griggs
Ms. Robin A. Hattori
Mrs. Florence W. Hawes (L)
Mr. Michael J. Higginbotham
Dr. Thomas P. Horejes, IV (H)
Ms. Antonnette M. Jackson
Mrs. Tina L. Klocke
Mrs. Jennifer E. Koster
Mrs. Kerrin M. Kowach
Dr. Richard S. Kurz
Mr. Nicholas M. Lampi
Mr. Michael D. Laycob
Mrs. Karen S. Leebolt
Mrs. Noël H. Mangano
Mrs. Lisa D. McLaughlin

Mr. Stephen W. McMillan
Mr. Scott D. Monette (P)
Mr. Brandon W. Neuschafer
Mr. Jared E. Neville
Mrs. Elin C. Nozewski
Mrs. Rachel H. Oliver
Mrs. Carolyn P. Rayner
Mrs. Shelby A. Reneski
Mr. Hugh Scott, III (L, P)
Dr. James W. Seeser
Mr. Daniel J. Sherman
Mr. Eric M. Stisser
Mr. Samir A. Tayob
Mr. Eugene M. Toombs, IV
Mrs. Lisa S. Van Amburg
Mrs. Anabeth Weil
Mr. John D. Weil (L)

CID Alumni Representative
Mr. Craig R. Aslin

CID Parent Representative
Mrs. Patrice Howard

CID Staff Representative
Dr. Brittany M. Wuebbles

(H) Honorary Member
(L) Life Member
(P) Past President

Mr. David Schepers

In December 2018, the CID board of directors named a new president, Mr. David J. Schepers. Mr. Schepers is the retired vice president of energy delivery technical services for Ameren in St. Louis, Missouri.

Heather Grantham

314.977.0223

hgrantham@cid.edu

CID EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Heather Grantham, PhD

On June 7, 2021, Dr. Heather Grantham became CID’s ninth executive director. She is the former co-director Washington University School of Medicine’s Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS), where she also served as director of deaf education and an associate professor of otolaryngology. She has worked as a teacher of the deaf, authored numerous publications and presented extensively on improving education for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

In addition to teaching university courses, Dr. Grantham has authored or co-authored numerous research articles and presented at professional conferences worldwide. She has served as project director for U.S. Department of Education grants totaling more than $3 million, focused on preparing graduate-level teachers of children who are deaf and hard of hearing (2014–2019) and interdisciplinary personnel development in deaf education and pediatric audiology (2019–2024). Her research interests include reading and spelling development, vocabulary acquisition and best practices for teaching spoken language to children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Dr. Grantham holds a master’s degree in education of the deaf from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a PhD in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a member of the Association of College Educators for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the American Cochlear Implant Alliance.

Through the PACS program, Dr. Grantham has regularly collaborated with CID leadership and staff. She has played a critical role in maintaining a strong relationship between CID and Washington University — historic partners in the education of teachers of the deaf, pediatric audiologists, speech-language pathologists, early intervention providers and speech and hearing researchers.

”CID is such a cherished place to children, families, teachers, audiologists and the St. Louis community,” Dr. Grantham said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead such a venerable institution. With the support of its deeply-committed board of directors, and its exceptional staff, I look forward to positioning CID for the future while still honoring its rich legacy to deaf education.”

“Heather’s passion for deaf education, her appreciation for CID’s rich history and her bold vision make her uniquely qualified for this position,” CID executive director emeritus Robin Feder said. “I’m confident in her leadership and look forward to working with her to sustain CID’s reputation for excellence and innovation.”

Watch an interview with Heather Grantham.

PART 1       PART 2   

portrait of CID executive director Robin Feder

Robin Feder

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EMERITUS

Robin M. Feder, MS, CFRE

Robin Feder first visited CID in the 1950s when her mother, Joy Melman, was a teacher in the school. As an undergraduate student, she volunteered to pick up residential students from the airport after holidays. She earned her master’s degree in the then-CID-based Washington University deaf education program in 1975, studying under Drs. S. Richard Silverman and Audrey Simmons-Martin. For the next 12 years, she worked as a CID teacher, parent educator and program coordinator. In 1987, at the request of then-executive director Dr. Donald Calvert, Mrs. Feder became CID’s coordinator of development and public information.

Starting with file boxes full of 3×5-inch cards, she built a robust electronic database and initiated the CID Sponsors $1,000+ program, which has raised more than $46 million over 34 years. She became CID director of development in 1994. The same year, she created the first CID Ultimate Picnic gala, later rebranded CID OUT LOUD! These events have raised more than $5.4 million over 26 years.

In 2003, the board named Robin Feder CID’s first female executive director. Under her leadership, school enrollment grew from 82 students in 2003 to 235 students in 2018. She expanded professional development to reach more than 4,000 educators annually. As director of development, she had spearheaded a successful $31 million capital campaign to build a new campus. Later she helped raise $25 million for endowment and renovations in the CID centennial campaign. CID’s Joanne Parrish Knight Family Center, the Anabeth and John Weil Early Childhood Center, the Virginia J. Browning Primary School, the Martha E. Jones Pediatric Audiology Center and the Emerson Center for Professional Development owe their existence to Robin’s work and talent for helping generous donors leave a lasting legacy for the children they care about. Appreciative CID board members established the Robin M. Feder Endowed Scholarship Fund in 2014.

Feder is a member of the National Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). In 2019, she earned a Business Management for Nonprofit Leaders certificate from Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School in partnership with the United Way of Greater St. Louis, the Brown School of Social Work, the Social Venture Partners of the Regional Business Council and Citi. In 2017, she received a Ladue High School Local Hero Award.

On June 7, 2021, she assumed her new role as executive director emeritus to help with the transition to CID’s new executive director, Heather Grantham, PhD.