Colorado Technical
University Board of Trustees

Elise Baskel was appointed University President of Colorado Technical University in January 2022 and Senior Vice President – Colorado Technical University at Perdoceo. Elise has over 12 years of experience at CTU, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer for three years. During this time, she set and navigated the strategic direction of CTU and collaborated across the University to align the organization. Elise has overseen and worked with all areas of the university, focused on delivering on our mission and supporting students.

Before CTU, Elise spent 10 years as a business strategy consultant as well as consumer packaged goods management. Elise earned a business degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ronald E. Frieson is Chief Operating Officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In this role, Frieson leads all clinical operations of the healthcare system. Mr. Frieson previously served as President, Foundation and External Affairs leading the philanthropic efforts of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation. Prior to joining Children’s, most of Mr. Frieson’s professional career was spent in the telecommunications arena as President of Georgia Operations for the BellSouth/AT&T Corporation where he was responsible for the regulatory, legislative, public policy and external affairs areas for the company. Additionally, Mr. Frieson was the first Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for BellSouth.

Mr. Frieson is very active in civic affairs and currently serves as an advisory board member for Truist Bank Atlanta and on the boards of The University of Tennessee Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network and Zoo Atlanta. His prior board leadership includes Hands on Atlanta, the Atlanta Urban League, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the American Kidney Fund. He was also a member of the Leadership Atlanta class of 2002.

Mr. Frieson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a Finance concentration from the University of Tennessee and an MBA in Information Systems from Georgia State University.

Mark Handler has over thirty years of diversified global experience in the media sector. He has held leadership and key management roles and has participated on several senior level boards.

Mark spent 25 years with The Walt Disney Company and retired in 2009 as Executive Vice President /Managing Director International for the Walt Disney Internet Group in Burbank, CA, a position he held since 2000. Mark was previously President of Disney TeleVentures, 1995-2000, and Senior Vice President Sales and Affiliate Marketing, Disney Channel 1984-1995. From 1978 to 1984, Mark worked in executive roles for Cox Communications.

During his long and varied career, Mark spearheaded domestic and international expansion programs, developed several innovative business models, and grew start-ups into nine figure revenue bases. He has hired and developed cutting edge talent in major international and domestic territories. Mark was also responsible for the strategic divestiture of Infoseek Japan as well as several acquisitions in the digital space.

addition, Mark serves as treasurer and is a member of the Board of Directors for Hope House for the Multiple-Handicapped, Inc.

Mark has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Syracuse University and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University. Mark and his wife Priscilla reside in Beverly Hills, CA.

For nearly 30 years, Dr. Belinda Leon has worked with professional educators, students and parents in the industry of higher education. Before opening her own consulting firm, Premier Educational Consulting, she was Vice President of Academic Regulatory Affairs for Education Management Corporation (EDMC). Dr. Leon held several positions within the corporate office for 14 years related to Academic Operations. Previous to that, she worked for the New York Restaurant School, Art Institute of Houston, Nova Southeastern University, Jones College, and Florida National College in both administrative roles as well as faculty.

Dr. Leon has worked with the Latin Builders Association, Girl Scouts of America, Upward Bound at Miami Dade College, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and The City of Doral as well as local schools to provide presentations on college preparation, leadership, and youth empowerment. She is a frequent contributor to the Doral Family Journal. Dr. Leon has served on the Miami Dade County Commission on Women, Miami Dade County Public Schools Attendance and Boundary Committee, Miami Dade County’s Internal Review Panel Working Group, Women’s Fund Education Workgroup, and the City of Doral Charter Review Commission. Currently, she is an active member of Women of Tomorrow Mentors, Downtown Doral Charter School Educational Excellence School Advisory Council, and Brinker Education Initiative’s Board of Advisors.

Dr. Leon earned her Doctorate in Education Organizational Leadership from Argosy University, and her Master in Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in General Psychology degrees from Nova Southeastern University. She also earned a certificate of leadership from Harvard University’s executive program as a fellow for the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI). Belinda partnered with NHLI to complete her dissertation on the Latinas Learning to Lead Program that they offer for college age women. Dr. Leon is a widow with two daughters and lives in the city of Doral, Florida where she recently ran for City Council.

Stanley P. Mengel retired after serving 11 years as President and CEO of the Missouri Council on Economic Education and as a member of the Economics Department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Previously, Mengel was Manager of Public Affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In Ohio, Mengel was Vice President for Training with Northwestern Mutual Life. Mengel was the Ervin Pietz Professor of Economic Education at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Director of the National Center of Economic Education for Children. At the University of Akron, Mengel held the Firestone Chair and was Director of the Center for Economic Education and while at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, Mengel was Assistant Professor of Economics and later President of the Ohio Council on Economic Education. Mengel was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Stanford-Wilson Fellow at Stanford University in the Economics Department earning an M.A. and Ab.D. in Economics. Mengel's undergraduate work was at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he graduated with General Honors and Departmental Honors in both Economics and in Political Science.

Vito A. Pampalona is the Founder and President of Vito Anthony Homes, a custom home builder, real estate developer, property manager and real estate broker based in Rochester, Michigan. Born and raised on the east side of Detroit, Vito is a 1964 graduate of East Detroit High School. Pampalona was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1965 where he served through until 1967. He served in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967 with the first Air Calvary as a Door Gunner where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal (First thru Eighteenth Oak Leaf Clusters). He is a 50% service disabled combat veteran.

Pampalona is passionate about supporting injured troops. He was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of the Yellow Ribbon Fund in June 2022 after serving 17 years on their Board of Directors. The Yellow Ribbon Fund is a national non-profit that services returning wounded vets and their families. Since 2005, he has helped raise over $3,000,000 for the organization through his annual charity golf outing, and other fundraising activities. For the past 15 years, he has sat on the C.T.U. Patriot Scholarship Committee awarding over 750 scholarships to deserving wounded veterans, spouses/caregivers and dependents.

Throughout the hallways of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Pampalona is known as “Uncle Vito” – the man who hosts the annual Christmas parties at Walter Reed and Ft. Belvoir community hospital in Virginia for the wounded and their families. Since 2004, Pampalona has interacted with over 4,000 patients, caregivers and their loved ones. He was awarded the “National Good Neighbor Award” in 2011 by the National Association of Realtors for his efforts. Additionally, in 2009 he was honored with the “Builder of the Year” award by Homes for Our Troops for his ADA-built residence for an Iraq War amputee veteran.

He is a published author and accredited songwriter.

Dr. Thomas Peterman is retired from Park University where he served as Vice President for Distance Learning from 1995 to 2011. Peterman managed Park’s military voluntary education programs and initiated Park’s distance learning program. These programs served approximately 25,000 students online and face-to-face at nearly forty military bases throughout the United States. Prior to that Peterman served as Director of Library Systems for Park from 1990 to 1995.

Before moving to Park, Peterman served as Communications Division Director for the Community of Christ Church, with world headquarters in Independence, Missouri. There he was responsible for supervision of Electronic Media Production, Graphic Design (Print and Photographic), and Public Relations. He worked there for seven years.

Thomas earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Education–Instructional Development and Technology from Michigan State University, a Master of Arts in Library Science from University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Arts in Education–Classroom Teaching from Eastern Michigan University, and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Eastern Michigan University.

Previously he held several positions in education, primarily teaching at levels from elementary school through graduate school. Peterman serves as a volunteer with several organizations.

Retired as Assistant Vice Chancellor, South University, Kate has over 25 years’ experience and expertise in regional, national, state and programmatic higher education accreditation and compliance, library management, student success initiatives, strategic planning, and online integration of resources.

Kate is a seasoned featured speaker, instructor, trainer, as well as a designer and developer of college to career curriculum and assessment initiatives for many higher educational institutions.

Kate currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jeffrey L. Keefer VIVID gallery for Parkinson’s disease research and awareness, and served two terms on the National Editorial Advisory Board for Resources for College Libraries. Kate was also the founding moderator for the American Library Association’s Career School Library discussion group, and was a past winner of the National Excellence in Online Education award.

Kate holds a Master’s Degree in Library Science and Administration from State University of New York at Albany and a BS in English from Nazareth College.

Kate is committed to innovative, student centered education, adult learner success initiatives, and faculty support and training.

Dr. Marcia A. Wratcher has over three decades of experience as an executive and consultant in the higher education community, both at the traditional campus setting and online. Wratcher currently serves as the President of EDU Consulting Associates, LLC, which provides customized services to higher education institutions and learning organizations. Previously, Wratcher was the Vice President of Academic Affairs & Institutional Effectiveness at Education Management Corporation and the Director of Learning Services at Carnegie Mellon University.

Wratcher is not only dedicated to the growth of higher education institutions but also to the development of students. She has taught as a graduate professor at Northcentral University, Nova Southeastern University, Chatham College, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Marcia A. Wratcher earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology (Curriculum & Supervision) from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Science in Library Science from Duquesne University. She received her undergraduate degree (B.A. English) from Seton Hill College.