The Steering Committee supports the vision and goals of the John Edwin Mroz Global Leadership Institute. Its role is non-fiduciary and it serves as a primary advisor to the Bennett Director of the Mroz Institute.
Aimee Arias
Aimee Arias, Ph.D., was appointed the dean of the College of Charleston School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs on July 1, 2023. In this role, Arias will build upon the school’s dedication to preparing students to become discerning, knowledgeable and engaged global citizens. An innovative leader, educator and researcher, Arias fosters collaboration in teaching and research; builds industry, community and international connections; and handles all aspects of research funding.
In her previous role as associate dean of research and creative activity in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University, Arias worked to develop a research strategic plan for FAU to increase proposals for external funding, diversify the external outlets for proposal submission, expand cross-discipline faculty collaboration and enhance the promotion of research success.
Among her achievements is the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Brazil’s Universidade Federal Fluminense to support faculty research collaborations and student exchanges. Also at FAU, Arias was assistant director of the Leon Charney Diplomacy Program. In this role, she trained students for participation in Model European Union competitions, served as the on-site advisor for National Model United Nations and created the South Florida High School Model European Union. She also served as chair of the Department of Political Science, where she developed a five-year plan focused on enriching education, promoting cultures of research and inquiry, and connecting FAU to the community and industry.
Vincent Fraley
Vincent Fraley directs communications for the College of Charleston Libraries. Prior to joining the College in 2017, Fraley authored the Philadelphia Inquirer’s syndicated weekly column, Memory Stream, and served as communications manager for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s largest independent research libraries. Previous positions include library coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania and digital projects assistant at Villanova University.
Fraley’s scholarship on the cultural history of bicycles and the sport of cycling appears in publications from Rutgers University and the University of Pennsylvania. His editorials have been published in newspapers across the country, from the San Francisco Chronicle to The Providence Journal, and he has provided commentary to the Washington Post, Voice of America and PBS’ Finding Your Roots and Who Do You Think You Are?
Larry Gillespie
Larry Gillespie was with The Coca-Cola Company for more than 32 years primarily in customer management, marketing and operations. Most of his positions were U.S. based and in one position he commuted to Latin America for five years. In the last third of his career, Gillespie worked extensively with the McDonald’s account, which is the largest global customer for Coca-Cola. His last position was vice president of Supply Chain, Operations and Business Development for the McDonalds U.S. Division (13,000 restaurants). After he retired and moved to Charleston, Gillespie opened an Italian leather retail store with its first U.S. location.
Gillespie is currently a community volunteer who is serving on the Boards of the Gaillard Center, Historic Charleston Foundation, Charlestowne Neighborhood Association, Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs (at Medical University of South Carolina) and the College of Charleston School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs. He also serves as a mentor for the Schottland Scholars at the College of Charleston.
Gillespie is a native of Wilmington, Delaware and grew up outside Pasadena, California. He attended Furman University in Greenville, S.C., and began his career in Auckland, New Zealand following school.
Theo Groh
Theo Groh studied at Franklin University Switzerland, and Saint Anselm College, where he graduated with a B.A. in politics. He also holds a Master’s in digital marketing and design from Brandeis University. After several years working in campaign politics and nonprofits, Groh started working in digital marketing. He is now a partner at Wheelhouse Web Solutions, a digital marketing company he co-founded with his two business partners. Wheelhouse provides custom web, communications and marketing services to a range of different small businesses, political and nonprofit clients. Groh also volunteers as the director of a statewide program in New Hampshire that recruits, supports and trains young people running for state and local office.
Max Kovalov
Max Kovalov, Ph.D., is the Marshall and Arlene Bennett Director of the Mroz Global Leadership Institute. He joined the faculty at the College of Charleston in 2014 where he is a visiting assistant professor in International Studies. He teaches courses on international studies, comparative democratization and international diplomacy. He is a faculty advising fellow for the Honors College and directs the College’s Model UN program.
Kovalov earned his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Oklahoma in 2013. In 2002-2004, he received the Edmund Muskie graduate fellowship awarded by the U.S. State Department. He holds a B.S. in business administration from Vinnytsia National Technical University, Ukraine.
Kovalov’s research focuses on democratization, politics of memory, populism and political institutions in post-communist states. He has published on Eastern European politics and presented at national and international conferences. His current research project is on decommunization, renaming of streets and collective memory in Ukraine.
Beatriz Maldonado
Beatriz Maldonado, Ph.D., is an associate professor of economics and international studies at the College of Charleston. Her research is broadly focused on international political economy and development with a regional emphasis on Latin America. She’s interested in political institutions, conflict and how women, especially female leaders, make and influence decisions. Maldonado’s research has been published in the European Journal of Political Economy, Oxford Development Studies, Applied Economics Letters, Social Science Quarterly and Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy.
Maldonado was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and later moved to Oklahoma. She studied at the University of Oklahoma where she received her B.A, M.A. and Ph.D. in economics.
Malte Pehl
A native of Germany, Malte Pehl, Ph.D., joined the International Studies Program in 2009. He teaches introductory and advanced courses in the International Studies and Asian Studies Programs, as well as an upper level course on South Asian politics. He serves as director of the International Studies Program.
Having previously studied law at the University of Passau in Germany and as an Erasmus Exchange student at the University of London (SOAS), and later political science of South Asia, political science and law, Pehl received his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
Prior to coming to the College of Charleston, Pehl was a visiting instructor in political science and international relations at the College of Wooster in Ohio. In 2007/2008, he held a visiting fellowship at the Center for the Study of Democracy of the University of California (Irvine). He has also held visiting fellowships at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (Hamburg), the Centre de Sciences Humaines (Delhi) and an ASIANETWORK/Mellon Faculty Enhancement Fellowship.
Pehl’s main research interests are democratization, political parties, electoral and coalition politics, development issues and federal power-sharing with a focus on South Asia and also on Germany in comparative perspective. Apart from his academic interests in these issues he has previously worked as a consultant on South Asia-related projects for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development as well as the educational organization of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB Bildungswerk).
Hilton Smith
Hilton Smith is the president and CEO of East Bay Co., LTD, and president and CEO of various real estate development and home building companies in Maryland, West Virginia and South Carolina. He graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in international finance and began his career at the World Bank in international finance. Smith joined his father-in-law, William Murray, at East Bay Company in the late 1970s and has been president since 1998.
Smith serves on the boards of the Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust, Spaulding-Paolozzi Foundation and Hollings Cancer Center of the Medical University of South Carolina. He previously chaired the South Carolina Aquarium board and is chairman emeritus. He also served on the Board of the EastWest Institute.
Smith is past chair of the College of Charleston Foundation Board and is chair of the College’s School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs (LCWA) Advisory Board. He was also a member of the Boundless Campaign Steering Committee.
Smith and his wife, Catherine, helped establish LCWA in 2004, with a lead gift from the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust. They have continued to advocate for the College, and most notably LCWA, in securing significant funding from the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust and the Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust.
Smith received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College of Charleston in 2017. The couple have two sons and three granddaughters and reside in Charleston, S.C.
Mitchell Sonkin
Mitchell I. Sonkin is a senior advisor at MBIA Insurance Corporation. He served as managing director responsible for insured portfolio management and government relations. He was also a member of the company’s Executive Policy Committee, a vice president of MBIA Inc. and a member of the Board of MBIA Insurance Corporation and Capital Markets Assurance Corporation. He also serves Chairman of the Board of the ResCap Liquidating Trust, successor to ResCap and GMAC Mortgage Corporations.
Before joining MBIA, Sonkin was a senior partner at the international law firm, King & Spalding, where he was co-chair of King & Spalding’s Financial Restructuring Group and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee. He has more than 40 years of experience in U.S. and international bond issuances, corporate reorganizations and debt restructurings and has served as a court-appointed examiner. In particular, Sonkin has played a significant role in numerous municipal, utility, insurance, airline, healthcare debt and international debt restructurings including the Anglo/ French Euro Tunnel debt reorganization.
Sonkin has lectured and served on panels on such topics as distressed debt trading, utility restructurings and life insurance company reorganizations. Prior to joining King & Spalding, Sonkin was senior partner and co-chair of the Financial Restructuring Department at the Wall Street law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
Sonkin was a founding director of the East West Institute and served on the Board as a director, corporate secretary and legal counsel over several terms totaling 15 years and thereafter as a director emeritus.
Sonkin is a cum laude graduate of the Temple University College of Liberal Arts where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and is a member of the Board of Visitors. He received his J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law and serves on the College’s Board of Advisors. He is a member of the Bar of the State of New York and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.