Welcome to Pepperdine University

Board of Visitors

Statement of Purpose

The Board of Visitors supports and advances the mission of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) and Pepperdine University. As ambassadors for GSEP, board members serve as advisors to the dean and faculty, introduce leaders in the educational, mental health and business community to Pepperdine, and assist with public relations on a national and global level. Members of the board contribute considerable personal and professional talents, contacts, and resources that are invaluable to the advancement of GSEP.

Board Initiatives

There are four initiatives in which interested board members can become involved. These include:

Expanding Board membership

This initiative requires all Board members to identify and encourage membership on the BOV to enhance opportunities for academic excellence and resource generation for GSEP.

Visiting Board

This committee addresses ways to facilitate interaction between faculty and students so as to utilize board members as resources in the classroom experience. Members will serve as guest lecturers, project judges, and faculty and professional advisors. These alliances between board members, faculty, and students will provide a valuable perspective that will enhance the overall educational process at GSEP.

Community Clinic Initiative

This committee addresses issues relating to the Community Clinics at the West Los Angeles Campus, the Irvine Campus, and the Encino Campus, as well as the Clinic at the Union Rescue Mission. Board members would provide support and offer ways to enhance resources to expand opportunities to serve our student practitioners and enhance service to underserved clientele.

Urban Initiative

Members of this committee will assist in the exploration possibilities for establishing an Urban Initiative through GSEP and Pepperdine University. This will include support for generating funding entities, policy knowledge and support for the under resourced in the inner city, curriculum enhancement, charter schools and mental health issues. The committee is critical in public relations and marketing for the Urban Initiative.

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Board Directory

Dr. Fereshteh Amin
Dr. Amin, a leadership coach at Amin Consulting Group, received her doctor of education in organizational leadership from GSEP in 2006. She is an officer with the Los Angeles, California chapter of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association. Amin’s dissertation was translated into Farsi and published.

Dr. Randy Clark
Dr. Clark received his doctor of education in organization leadership from GSEP in 2005 and is a former adjunct faculty member of the Graziadio School of Business Management. Clark is president of Border Foods, Inc. and a member of the Pepperdine Alumni Leadership Council. He resides in Deming, New Mexico.

Dr. James B. Douglass
Dr. Douglass received his Doctorate in Applied Statistics and Research Design from Michigan State University, has completed multiple courses of study in Oxford, and is passionate about providing mental health services to the underserved . He is an experienced financial consultant, currently serving as Second Vice President at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Ms. Carolyn M. Harrison
Ms. Harrison received her B.A. from USC and her Executive MBA from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. She currently is a student in the Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership program at GSEP. Ms. Harrison invests and manages residential real estate through Harrison Property Acquisition and Management Company. She served 18 years as administrator of the Law Offices of John Scott Matthew. Passionate about literacy and education, for the past five years Ms. Harrison has been serving as a volunteer reading instructor at Cheremoya Elementary School in Hollywood.

Dr. Rosalyn Heyman
Dr. Heyman was honored by GSEP with an honorary doctorate of laws in 2008. Her career in education was long and distinguished, and included positions as a counselor, department chair, budget consultant, business education and English teacher, assistant principal and principal. She retired from her position with the Los Angeles Unified School District as assistant superintendant of secondary education in 1990. She resides in Woodland Hills, California.

Dr. Claudette S. McLinn
Dr. McLinn received her masters of science from GSEP in 1983 and her doctor of education in organizational leadership from GSEP in 2006. Dr. McLinn is executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature, an organization advocating for multicultural children’s literature. She is life member of the American Library Associations and has chaired and served on many prestigious book award committees in the organization. Dr. McLinn has been a teacher, school librarian, district supervisor of ESEA Title V Library Services, and field administrator for elementary and secondary school libraries in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She retired from Los Angeles Unified School District in 2011. She resides in Simi Valley, California.

Dr. Michael O'Sullivan
Dr. O’Sullivan graduated from the master of arts in administration program at GSEP in 1974, and the doctor of education in institutional management program at GSEP in 1987. He recently retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District after 44 years of service. In addition, he spent the last six years as president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, serving nearly 3,000 administrators in contract negotiation and related matters, and still acts as a part time field representative for the union.

Dr. Susan Rice
Dr. Rice received her doctor of education in community college administration in 1986. Rice is an advanced certified fundraising executive and the founder and principal of SFR Consulting. She also serves Pepperdine University as a distinguished member of the Board of Regents. She resides in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Richard Sherman
Dr. Richard Sherman is a clinical psychologist who currently serves as President of the California Board of Psychology. Sherman was a past President of the California Psychological Association and the Los Angeles County Psychological Association. He has a private practice and in addition, has over the years consulted with numerous corporations and their staff, including Boeing, Maritz, and Symantec. Sherman is an author, local & national media expert, and occasional radio contributor.

Dr. Earnestine Thomas-Robertson
Dr. Thomas-Robertson is an alumna of George Pepperdine College and GSEP's doctor of education in institutional management program, for which she wrote her dissertation on "Globalizing in Community College Curricula." She is the president of the Los Angeles-Lusaka Sister City Committee, vice president of business relations for Born Ready Industries, Inc., and dean emeritus of Los Angeles Southwest College.

Dr. Marilyn Wright
Dr. Wright received both her master's from GSEP in 1989 and her doctor of psychology from GSEP in 1995. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice. An adjunct professor at GSEP for 10 years, Wright was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2005. She resides in Moraga, California.

Mrs. Wendie Young
Dr. Young is a 1985 graduate of Seaver College with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and computer science. She is the vice president of Orioxi International Corporation, a global exporting and importing company with offices around the world. Young resides with her husband, Ziegfred Young in Newport Coast, California.

Dr. Ziegfred Young
Dr. Young received his master of science in school management and administration in 1983 and his doctor of education in institutional management in 1988. He was honored with an honorary Doctor of Laws by GSEP in 2008. Young is president of Orioxi International Corporation, an exporting and importing company. He resides with his wife Wendie in Newport Coast, California.