Board Members

Miran is a prominent Fundraiser of the Arts and community volunteer. She has garnered widespread praise as a versatile singer of opera, symphony, chamber and recital music. Miran has performed at The Grand Center Gala, St. Louis Symphony fund raising concerts, UMSL concert series, the Art and Education Gala, and the Sheldon Classical Series. She performs regularly with Chamber Music Society of St. Louis as well as the Innsbrook Institute Summer Music Academy and Festival and the Booneville Missouri River Music Festival. After receiving a Music Performance and Science degree from University of Houston, she won a position in the Houston Grand Opera performing in more than 30 productions. Distinguished performance occasions have included a concert gala for former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and additional appearances at recitals for international diplomats and politicians at the Missouri State Capitol. Miran was often featured in the KFUO Classical Radio Broadcasting Series “From The Garden Live” and at the 2005 St. Andrew’s Gala. A passionate advocate for musical education, she has participated as a performer in benefit concerts for the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival and helped spearhead a benefit celebrating the 30thanniversary of the highly acclaimed St. Louis Children’s Choir.

Recognized as an internationally known expert on endoscopic carpal tunnel surgery and anatomy and a leader in Hand, Elbow and Shoulder surgery, Dr. Mitchell Rotman enjoys a strong background in music as well. As a Board Certified Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Rotman specializes in total care of the hand, elbow, and shoulder, including pediatric and congenital deformities, joint replacement, arthroscopy, nerve and microsurgery. He has authored numerous articles in the medical literature and is in demand as a speaker at national medical meetings. Dr. Rotman majored in Biology and Music as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana graduating cum laude and attended the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. A hand surgery fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine brought him to St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Rotman currently serves as Associate Clinical Professor of Occupational Medicine at St. Louis University and on the staff at St. Louis Spine and Orthopedic Surgery Center, Des Peres Hospital, Timberlake Surgery Center and is a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. When not practicing medicine and spending time with his family, Dr. Rotman performs with the St. Louis Philharmonic as a member of the horn section.  

Milton P. Wilkins holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School 1971 and a BA degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA 1969. Milton’s professional career prior to joining Roman, Butler, Fullerton & Co. includes positions with the First National Bank of Chicago in electronics and aerospace commercial lending 1971-1972; with the international management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. 1972-1975; and with Monsanto Co. 1976-1997 where, as a member of the senior management group, he held positions as Regional Director of Latin America of the Agricultural Co., V. P. of the Plant Sciences Division, and V. P. of Corporate Development in the corporate mergers and acquisitions group. Upon retiring from Monsanto in 1997, Milton joined Roman, Butler, Fullerton, & Co. as a partner in the firm. In regard to civic activities, Milton currently serves on the Finance Council and Investment Committee of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, is a member of the Board of Trustees of Cardinal Glennon Hospital Foundation where he has served as Treasurer; a member of the Board of Trustees of the St. Louis Science Center where he serves as chair of the finance committee; a member of the St. Louis County Retirement Board where he serves on the investment committee of the $400 million public employees pension plan; and a member of the Board of Directors of KETC-Channel 9 where he has served as Chairman of the Board. Milton also has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Louis Priory School; of St. Louis University High School where he served as chair of the investment committee; and Maryville University where he served as a chair of the investment committee. He also has served as a Commissioner of the St. Louis Airport Commission and as a member of the national Board of Directors of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Milton is a native of St. Louis and a graduate of St. Louis University High School. He lives in Creve Coeur with his wife, Nina Smiley Wilkins.    

Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin is Music Director Laureate of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), Directeur Musical Honoraire of the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL), Conductor Laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, and Artistic Consultant to the Las Vegas Philharmonic. He maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting and is active as a composer, author, and educator. To celebrate his 80th birthday, he is returning to orchestras he led as Music Director, including the DSO, ONL, SLSO, and National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, DC). Additional 2024-25 highlights include the New York Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonia, National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symfoniorkester, Jersusalem Symphony, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Moreover, his composition Schubertiade: An Orchestral Fantasy and his arrangement of Scarlatti keyboard sonatas are receiving world premieres this season. Slatkin has received six Grammy awards and 35 nominations. Naxos recently reissued Vox audiophile editions of his SLSO recordings featuring the works of Gershwin, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev. Other Naxos recordings include Slatkin Conducts Slatkin—a compilation of pieces written by generations of his family—as well as works by Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Berlioz, Copland, Borzova, McTee, and Williams. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Slatkin also holds the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He has been awarded the Prix Charbonnier from the Federation of Alliances Françaises, Austria’s Decoration of Honor in Silver, and the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton. He received the ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award for his debut book, Conducting Business (2012), which was followed by Leading Tones (2017) and Classical Crossroads: The Path Forward for Music in the 21st Century (2021). His latest books are Eight Symphonic Masterworks of the Twentieth Century (Rowman & Littlefield, spring 2024) and Eight Symphonic Masterworks of the Nineteenth Century (fall 2024), comprising essays that supplement the score-study process.  

Larry practices law in the St. Louis firm Thompson Coburn. He focuses in the private client services area with a concentration on estate planning and charitable giving as well as representation of exempt organizations. He is a nationally known authority on estate planning and planned giving and a frequent speaker around the country to professional groups. He has been retained by the Internal Revenue Service to provide continuing legal education programs to Internal Revenue Service estate and gift tax attorneys. Larry appears annually on several American Bar Association-American Law Institute estate planning programs and has spoken at many other national tax institutes, including the Notre Dame Tax Institute, the University of Miami Heckerling Estate Planning Institute and the Southern Federal Tax Institute. He is an adjunct professor at the Washington University School of Law where he has taught both estate and gift taxation and fiduciary income taxation. A former chair of the American Bar Association Tax Section Fiduciary Income Tax Committee, Larry is current chair of several Tax Section charitable planning subcommittees. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of its Charitable Planning Committee. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America® 2009 (Copyright 2009 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.) in the field of Trusts and Estates. He was selected in the 2009 edition of Chambers USA in Wealth Management: Eastern Region – National. Larry is also the creator of Tiger Tables actuarial software, which is widely used by tax lawyers and accountants as well as the Internal Revenue Service. A passionate devotee of classical music, Larry is an accomplished pianist and has studied conducting. He conducts the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on a yearly basis in a Special Events concert that he sponsors. He has serves on the Executive Board St. Louis Symphony and on the Board of the St. Louis Zoo as well. Larry lives in St. Louis with his wife Cheryl and daughter Nina.  

Charles has enjoyed a varied career as both a musician and optometrist. As an undergraduate he studied piano at Penn State University, beginning his harpsichord studies through private lessons with the legendary Igor Kipnis.   In the process of earning a Ph.D. in Historical Performance Practice at Washington University in Saint Louis Missouri, he studied with Trevor Pinnock.   More recently, Charles has worked with Webb Wiggins and Lisa Crawford at the Oberlin Conservatory.  He plays regularly in Saint Louis with ensembles and has performed across the country with recent concerts in Chicago IL, Saratoga NY, Bennington VT, Louisville, KY and Liberty Mo in their Baroque music JEMS Fest.   In April 2010, he performed a solo recital at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and in October 2011 performed a solo recital and Master class on Elizabethan Virginal Music at Oberlin Conservatory. He also recorded the “Tisdale Virginal Book”, music of the Elizabethan period, on his 400 year old Italian Virginal which will be released as a CD in 2012.     His international appearances include performances in The Netherlands, Germany and Costa Rica. In addition to his musical career, Dr. Metz graduated from University of Missouri School of Optometry.   He established his own practice, Metz Eyecare in O’Fallon Missouri.   Nine years later he became a franchise affiliate of Clarkson Eyecare and opened two offices in the O’Fallon area.    In 2002 he sold his offices to Clarkson Eyecare and joined the Board of Carkson Eyecare.    Now retired from seeing patients on a regular basis, Dr. Metz continues to do charitable work seeing patients through the Clarkson  Eyecare Foundation in community outreach programs and the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club.  

Karen retired as Division Director of the Capitol Litigation Division of the Missouri Public Defender System in August of 2016 having served more than 30 years. She received her B.A. in History from Xavier University and Juris Doctor from St. Louis University School of Law. After graduating from law school, she worked in the St. Louis City Public Defender’s Office. In1989 Karen joined the team in Capitol Litigation Division and was soon appointed Supervisor handling capital murder cases and supervising an office staff of thirteen. In 1996 she was appointed Division Director where she continued to handle a caseload of capital murder cases, supervised a staff of over 100 in offices across the state and participated in upper-level management decision-making as well as personnel decisions. Karen has presented at training conferences for the following organizations- Missouri State Public Defender System, Illinois State Public Defender System, Western Trial Advocacy Institute, Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Bryan Schechmeister Death Penalty College, The Missouri Bar, Missouri Juvenile Justice Association and Missouri Office of State Courts Administration. Karen serves on the board of the Scottish St. Andrew Society of Greater St. Louis, currently as Secretary, and chaired several of its committees. She has received numerous professional awards including the Clarence Darrow Award, St. Louis University School of Law Lew Kollias Award and recognition from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. Karen lives in University City with her husband Allan Stewart who is a Principal in the law firm of Stewart, Mittleman & O’Rourke, LLC.  

Wendy is a Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager with Bank of America Private Bank in St. Louis, Missouri. Wendy combines deep investment acumen, technical insight, and a passion for helping people, designing tailored portfolios to pursue their objectives more effectively. With more than 30 years of experience, she works closely with high-net-worth families, and nonprofit foundations and endowments. Her special interests include Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Investing; traditional and alternative investments, including private equity; and non-profit governance. Prior to joining Bank of America Private Bank, Wendy served as Executive Vice President at a boutique investment advisor, Terril & Company, in St. Louis. Previously, she was an Executive Director and Client Advisor with J.P. Morgan. Her career also includes 10 years of experience consulting to nonprofits in St. Louis, first with Mercer and then with Asset Consulting Group. Earlier, Wendy served as a Banker with J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Houston. She gained valuable institutional consulting knowledge with State Street Global Advisors in Boston, where she was a Principal. She began her wealth management career in 1992 at Ameriprise Financial (IDS/American Express), also in Boston. Wendy earned her M.B.A. in Finance from Vanderbilt University and her B.A. in East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. Wendy holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA®) designation. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® certificant, a designation awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Wendy holds a number of volunteer leadership positions. She serves on the board of the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, is a co-founder and current board member of the St. Louis Women in Investments Network and is a co-founder of the Responsible Investing Collaborative of St. Louis.  

Carter is a veteran communications and management consultant who advises leading business, financial and non-profit organizations. Over his career, he has managed strategic communications efforts for Fortune 100 companies and others, including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Southwestern Bell, Emerson Electric, Anheuser-Busch and Advantage Capital Partners. At the St. Louis Symphony, he served as director of communications where his role included supporting fund-raising and marketing efforts by helping the news media and other stakeholders understand the institution’s financial issues and business plan to address them.   Carter’s career includes 14 years at Fleishman-Hillard, one of the world’s leading full-service public relations firms.  From 1990 to 2000, he managed worldwide support for two of the firm’s largest clients. He also has worked at Advantage Capital, a specialized venture capital firm that uses state and federal tax credits to raise private funds for investment in economically distressed communities. Before moving to St. Louis, Carter served as an editor at the Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News and Miami Herald. (As a result, he still takes grammar and punctuation seriously.) In addition to joining the USO of Missouri advisory board earlier this year, his community, non-profit and professional affiliations have included the United Way of Greater St. Louis, Gateway Center for Giving, and the Better Business Bureau. He also served three years as national sponsorship chairman for the Porsche Club of America, an independent, non-profit organization with more than 75,000 members in the United States and Canada. He has been active in entrepreneurial education and mentoring through the Missouri Venture Forum and the Center for the Acceleration of African-American Business. Carter and his wife, Cathy, live with their two dogs in Des Peres.