Board Members and Officers

Thomas J. Spulak, Chairman and President: Thomas J. Spulak is a partner in the law firm King & Spalding LLP in the Government and Public Policy Practice Group in Washington, DC. Before joining King & Spalding, he spent twelve years as a partner at Shaw Pittman LLP, also in Washington, DC. Mr. Spulak served as Outside Counsel to the Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to entering private practice he served as Democratic Staff Director and General Counsel of the House Committee on Rules as well as General Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives serving most of that time under the Chairmanship of Claude Pepper. He served as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Florida Senate Congressional Apportionment Committee and District Representative for Congressman Pepper in his Miami office. Mr. Spulak attended the School of Politics and Public Affairs at the University of Miami where he graduated in 1977. He received his Juris Doctor in 1982 from Florida State University College of Law. Mr. Spulak devotes a considerable amount of time in the service of non-profit entities. In addition to the Claude Pepper Center he serves as Chairman of the Hospice Foundation of America and is a Board member of the Ethics Resource Center.
Irene Hudak, Executive Vice President and Treasurer: Irene Hudak was Controller and Campaign Treasurer for Senator Pepper. She managed both his professional and personal finances for many years and until the time of his death. Mrs. Hudak received her M.B.A. from Northwestern University in Illinois. She has been a member of the National Association of Legal Administrators, National Association of Hospital Administrators, National Society of Tax Professionals, and the National Society of Professional Women. On June 27, 2007 Mrs. Hudak received the Governor’s Point of Light Award for volunteering to care for foster children and teenage mothers and has received awards for her charity work as a foster parent for the Catholic Service Bureau. Mrs. Hudak has been listed in the Who’s Who and Why of Successful Florida Women.
Stephen R. MacNamara, J.D., Secretary: Stephen R. MacNamara, J.D. has worked with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and served as Special Assistant to a U.S. Senator. He was also a Special Assistant to the Florida Senate in 1982, primarily involved in reapportionment and served for a brief period in 1992 as the Federal Government’s Florida expert in that area. MacNamara was appointed Secretary of the Department of Business Regulation under Governor Bob Martinez and succeeded Governor Lawton Chiles as the Director of the Collins Center for Public Policy. He served for three years as the Associate Dean of the Florida State University College of Law. He was the General Counsel and Media Consultant to No Casinos, Inc. founding President of the Coalition for Family Safety and founding and immediate past president of the Florida Association of Health Plans. For eight years he assisted the Miami Herald in its annual ranking of the Florida Legislature. During the 1999 Legislative Session he was asked to serve as the first Professor in Residence for the Florida House of Representatives and during the 2000 Session served in the position of Chief of Staff for the Florida House under Speaker John Thrasher. MacNamara served as the Executive Director of the Claude Pepper Foundation and Claude Pepper Center in 2005 and 2006. He served as Associate Vice President in Academic Affairs at Florida State University and is an Associate Professor of Communications where he specializes in mass media law issues and political communications strategies.
John T. (Tom) Herndon, Executive Director: In a state government career that spanned 32 years, Tom Herndon served at the highest levels of management in Florida government including key positions in the Executive Branch, the Legislature and the Cabinet. A Florida native, Mr. Herndon started his government career working as a child abuse counselor in his hometown of St. Petersburg. He ended his public service as the Executive Director of the Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA), managing $125 billion dollars of the State’s investments and pension fund assets. The breadth of his public service to Florida is truly unique in that no other senior state official has served in as many powerful and high profile positions for both Democratic and Republican administrations. He also enjoys the rare experience of having served as a senior official in all three aspects of Florida’s fiscal system. His unique and intimate understanding of Florida’s planning and budgeting process is unparalleled. He has served on the Board of Directors numerous national organizations including the National Association of State Budget Officers, Council of State Planning Agencies, National Association of State Tax Administrators, Council of Institutional Investors, National Association of State Investment Officers, and was twice appointed by the NYSE to the Pension Manager’s Advisory Board.
James A. Brennan, Jr.: James A. Brennan, Jr. is Chairman of the Board of Brennan Construction Corporation, a Florida corporation organized in 1940. As Chairman, Brennan did most of the general contracting work for Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley of the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida. Mr. Brennan attended the University of Havana in Cuba. In 1963 Mr. Brennan was employed by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. He later became the Honorary Vice Consul of the Republic of Panama and Executive Assistant to the U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee until its Chairman, Claude Pepper, passed away in May 1989. Mr. Brennan is a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of American Savings Loan Association of Florida, former Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union Bank of Florida, and was also the Receiver for two Federal Judges. As a consultant to Brennan Realty, Inc. Mr. Brennan brings a wide range of experience dealing with the Federal, State and Local Governments.
Frances H. Campbell: Frances Campbell was Chief of Staff to Congressman Pepper for his final decade in office. She served as President of the Foundation from 1989 to 2004. She also served as Executive Director of the Claude Pepper Center at Florida State University and was formerly the Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Commission in Washington, D.C. Ms. Campbell graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Government. She did graduate work in Executive Management of Not-For-Profit Organizations at Florida State University. Ms. Campbell served as a Director of the Florida State University Foundation, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Zonta and has been listed in Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in The World.
Talbot (Sandy) D’Alemberte: Talbot D’Alemberte is an honors graduate of the University of Florida, class of 1961. He was chosen President of Florida State University in 1994 and served as Dean of the Florida State University College of Law from 1984 until 1989. President D’Alemberte is a past president of the American Bar Association and past president of the American Judicature Society. He served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1966 to 1972, Chairman of the Florida Commission on Ethics 1974-1975, and Chairman of the Florida Consitutional Revision Commission 1977-1978. He is the author of The Florida State Constitution (Greenwood Press 1991). He has written on a wide variety of subjects, including free speech and legal ethics. He retired as president of Florida State University in 2002 after eight years of service.
Heather Greenaway: Heather Greenaway is Vice President of DDC Advocacy in Alexandria, VA. Ms. Greenaway has many years of experience in managing and executing media activity at the local level. She manages key local grasstops and earned media efforts at DDC, as well as provides strategic counsel and support to clients. Prior to working with DDC Advocacy she served as Senior Media Manager at Direct Impact and for Edelman PR managing a wide range of clients and public relations efforts. Greenaway also served as Press Officer for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), where she managed all media correspondence and conducted press conferences across the State of Florida.
Tina Pepper: Tina Pepper was born in Tampa, Florida and was the fourth of five children born to Raymon and Aurora Toledo who immigrated to Tampa from Spain in the early 1900’s. Mrs. Pepper attended school in Tampa and was valedictorian of her senior class. In 1943, she moved to Miami, Florida to work in Passenger Services for Pan Am Airlines. On her first day at work at the Miami Airport she met Frank Pepper. Mrs. Pepper married Frank Pepper three months later on Christmas Eve in 1943 in Tallahassee, Florida. Tina and Frank Pepper were married for fifty-seven years until Frank’s death in 2001. They had two sons, Joe and Denson. Frank Pepper worked for twenty-seven years as a news anchor and originated the Good Morning Show for WCTV in Tallahassee, Florida. Covering a span of forty years Mrs. Pepper worked for The Florida Lime Rock Institute, the Florida Road Builders Association, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Florida Legislature. Mrs. Pepper succeeded Frank Pepper as a Director of the Claude Pepper Foundation and also serves as a consultant to the Claude Pepper Center. Senator Pepper was the eldest of the Pepper children. He was followed by Joseph Bradford, Sarah Evelyn, and Frank William Pepper.
Branson Willis: Branson Willis is the son of Sarah Pepper Willis and the nephew of Senator Pepper. Mr. Willis is an Investment Counselor formally with Josephthal, Lyon and Ross and AG Edwards and owns Branson Willis Investment Counseling. He is a Certified Business and Personal Tax Preparer and a graduate of Florida State University. He is a U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command, Viet Nam veteran and was a member of the first B-52 Combat Wing in Air Force history.

Board of Advisors

Board of Advisors
Corinne C. (Lindy) Boggs
Robert N. Butler
Richard A. Gephardt
Bob Graham
Claudette Pepper Hallam
John Paul Hammerschmidt
William R. Hazard
David Lawrence, Jr.
Joseph W. Pepper
Jeffrey A. Prussin
Judith A. Prussin
Henry A. Waxman
Robert C. Webster

Staff Members of the Pepper Foundation

John T. (Tom) Herndon, Executive Director Email: tom-herndon@comcast.net | Phone: (850)/644-9309

Tom Herndon serves as Executive Director of the Claude Pepper Foundation and Executive Director of the Claude Pepper Center. In a state government career that spanned 32 years, Tom Herndon served at the highest levels of management in Florida government including key positions in the Executive Branch, the Legislature and the Cabinet. A Florida native, Mr. Herndon started his government career working as a child abuse counselor in his hometown of St. Petersburg. He ended his public service as the Executive Director of the Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA), managing $125 billion dollars of the State’s investments and pension fund assets. The breadth of his public service to Florida is truly unique in that no other senior state official has served in as many powerful and high profile positions for both Democratic and Republican administrations. He also enjoys the rare experience of having served as a senior official in all three aspects of Florida’s fiscal system. His unique and intimate understanding of Florida’s planning and budgeting process is unparalleled. He has served on the Board of Directors numerous national organizations including the National Association of State Budget Officers, Council of State Planning Agencies, National Association of State Tax Administrators, Council of Institutional Investors, National Association of State Investment Officers, and was twice appointed by the NYSE to the Pension Manager’s Advisory Board.

Larry Polivka, Ph.D., Scholar in Residence Email: lpolivka2@fsu.edu | Phone: (850)/645-7835

Larry Polivka serves as Scholar in Residence of the Claude Pepper Foundation focusing his efforts on issues relating to long-term care and retirement security. Throughout his career Dr. Polivka has made many important contributions in the areas of gerontology education, research and service. He has spent over 30 years informing students, researchers, policy makers and the public about critical aging issues including long-term care, affordable health care, and economic security for America’s older adults. Dr. Polivka served as Associate Director and Associate Professor in the School of Aging Studies, College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida from 2003 to 2009 and as Director of the Florida Policy Center on Aging from 1992 to 2009. He also served as a Consultant to the U.S. Administration on Aging and as Assistant Secretary for Aging and Adult Services, Policy Coordinator for Health, Human Services and Public Safety in the Florida Governors Office from 1986 to 1989 and as Staff Director of the Governor’s Committee on Aging. Dr. Polivka has written numerous reports, invited articles, book chapters, book review essays, technical papers, journal articles, newspaper articles and has presented at a host of professional meetings. He has also served on numerous committees and advisory councils including the White House Conference on Aging, American Society on Aging, National Council on Aging and Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. Dr. Polivka has received many awards and honors from the American Society on Aging, The Gerontological Society of America and most recently is the recipient of the 2009 Clark Tibbits Award on February 27, 2009 at the Annual Association for Gerontology in Higher Education Conference. The Clark Tibbits Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of gerontology and geriatric education by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

Monica R. Laughlin, Office Manager Email: mlaughlin@fsu.edu | Phone: (850)/644-9309

Monica Laughlin joined the staff of the Claude Pepper Foundation in 1993 to support its administrative operations and program management. In 1997 the Pepper Foundation founded the Claude Pepper Center at Florida State University where she assumed the administrative, financial, and human resource support operations of the Center. At the Pepper Center she works with staff to support the development and implementation of its programs, symposia and conferences. She also continues to support the administrative operations of the Pepper Foundation.