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Freshwater Society Board of Directors

Todd Bolin, Deephaven, MN, Chair
Mr.Bolin leads Bolin Marketing, a firm founded by his father. His title in the company is president and chief operating officer, but he says that if he chose his own title it would come from a list that includes: “Keeper of the Flame, head cheerleader, point guard, change agent, Plotter of Meaningful Courses.” If he wrote an autobiography he would want to title it “Building on Success.”  He has been chairman of the board of governors for the Twin Cities chapter of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and was recognized as one of “40 under 40” emerging business leaders by CityBusiness magazine in 1998. He has been a board member of the Midwest chapter of the Children’s Miracle Network, and he has served on the Freshwater Society board since 2002.

Tom Gapinske, Lino Lakes, MN, Vice Chair
Mr. Gapinske is chief operating officer for the Institute for Environmental Assessment, which provides health-related property, risk and engineering controls for property owners and managers. He earned a bachelor’s degree in water resources, has done graduate work in hydrogeology and worked as a hydrogeologist for several firms. He has been active in the Renewable Fuels Association and the National Brownfields Association. He joined the Freshwater Society board in 2003.

Donald R. Theissen, Ph.D., Woodbury, MN, Secretary
Mr. Theissen earned a doctorate in organic chemistry at the University of Minnesota and spent his entire working career, from 1958 to 1996, at 3M. During his last seven years at 3M, he was the firm’s director of corporate product responsibility. His job was to help 3M ensure its products were safe, healthy and environmentally responsible. He joined the Freshwater Society board in 2002, and is the board’s secretary. He believes preserving freshwater resources is the world’s most important environmental challenge, and he has worked to ensure balance and objectivity in the Freshwater Society’s work.

Tom Skramstad, Excelsior, MN, Treasurer
Mr. Skramstad joined the Freshwater Society board in 2006. He has held executive positions with a number of Twin Cities firms, including Target, Deluxe and Apogee. He has been active in the Citizen’s Lake Monitoring Program for 15 years, has served as chair of the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District’s board and is a former special deputy with the Hennepin County Water Patrol. He also has served as a director of the City of Shorewood’s Planning Commission, as board member of Lutheran Social Services’ Advisory Committee, as president of the Blake School Alumni Association and as vice chair of Hearthstone of Minnesota, a program for troubled youth. 

Blyth Berg Brookman, Excelsior, MN, Vice Chair of Programs
Ms. Brookman, a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2002, has worked as a financial advisor for 30 years and is a partner and vice president of investments for the Hansen and Anderson Wealth Management Group of Wachovia Securities. Raising her family on the shores of Lake Minnetonka increased her interest in water quality, the environment and environmental education. She has been active in efforts by the St. Martins By-the-Lake Episcopal Church to assist needy people around the world.

Directors

Bruce Bomier, Anoka, MN
Mr. Bomier is founder and president of the Anoka-based Environmental Resource Council. It is a nonprofit organization devoted to safeguarding both social and physical environments. He is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Environmental Assessment and is the founder and former executive director of the Minnesota Institute of Public Health, now a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. He has been a member and vice chair of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, and in the 1980s he was a regular commentator for Minnesota Public Radio on issues involving health and the environment. He has been a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2004.

Richard S. Caldecott, Ph.D., Stillwater, MN, Emeritus Director
Dr. Caldecott, a University of Minnesota professor emeritus, helped organize the Freshwater Society and has been a member or emeritus member of its board since 1969. He helped found the university’s College of Biological Sciences and served as its dean from 1965 to 1984. He earned a doctorate in Genetics at the University of Washington, and he has served as a member, officer, delegate or consultant to a host of organizations, including: the International Atomic Energy Agency, the first Atoms for Peace Conference, the Argonne University Association, the Biotechnology Feasibility Study Group, Partnership for Sustainability and the Carnelian-Marine-St.Croix Watershed board.

Robert Elde, Ph.D., Edina, MN
Dr. Elde has been dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences since 1995, and he is a professor of neuroscience. He earned a doctorate in anatomy at the University of Minnesota, and he received an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. As dean, he created “Biodale,” a suite of advanced research services available to local companies, faculty and students; led the establishment of University Enterprise Laboratories, a privately funded start-up program for biotech companies; created programs to enhance undergraduate education; and worked to recruit and retain K-12 science teachers in outstate Minnesota. He has been a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2003.

Paul Floyd, JD, Roseville, MN
Mr. Floyd is a shareholder in the Wallen-Friedman & Floyd law firm and has practiced law in Minneapolis since 1984. His specialties include general business and corporate law, employment and lawyer ethics. He earned a master’s degree in divinity at Bethel Theological Seminary in New Testament studies and a law degree at William Mitchell College of Law. He was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, and he has written about law firm break-ups and attorney-client privilege. He has been a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2007.

Richard G. Gray, Sr., D.Sc., Plymouth, MN
Mr. Gray had a concern – an algal bloom that afflicted Lake Minnetonka in the 1960s – that became an idea – the establishment of a freshwater biological institute – that grew into a lifelong passion – the protection and conservation of all types of water resources. He was the guiding force behind a group of concerned citizens who traveled throughout Minnesota to raise awareness about threats to water and the environment. The group, which eventually became the Freshwater Society, raised $4 million in gifts, built the Freshwater Biological Institute and donated it to the University of Minnesota. In his professional career, Mr. Gray was chief executive officer of the IDS Mutual Fund Group and founder of Zero-Max Industries. He has written a regular column – “Passwords” – in the Freshwater Society newsletter for four decades. In addition to the Freshwater Society, he has served a number of other environmental organizations, including: the Center for the Great Lakes, Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, the University of Minnesota Arboretum, Hennepin County Parks Foundation and the Lamont Doherty Geophysical Laboratory at Columbia University.

Stuart E. Grubb, PG, Stillwater, MN
Mr. Grubb is a senior hydrogeologist with AMEC Geomatrix in Minneapolis.  He works with clients in mining, brownfield redevelopment, watershed management and the water supply industry.  As an environmental consultant, his work has ranged from advising on large road construction projects with agencies such as the Metropolitan Airports Commission and the Minnesota Department of Transportation to evaluating storm water and surface water infiltration rates for residential and commercial projects. He is president of the Minnesota Ground Water Association, serves on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Environmental Innovations Advisory Council and has been a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2006.

JoEllen L. Hurr, Long Lake, MN, Emeritus Director
Ms. Hurr has been a member of the Freshwater Society board since 1989. She is a former elementary school teacher who has committed her time and energy to public service, wise land use and the environment. She served on the Orono City Council from 1979 to 1984, and was planning and zoning administrator for Medina and the City of Minnetonka Beach. She has been a member or officer of a number of groups, including the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission, the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District and the citizens advisory committee of the North Shore Management Board. She served on the steering committee that helped establish the Lake Superior Coastal Program in 1999, was the first elected chair of the council that manages the program and remains a member of the council. The Coastal Program is a collaboration between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Two governors appointed her to the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources.

Barbara Luikens, M.D., Long Lake, MN
Dr. Luikens, a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2003, is a radiologist at Park Nicollet Clinic. She earned a medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 1984. Before becoming a physician, she worked as an interpretive naturalist at the Minnesota Zoo and was coordinator and development director for the American Heart Association. She is a member of a number of environmental organizations, including: the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, the Smithsonian Museum, the Minnesota Zoo, the Science Museum of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center and the Three Rivers Park District.

John Packard, Excelsior, MN
Mr. Packard has spent his entire professional career with the Culligan water treatment firm. He started out in 1969 performing clerical duties for the Culligan Soft Water Service Company in Minneapolis, and by 1986 was president of the firm made up of 18 Culligan dealerships, a bottled water production facility and a data systems subsidiary. Since 1988, he has been president of Sterling Water Inc., a collection of four Culligan dealerships. He has served on the Freshwater Society board since 2000 and is a former board chairman. He has served on the boards of the Water Quality Association and the Water Quality Research Foundation, as well as the board of the Minnetonka Yacht Club and the executive board of the Viking Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Mary Safar, Orono, MN
Ms. Safar, a member of the Freshwater Society board since 2003, is a long-time Lake Minnetonka resident and community advocate who has given generously of her time as a volunteer with a number of health care and educational organizations. Earlier in her career, she taught elementary school.