Leadership

Daniel J. Wilson is a historian specializing in history of medicine and history of disability. He earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, and an MA and PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He is Professor of History Emeritus at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he taught from 1978 to 2018.

"I joined PHI because I had polio in 1955 and began developing post polio syndrome in 1987. I learned about PHI through my local post polio support group and decided I needed to learn more about the condition. I joined PHI in 1996 and joined the Board in 2006.

"Part of my interest in PHI was personal, how to better live with post polio syndrome, but part of it was scholarly. Since 1990 I have been researching and writing on the history of the polio epidemics from the perspective of those of us who had polio. I have written three books on the history of polio, including Living with Polio: The Epidemic and Its Survivors (2005), and numerous scholarly articles. In addition, I have published in the area of disability history. I have also given numerous scholarly and popular presentations on polio history.

"Locally, I have served on the board of the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living, including two terms as president, and on the board of the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital. I was also a longtime member of the Lehigh Valley Post Polio Support Group and edited its newsletter before we had to disband about ten years ago.

"Before COVID, my wife Carol and I enjoyed going to local concerts, dining out, gathering with friends, and traveling, and we hope to return to those pleasures once there is a vaccine."

Emeritus Professor of Applied Behavioral Science
Director, Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence
Graziadio School of Business
Pepperdine University

2003-2010 Associate Dean of Full-Time Programs, Graziadio School
1984–2012 Pepperdine University, Chair of a number of committees and task forces

"As a polio survivor I have been aware of the work of PHI for many years. I attended PHI’s 11th International Conference in St. Louis in 2014. I was a panelist on a session titled My New Reality, which led to my further engagement with the organization and my relationship with Joan Headley. In 2017 I applied for and was accepted as a Board member.

"I was on the faculty of Pepperdine University for 32 years, in the field of Organizational Behavior until retiring in in 2012. I continued teaching one course per year in our Executive MBA program, as well as teaching part-time in Germany at the European Business School. Currently, I’m the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at the Graziadio School of Business. My position is part-time which I have held for the past three years.

"During my time in the classroom, I received a number of teaching awards including the Charles Luckman Outstanding Teaching Award. I have published dozens of research articles, presented at numerous conferences, and continue practicing as an independent consultant in the field of leadership and management.

"My interests include cooking, reading, active viewer of multiple forms of entertainment, and committed to regular exercise. I’ve been married, for 36+ years, one daughter, and two grandchildren."

Marny Eulberg, MD, earned her BS in clinical laboratory technology from South Dakota State University and MD from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She is a retired family practice physician residing in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Dr. Eulberg is polio survivor and has served on the board of PHI since 2002. She is Rotary District 5450 Polio Committee chairperson and Medical Advisor to Colorado Post-Polio Organization.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time at her cabin in the Colorado mountains and serving on the boards of several non-profits involved in healthcare to underserved, education for girls in Senegal, senior housing, and a medical clinic in Zimbabwe.

Mike Mrozowicz had a 42-year career with John Deere and has extensive experience in accounting, finance, and operations. He is a CPA and has a BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois and an MBA (finance emphasis) from the University of Nevada - Reno. He currently resides in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and has served as PHI's treasurer since 2018.

"I believe that my greatest strength is my ability to work cooperatively with others from different disciplines and backgrounds to accomplish complex organizational objectives. I am also a polio survivor (1952 at the age of 2), so I have been dealing with the after effects of polio almost all my life. I joined the Board because I felt that I had the background and experience to help PHI achieve its organizational objectives.

"I have been on the Board of a number of non-profits and have also lent my finance skills to support other non-profits.

"I particularly enjoy outdoor activities like biking, golf, and even skiing."

Paulette Bergounous graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, with an MS degree in Communications Disorders. She is owner of Navigating Personal Change, LLC with a DBA as One-Handed Solutions.

She is one of the newest members of the Board of Directors. For many years, Paulette raised awareness of post-polio and the need for worldwide eradication of polio through speaking and authoring two books. Over the past five years she has gained valuable insights while pursuing her business projects and plans to assist PHI in the strategic planning of the organization.

Paulette has been Treasurer for Sacramento Association of Speech Pathologists, Recording Secretary for the International Association of Orofacial Myology and Dean Elect for the National Speakers Association, Arizona Chapter. She was awarded the “You Light the Way” Award by parents of a Special Education student, San Juan Unified School District. Paulette also participated in the People to People Program as an Ambassador in Communication Disorders in Vietnam and Cambodia.

In her free time, Paulette enjoys traveling and spending quality time with her two rescued dogs, Elsa and Mia. She also loves to travel and experience different cultures.

Frederick M. Maynard, MD is a 1968 graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) and is a Board Certified Specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). He was a faculty member of the UMMS for 16 years and started a post-polio clinic there in 1984 and led a Post-Polio Research & Education Center for 8 years. He then served as Professor & Chairman of PM&R at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, for 6 years before moving to Marquette, Michigan, in 1999 to practice community-based PM&R.

He was drawn into the post-polio community by Gini Laurie as a speaker at the first Post-Polio & Independent Living Conference in 1981 and has been a planner and speaker at all of the subsequent ten GINI/PHI Post-Polio & Independent Living Conferences. He joined the Board of Directors in 1990 and has served as President and as Chairperson of several Board committees, including the Medical Advisory Committee. Before his retirement from medical practice in 2015, he began organizing and/or inspiring Post-Polio Health & Wellness Retreats that have been held in three states and three foreign countries. He has written the “Ask the Doctor” column for PHI’s newsletters for over 20 years and still enjoys speaking to post-polio groups. In his leisure time, he enjoys music, gardening and outdoor activities in his beloved Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Sunny Roller, MA, graduated from Central Michigan University and completed some doctoral work at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. She currently is a part time research study consultant at Michigan Medicine in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Before her official retirement in 2005, she was employed there as a Research Program Coordinator for 19 years.

Sunny has a long-held interest in helping polio survivors find the information and support they need. As a polio survivor, herself, she has been a post-polio support group facilitator since 1985; and has been actively involved with PHI since 1987, serving as a PHI Board member since 2004.

In 1997, Sunny was conferred an Honorary MD degree by the Regents of Central Michigan University. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is a member of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Ann Arbor Garden Club. She enjoys writing and publishing essays, teaching, gardening, reading, handicrafts and traveling. She writes a blog about aging well with a disability that can be accessed at www.sunnyrollerblog.com.

Dr. Carol Vandenakker Albanese is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of California, Davis, School of Medicine.  Both her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and her medical degree were earned at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation was completed at New York University Medical Center/ Rusk Institute in New York City.

Before joining the faculty at UC Davis, she held faculty positions in the Columbia University Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine and the University of Miami Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation.

She established and maintained a busy Post-Polio clinic at the University of Miami in 1994 and has continued her work with polio survivors at UC Davis since 2001.  Her research and publications have focused on exercise, post-polio syndrome and aging with disability. She has served as medical advisor to several polio support groups, joined the Post-Polio Health International Medical Advisory Board in 2012 and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2015.

Dr. Vandenakker serves on committees for the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Association of Academic Physiatrists, the American Board of PM&R and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Martin Wice, MD has been involved with PHI since 1987 in multiple capacities, including being president of the board for eight years. He presently is on the PHI medical advisory committee. He initiated and ran the post-polio clinic at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, for 25 years before joining the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. As part of his WUMS practice, he treated post-polio patients until his retirement in July, 2019. He has lectured on post-polio syndrome locally and at the PHI international post-polio conferences. He was also medical director of the rehabilitation program at Mercy Hospital St. Louis. He maintained a general rehabilitation practice throughout his career. He served as liaison of the state physical medicine and rehabilitation societies to the American Academy of PM&R.

He received his undergraduate degree at Grinnell College, his medical degree at Northwestern University School of Medicine where he was introduced to rehabilitation at the then Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He did his internal medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and rehabilitation medicine residency at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is boarded in both internal medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation and is a fellow in the Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Wice grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He has grown twin sons, one an internist, geriatric and palliative care physician and the other a lawyer who works for the Security Exchange Commission in Washington, DC. Dr. Wice has also had an interest in cancer rehabilitation and is on the medical advisory board for the Cancer Support Community St. Louis. He collects crafts and is on the board of Craft Alliance. He plays the violin, enjoys traveling, does mindfulness/meditation/spirituality studies and attempts to stay in physical shape with exercising.