2016-11-16



Katrina Adams

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2016 – The USTA announced the election of Katrina M. Adams as USTA Chairman of the Board, CEO and President to serve a second two-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2017. This marks the first time in the association’s 135 year history that an individual will serve a second two-year term as Chairman of the Board, CEO and President.

2017-18 USTA Board of Directors

Katrina M. Adams has served on the USTA Board of Directors for 12 years and will now serve a second consecutive two-year term as Chairman of the Board, CEO and President. Adams was the first African-American and first former professional tennis player to serve as the association’s Chairman of the Board, CEO and President. Previously, she served a two-year term as First Vice President of the USTA (2012-13), one term as Vice President (2011-12) and three consecutive two-year terms as a Director at Large (2005-10).

In the current term, Adams serves on the USTA’s Budget Committee, International Committee, Executive Committee and Compensation Committee. She also serves on the board of directors of the USTA Foundation and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Adams also is a member of the Grand Slam Board and she serves as Vice President of the ITF and is the Chairman of the ITF Fed Committee.

Prior to assuming her current role, Adams was the board liaison to the Professional Tennis Council, the USTA’s 17 sections and the USTA Foundation and USPTA. In addition, she served on the USTA Player Development Committee, the USTA Grievance Committee and the ITF Rules of Tennis Committee, and was a member of the ITF Davis Cup Committee from 2013 to 2015.

Adams played for 12 years on the WTA tour and was ranked as high as No. 67 in singles and No. 8 in doubles. She captured 20 career doubles titles. While a player, Adams served on the board of directors of the WTA as a player representative for four one-year terms and on the WTA’s Players Association for five two-year terms.

A Chicago native, Adams attended Northwestern University as an undergraduate, majoring in communications, and helped the Wildcats to a Big Ten championship in 1986. She was an NCAA All-American in 1986 and 1987, and in 1987 became the first African-American NCAA doubles champion.

Among her many accolades, Adams was honored with the WTA’s Player Service Award in 1989, 1996 and 1997, and she received the WTA Althea Gibson Award in 2003. In addition, she was inducted into the Northwestern Hall of Fame in 1998, the USTA Midwest Section Hall of Fame in 2005, the Chicago District Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008, the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012, the ITA Women’s Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014 and the USTA Eastern Section Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015. Also in 2015, she was named one of the “25 Influential Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal and as one of Sports Business Daily’s “Game Changers.”

In addition to her duties with the USTA, Adams is a contributor on CBS Sports Network’s first all-female sports show, “We Need to Talk.” She also serves as a television analyst for Tennis Channel and as a contributor to Tennis magazine and tennis.com, providing instructional articles and videos.

Moreover, since 2005 Adams has served as the Executive Director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program, a National Junior Tennis & Learning network (NJTL) chapter based in New York City.

Patrick J. Galbraith of the USTA Pacific Northwest Section will serve as First Vice President of the USTA. Galbraith has 10 years of service on the USTA Board of Directors, including three terms as an Elite Athlete Director at Large, and is currently completing his second two-year term as Secretary-Treasurer. He has served as Chair of the Budget Committee and as Vice Chair of the Investment Committee. A professional tennis player from 1989 until 2000, Galbraith is a two-time winner of the US Open mixed doubles championship. He ended 1993 as part of the No.1-ranked men’s doubles team with partner Grant Connell, and he won the World Doubles Championship in 1995. Galbraith, a member of the 1996 Davis Cup team, finished his career with 36 doubles titles. He is a Certified Financial planner (CFP®) and is currently First Vice President-Wealth Management for UBS Financial Service, Inc.

Joan E. Baker of the USTA Northern Section will serve as Vice President of the USTA; she is currently serving her second consecutive two-year term as Director at Large. Baker has a rich history of USTA organizational knowledge at both the sectional and national levels. She began serving USTA Northern as junior endorser in 1995 and served continually, ultimately serving as President and Section Delegate, 2005-06. Since then she has served on the USTA Nominating Committee, 2007-10, chairing the committee for the 2009-10 term. In her two terms as a USTA Board member, Baker served as Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Budget Committee. She is a lifelong tennis player and is passionate about the health benefits of playing the sport. She is a three-time recipient of the prestigious USTA Northern President’s Award and was inducted into the USTA Northern Hall of Fame in 2009. She is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and was the Founder and President of Advantage Benefits, Inc., an employee benefits company that helped owners maximize benefits to valued employees while containing costs.

Mark D. Ein of the USTA Mid-Atlantic Section will serve as Vice President of the USTA; he is currently completing his second consecutive term as a Director at Large. Ein is an investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist who has successfully built a series of growth companies across a diverse set of industries. In 1999, he founded and is currently CEO of an entrepreneurial investment holding company, Venturehouse Group, and has started, acquired or made large investments in several major companies including Kastle Systems (Chairman/Majority Owner), Two Harbors Investment Corporation (Vice-Chairman 2009-15, Co-Founder), Lindblad Expeditions (Chairman) and Capitol Acquisition 1, 2, and 3 (Chairman, CEO, Founder). In addition, he has invested in a wide variety of start-up and growth businesses. In 2007, Ein founded the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis. Some of the many awards and recognitions he has received for his work include the Key to the City of Washington, D.C., the Jefferson Award for Public Service, EY and NFTE Entrepreneur of the Year, D.C. Chamber of Commerce Business Leader award, induction into the USTA Mid-Atlantic Tennis Hall of Fame and a “Washington Kastles Day” proclamation five times in Washington.

Thomas S. Ho of the USTA Texas Section will serve as Secretary-Treasurer of the USTA. Ho, with six years of service on the USTA Board, is currently completing his third term, one as Director at Large and two as Vice President. Ho previously served as a Director at Large Elite Athlete, 2009-10. He also serves on the Budget Committee and the Compensation Committee as well as on the Investment Committee for the 2015-16 term. At 15, Ho was the youngest male to play in the US Open main draw, and he ultimately achieved a career-high ranking of No. 85 in singles and No. 13 in doubles. He earned a B.A. in economics in 2001 from Rice University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, Ho worked in the financial services industry with Goldman Sachs and UBS. Currently, he is a partner with Heidrick & Struggles, a global executive search firm, where he is a member of the Global Industrial, Global Financial Services and Financial Officers practice. Ho is a current member of the Texas Section Management Committee.

Fabrizio Alcobe-Fierro of the USTA Florida Section will serve his second consecutive term as Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. A lifelong tennis player and parent of competitive junior players, Alcobe-Fierro is Founder and CEO of Novus Partners, a management consulting and investment firm focusing on helping organizations engage and grow within the U.S. Hispanic market. Until recently, Alcobe-Fierro was Senior Vice President of the Univision Networks at Univision Communications Inc., the premier media company serving Hispanic America. He was responsible for overseeing the administration, human resources, on-air talent, “Teletón USA,” award-winning Education Week and the transformation of Univision Communications’ television linear networks and digital content groups. Alcobe-Fierro created and spearheaded the development of the Education Week national education initiative with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, led the “Ya es Hora” Latino citizenship and voter campaign in 2012, and launched the network’s first “Teletón USA” broadcast to raise funds to build rehabilitation centers for children with disabilities in the U.S. He brings more than 18 years of extensive experience in media and digital communications, organizational management, global leadership, and designing and implementing global human resources programs. Alcobe-Fierro joined Univision from Interpublic Group (IPG), where he was Senior Vice President of Global Compensation. He also served as secretary of IPG’s Board Compensation and Leadership Talent Committee, the Management Human Resources Committee, and co-chair of its Hispanic heritage group. During his tenure at IPG, Alcobe-Fierro made many contributions and provided leadership in all matters related to global human resources management as well as played an active role in the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Prior to joining IPG, he held various senior executive roles at Euro RSCG, WPP and Towers Watson. He holds a master of public administration degree from Columbia University and an industrial engineer title from Universidad Iberoamericana.

Jeffrey M. Baill of the USTA Northern Section will serve his first term as Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. Baill has served in many roles as a USTA National volunteer, including two terms on the Learning and Leadership Development Committee, where he led subcommittees in developing best practices for volunteers and board orientation procedures for the sections. He has served on several governance-related task forces and served a term on the USTA Nominating Committee. Baill was also Chair of the President’s Committee, a member of the Delegates and Vice Chair of the Grievance Committee. He was the inaugural recipient of the USTA Volunteer Exceptional Service Award in 2016. In the USTA Northern Section, Baill has served as Board Member, Vice President, President and Delegate. He also served as the first General Counsel for the section. He has been an active USTA League member and is the parent of a son involved in USTA junior competition. Baill has a long history of involvement on not-for-profit boards. He has served as the President of three separate Boards of Directors and was the founder of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals, an international trade association with more than 3,000 members. With more than 35 years of professional experience, Baill is currently an officer on the Hennepin County Bar Association and managing partner of Yost & Baill. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuter’s publications and is known as one of the leading authorities on insurance subrogation, having given more than 100 presentations on the subject to national audiences.

Laura F. Canfield of the USTA Middle States Section will serve her first term as Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. She has been active in the tennis industry for more than 30 years in a wide range of areas, including serving as USTA Middle States Section Executive Director, Special Liaison to the USTA President, USTA Special Projects Coordinator, Interim Executive Director with the USTA Eastern, Mid-Atlantic and Intermountain sections, tournament coordinator and circulation manager for Tennis Week magazine and Community/Schools/Player Development Coordinator for the USTA Eastern Section. Her volunteer service includes two terms on the USTA Nominating Committee, which she chaired from 2012 to 2014, eight years on the USTA Middle States Board of Directors and service on the USTA Community Tennis Association Committee. Canfield is co-founder and current director of the Bucks County Tennis Association, which provides affordable quality tennis programs to approximately two dozen parks and recreation agencies and schools throughout Bucks County, Pa., servicing more than 2,000 participants annually. She is a past president of the Princeton Tennis Program, was a longtime Board member of the Eastern Section Junior Tennis Foundation and currently chairs the Northampton Township (Pa.) Parks and Recreation Board of Directors. After winning the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) district championship in high school, Canfield earned an undergraduate degree in Recreation and Leisure Services Management at East Stroudsburg University, where she helped lead the women’s tennis team to the Pennsylvania Conference title in 1979. She also holds a graduate degree in sports administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a certificate in nonprofit management at Bucks County Community College. She was inducted into the USTA Middle States Hall of Fame in 2012 and received its prestigious Mangan Award in 2014. She was also the recipient of the USTA Mid-Atlantic Section President’s Award (2008), the East Stroudsburg University Helen G. Brown Award for Lifetime Achievement (2015) and the East Stroudsburg University Outstanding Alumni Award (2016) for her contributions to recreation and leisure services management.

Dr. Brian Hainline of the USTA Midwest Section will serve his second term as a Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. Dr. Hainline previously served on the USTA Board of Directors as a Director at Large in 2007-08, when he was Board Liaison to the Community Tennis Council. He has served as Chair of the Professional Council and Adult Community Programs Committee and has been a member of the Strategic Planning Committee and the International Committee, and he was a founding member of the Sport Science Committee. Hainline has a long history with tennis, both as a player and as a physician. He played No. 1 singles and doubles in his senior year at University of Notre Dame, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa before going on to earn his M.D. at the University of Chicago. He served as the Chief Medical Officer of the US Open Tennis Championships for 16 years and of the USTA for four years; he is currently the NCAA Senior Vice President, Sport Science Institute and Chief Medical Officer. Hainline is serving as a USTA Presidential Appointee. He is a member of the USTA Sport Science Committee and the WTA Player Development Advisory Panel. He has served as a member of the ITF Sport Science and Medicine Commission since 1993 and has been chair since 2003. Hainline has been active in raising the standard of care for athletes and is an accomplished author, having written/edited seven books plus numerous chapters and peer-reviewed articles. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology and is Clinical Professor of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine and New York University School of Medicine.

Michael J. McNulty III of the USTA Southern Section will serve his second consecutive term as a Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. He has a long history of serving as a USTA volunteer and is currently the Board Liaison to the Adult Council, a member of the Budget Committee, the International Committee, and the Strategic and Creative Planning Committee. He has been the Council Chair for the Rules Committee, a member of the Advisory Group on Committees and the Evaluations Committee, the USTA representative on the ITF Constitutional Committees, and a member of both the Constitution and Rules Committee and the Nominating Committee. The founder and an officer of the Lake Area Community Tennis Association, McNulty is the former President of USTA Louisiana and the USTA Southern Section and has served as a USTA Southern Section Delegate. He is currently Chairman of the USTA Southern Patrons Foundation, of which he has been a trustee for multiple terms. He has been inducted into the USTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the USTA Southern Jacobs Bowl, the highest volunteer service award given by the section. He is the former Tournament Chairman of the BB&T Atlanta Open—an Emirates Airline US Open Series event—and is a former member of its Tournament Steering Committee. McNulty was a partner with the law firm of Plauche, Smith & Niest, LLC and is considered one of America’s top attorneys in insurance defense, specializing in the areas of construction, products and premise liability.

Andrew A. Valdez of the USTA Intermountain Section will serve his fourth consecutive term as Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. He is a former member of the USTA Intermountain Section Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Valdez is the founder and current board member of The Village Project Mentoring Program that teaches tennis to youth under the Juvenile Court, emphasizing life skills and values, and he is a co-founder of the Tennis and Tutoring Program (2009-present), which was developed as an after-school program in cooperation with the Utah Tennis Association. Valdez obtained his law degree from the University of Utah College of Law. He served as Utah State Juvenile Court Judge for 20 years after working as a Trial Lawyer of the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association and as a Trial Lawyer of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps in Nuremberg, Germany. Valdez recently attained Senior Judge Status. In addition, Valdez authored “No One Makes It Alone,” a memoir that chronicles how the sport of tennis and acts of kindness enabled him to overcome the poverty and struggles of his childhood.

ELITE ATHLETES

Lauren B. Barnikow of the USTA Northern California Section will serve her second term as a Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors, Elite Athlete. She currently serves as the Board Liaison to the Player Development Council, which includes the Sport Science, Collegiate Varsity and Wheelchair Tennis committees. She has been a Senior Sales Consultant at Google since 2006. Barnikow’s expertise in the ever-changing technology industry includes brand marketing and digital media strategy for Fortune 1000 companies. She was a nationally and internationally ranked junior tennis player with extensive experience with USTA Player Development. Barnikow played professionally from 2004 to 2006, winning one singles title and three doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Circuits and reaching a career-high doubles ranking of No. 200. Barnikow plays in USTA leagues for her club, California Tennis Club, on the women’s open and mixed 10.0 teams. She was a starting member of three NCAA championship teams at Stanford University, where she graduated with a B.A. in International Relations in 2004.

Liezel H. Huber of the USTA Texas Section will serve her first term as a Director at Large, Elite Athlete. During her 24-year professional tennis career, Huber was the No. 1-ranked WTA doubles player for 199 weeks, won 53 WTA doubles titles and seven Grand Slam doubles titles. She was a U.S. Fed Cup team member and a three-time U.S. Olympian. Huber dedicates substantial time to volunteer and humanitarian efforts, including the nonprofit “Liezel’s Cause” (2005-12), the WTA Mentor Program (2007-14), Liezel Huber Tennis Tournament (South Africa, 2005-present), USTA Mentoring program (2015-present), Boys and Girls Country (2009-present) and Big Love Cancer Care Annual Tennis event (2010-present), and in 2016 she hosted an annual MS150 fundraiser. Huber is the recipient of a humanitarian award from Sir Richard Branson as well as multiple other player service awards. From 2006 to 2014, she served as a member of the WTA Player Council. Huber, a USPTR certified Tennis Professional (P rating), is the owner of Huber Tennis Ranch as well as a health and nutrition business, and is currently the Tennis Director at the Clubs of Houston Oaks.

Brian Vahaly of the USTA Mid-Atlantic Section will serve as Director at Large, Elite Athlete, having previously served one two-year term in the same position for the 2013-14 term, when he served on the Investment, Collegiate Varsity, Player Development and Sport Science committees. Vahaly played professionally for seven years, winning 10 singles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Circuit. He peaked at a career-best No. 64 in the world in 2003, when he reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells and the semifinals in Memphis. He competed in the main draws of all four Grand Slam events during his career, reaching the second round at Wimbledon in 2003. Vahaly graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in finance and business management. He was an Academic All-American for the Virginia tennis team, a team captain for his last two years at the school and a three-time All-American (1999-2001). In 2001, he reached the NCAA singles final and the NCAA doubles semifinals and was named Virginia’s all-sports Male Athlete of the Year. As a junior player in 1997, he won the Easter Bowl and was named a member of the U.S. national team. After retiring from professional tennis, Vahaly went on to a career in business, having worked at UBS Financial Services, McLean Capital, Venturehouse Group and the Washington Kastles, before moving to NextGen Venture Partners where he is currently employed as Chief Operating Officer. Vahaly also has been active in community programs, including the Brian Vahaly Brighter Future Foundation in Atlanta, dedicated to promoting academics and community service through tennis, and as a board member of SouthEast Tennis and Learning Center (SETLC).

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