Directors

Board of Directors

Georgeann Johnson – President

Georgeann is a retired Educator with a Masters in Education from San Francisco State. She has long-standing interests in community-building, archaeo-astronomy, photography, Maya culture and history, sustainable advancement, and more.  She is very involved in numerous local non-profits and building community collaboration and activism in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, from sustainable agriculture and organic farming projects to women’s rights advocacy groups.

Claudia Boles – Treasurer

Ms Boles was born to American parents in Nicosia, Cyprus, and spent her formative years in Western Europe. So began her life long infatuation with world travel and the adventure of exploring diverse cultures and traditions. While earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in international politics from East Carolina University, she took a year abroad to study at the University of the Americas in Cholula, Mexico. In 1983, she completed the requirements to become a Certified Public Accountant at the University of Texas. Today she lives in Austin with her two sons and manages her own accounting firm.

Mary Lou Ridinger – Secretary

Mary Lou is an accomplished Archeologist, explorer, researcher, lecturer and business administrator. From the 1970 Salvage Project during the construction of the Subway in Mexico City to the discovery of the lost Maya jade sources and the subsequent creation of an important local marketplace for jade in Guatemala, she has been a leading character in the story of contemporary Central America.

Francisco Estrada-Belli, Phd – Director

Francisco Estradada-Belli (Phd Boston University 1998) is an archaeologist focusing on the beginnings of Maya civilization and remote sensing techniques. Since 2000, he has been conducting a large-scale research project in the area of the Maya city of Holmul in northeastern Peten, Guatemala. Among his publications are “The First Maya civilization”, “Rain Gods and Maize: the Ideology of Preclassic Maya Rulers at Cival, Guatemala”, “2006 Ancient Mesoamerica”, “A Maya Palace at Holmul, Guatemala” and the “Teotihucan Entrada: Evidence from Murals 7 and 9.

Jim Reed – Director

Jim is a Maya researcher and aficionado who has been involved with Maya studies for 40 years. He is currently editor of the IMS Explorer, an informative monthly newsletter by the Institute of Maya Studies (based in Miami, Florida). He was past President of the Institute in the year 2000.

Lic. Laura Rodríguez Torres – Director

A Native of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and always inspired by it, Laura studied Cultural Sciences at the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana. She specialized in Arts Production and Administration, working in official and private institutions. Laura now owns her own company in Mexico, planning public and private events. Her strongest interests are the interrelationship between History, Art & Culture, Tourism and Economics.

Jim Mast – Director

As a civil engineer from MIT, Jim ran a company that designed and built custom homes and medical office buildings in the Detroit area. With his wife he spent many years working on Maya sites in Belize for six weeks each year as part of British archaeologist Norman Hammond’s team. In 1999 they retired to Guatemala.

David Sedat – Director

David has been an active Maya archaeologist for over 30 years associated with the University of Pennsylvania Museum. David is a specialist on the origins of the Maya and the development of Maya writing, and in the early 1970’s undertook pioneering fieldwork in the Salama Valley and Alta Verapaz of Guatemala. For 15 years (1989-2003) David was Field Director of the UPM’s Copan, Honduras archaeological project where he led the team that discovered two extraordinary early royal tombs. David Sedat now lives full-time in Copan where he directs The Copan 2012 Experimental Botanical Station. In 2009, David was honored by being named a Purpose Prize Fellow for his innovative efforts towards regenerating the steepest most eroded landscape in Copan, and helping combat poverty and nutritional issues in the Maya area.

Robert Sitler Phd, Director

Robert Sitler is Director of the Latin American Studies Program at Stetson University where he teaches classes in Spanish, Mayan culture and the Latin American humanities. He has a relationship of over 3 decades with the Mayan world, especially with the Mam-speaking community of Todos Santos Cuchumatán in Guatemala.

Ana Smith – Director

Born and raised in Guatemala, Ana has been in the tourist business for a few decades organizing a great variety of tours, groups, individuals all over the country to the many and varied settings the country has to offer. Apart from the classical tours also many adventure tours down rivers and overland to visit Maya sites accessible and remote. Has  had the privilege to accompany archaeologists and   organizing documentary shoots and films to many different  Maya sites through the years. Also active in organizing logistics for a variety of events be it for small or large groups.