Linda Davis Jones, MA
Board Chairperson

Linda Davis Jones chairs DSC’s Board of Trustees. Her professional career spans 39 years in public schooling. She retired from the San Francisco Unified School District where she was interim superintendent, after serving for nineteen years as deputy superintendent in charge of instructional support and operations. She earned her Master’s in education from California State University, Los Angeles. 

Ray Bacchetti, PhD
Chair, Governance Committee 

Ray Bacchetti’s service in the field of education spans 40 years. Most recently, he was a scholar in residence at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Prior to that, he was a program officer for K–12 and Higher Education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for eight years, and vice president for planning and management at Stanford University, his primary employer for over thirty years. He received a PhD in philosophy of education and higher education from Stanford University. 

Roger King, MBA
Chair, Finance Committee 

Roger King has been a consultant to nonprofits and philanthropic foundations for the past ten years, focusing on strategy and organizational development. Before working with nonprofits, he was a consultant with Bain & Company for nearly a decade. He holds a MBA from Harvard University. 

Michael Traynor, JD
Chair, Audit Committee 

Michael Traynor is the Chair of the Council and President Emeritus of the American Law Institute. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He is the recipient of the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of South Carolina. He received his JD from Harvard Law School.

Tsan Abrahamson, JD

Tsan Abrahamson is the founder of Cobalt LLP in Berkeley, CA, which provides legal and strategic counseling in intellectual property rights, promotions, advertising, and related areas. She was formerly intellectual property counsel for LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., the nation’s third largest toy company; and senior associate at Cooley Godward LLP in San Francisco. She received her JD and her MBA from University of California, Los Angeles, and is an adjunct professor at University of San Francisco Law School where she teaches upper-division seminars.

Milbrey McLaughlin, EdD

Milbrey McLaughlin is the David Jacks Professor of Education in Stanford University’s School of Education, and director of the Center for Research on the Context of Teaching at Stanford. Previously she spent ten years as a senior social scientist with the Rand Corporation. She earned her EdD in education and social policy from Harvard University.

Jane Quinn, MA

Jane Quinn is the assistant executive director for community schools at The Children’s Aid Society in New York City. Previously she served as program director at the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, and as project director at the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She earned her Masters from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.

Eric Schaps, PhD

Eric Schaps is founder and president of Developmental Studies Center, which he has directed since its inception in 1980. Previously he was founder and president of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, and a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago. He received his PhD in social psychology from Northwestern University.

Richard Sterling, PhD

Richard Sterling recently retired as executive director of the National Writing Project. He now serves as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Formerly he was the founder and director of the Institute for Literacy Studies at Lehman College, and a member of the faculty there. He was also founder and director of the New York City Writing Project and the New York City Mathematics Project, both of which are housed within the Institute for Literacy Studies.

Susan Wally, MA

Susan Wally is president and CEO of PREP-KC (Partnership for Regional Educational Preparation), an organization that supports the improvement of public education in the Kansas City metropolitan area. She was formerly a high school teacher and principal, and served for ten years as Vice President for Education at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation where she led a grant portfolio focused on the development and achievement of school-aged children. Ms. Wally holds a Masters in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University and an Education Specialist credential in administration and policy from the University of Missouri.

Esther Wojcicki, MA

Esther Wojcicki has been a teacher of English and Journalism at Palo Alto High School for the past 27 years, where she has led the development of what is now the largest high school journalism-media program in the country. She was named Teacher of the Year in 2002 by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and recently received the Columbia University Scholastic Press Gold Key Award for excellence in scholastic journalism. She also helped to lead the creation of the Google Educators website. Ms. Wojcicki received her Masters in Journalism from the University of California Berkeley and an MA in education computer technology from San Jose State University.