Luis Villegas was elected to the Vice Chair position, having joined the AUSB Board of Trustees in 2009. Mr. Villegas is Vice President of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and previously served as Vice President and Hispanic Segment Market Manager for Pacific Capital Bancorp. He has served on the Santa Barbara Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board for six years, recently as its Executive Director. He is also currently a member of the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees, serving as President in 1999 and 2000 and he was recently re-elected to the Board of Directors of the California Community College Trustees. Mr. Villegas is also the Past President of the California Association of Latino Community College Trustees.
Robert Kupiec brings more than 25 years of experience as an architect and principal of Kupiec Architects PC. A graduate of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture, he received the New York Society of Architects Award for Excellence in Total Design. Mr. Kupiec had been responsible for numerous commercial, institutional, and residential projects throughout the country and abroad including AUSB’s new downtown Santa Barbara campus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, and The New York and Brooklyn Public Libraries. Mr. Kupiec is a past Chairman of the National Institute for Architectural Education and also past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the VanAlen Institute for Projects in Public Architecture.
Mary Ellen Tiffany is currently the Vice President, Business Development Officer with Montecito Bank & Trust. She began her financial career in the Trust Department of NationsBank in Fort Myers, Florida, and later joined SunTrust Bank Southwest as the market manager of their Sanibel-Captiva Island private bank. Prior to joining Montecito Bank & Trust, Ms. Tiffany was Director of Major Gifts at The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College. She has served also as Executive Director of two non-profit organizations and as Special Assistant on trade and energy issues to the Governor of Alaska from 1986-1990. Currently she serves on the boards of the Santa Barbara Symphony, Path Point, Inc., Parks & Recreation Community Foundation and the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.
“We are honored that Luis has agreed to serve as vice chair and that Bob and Mary Ellen have agreed to join the Antioch University Santa Barbara Board of Trustees,” said Victoria Riskin, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “They bring special wisdom, talent and impressive experience to the planning process for the growth of the university.”