Reading is Fundamental

Reading is Fundamental

"In 1966, former teacher Margaret McNamara brought a bag of used books to four boys in Washington, D.C., whom she tutored in reading. When she told the children they could each pick out a book to keep, their astonishment and delight led her to discover that these children, and many of their classmates, had never owned any books.

"By that summer, Mrs. McNamara had gathered a group of school volunteers, and on November 3, 1966, they launched the book distribution and reading motivation program they called Reading Is Fundamental."

Directors
Accessed January 2009:

Executive Committee


 * Jack Remondi - Chairman of the Board, Chief Financial Officer, Sallie Mae, Inc.
 * Robert S. Diamond - Vice Chairman, Senior Consultant
 * Lloyd J. Derrickson - Secretary
 * William M. E. Rachal, Jr. - Treasurer
 * Carol Rasco - President and Chief Executive Officer, Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.
 * William Hansen - Senior Managing Director, Chartwell Education Group LLC
 * Juanita James - Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Pitney Bowes Inc.
 * John Polstein - President, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions

Board Members
 * Alexandra Armstrong - Chairman, Armstrong, Fleming & Moore, Inc.
 * Loretta Barrett - President, Loretta Barrett Books, Inc.
 * Ken Bentley - Vice President, Community Affairs, Nestle USA
 * Megan Beyer - Commentator, To the Contrary
 * Marcia Carlucci - Public Policy Advocate
 * Chris Cerf - Founding Partner, Sirius Thinking, Ltd.
 * Roberta Horton - Partner, Arnold & Porter
 * Lon R. Greenberg - Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, UGI Corp.
 * Claude A. Mayberry, Jr. - Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Science Weekly
 * Yolanda Nava - Director of Marketing and Public Relations, New Mexico State Monuments
 * Margaret McNamara Pastor - Policy Maker
 * Annette Rickel - Annette U. Rickel Family Foundation
 * Lynda Johnson Robb - RIF Chairman Emerita, Women's and Children's Advocate
 * Carolyn Simpson - Kappa Kappa Gamma
 * Carol B. Sisco - Managing Partner, Sisco & Associates
 * David Weinstein - Consultant
 * Arthur H. White - Yankelovich Partners

Emeriti
 * James C. Curvey - Vice Chairman, Fidelity Investments
 * Kathryn Wentzel Lumley (deceased), Reading specialist, teacher, and children's author
 * Ruth Graves - Former RIF president

National Advisory Council
Accessed January 2009:


 * Susan B. Bayh
 * Ruth Frankel Boorstin
 * Marie Dutton Brown
 * Justin T. Chang
 * Annette Felzani Dwyer
 * Laura Ensler
 * Mary Zeiler Haft
 * Juwan Howard
 * Betty Hudson
 * Dorothy E. Jenkins
 * Chip Madsen
 * George Davis Meredith
 * Shaquille O'Neal
 * John Porter
 * Daphne Craven Reese
 * Catherine Snow
 * David J. Stern
 * Mary Ann (Andy) Potter Stewart
 * Alberto Vitale
 * George Wills

Emeriti Group
 * Charles F. Harris - Vice President and Executive Editor, Harper Collins Publisher
 * Ruth Sulzberger Holmberg - Former Publisher and Director, The Chattanooga Times Co.
 * Robert S. McNamara - Former President, The World Bank
 * Founder - Margaret Craig McNamara

Contact

 * Web: http://www.rif.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Meryl Streep
 * Oprah Winfrey - former board member