Gael Meraud, President

Gael is the Associate Dean of Career and Academic Advising at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS). She has over 20 years of experience managing graduate school career centers from MIIS, Thunderbird School of Global Management, and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

A UC Berkeley alumna, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in French with a specialization in Linguistics. She is also a Certified Career Management Coach accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

Having advised a diverse international student body and studied abroad at the University of Paris-Sorbonne, the International College of Cannes, and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Gael has an affinity for working with students from multicultural backgrounds.

Elaine Herrmann, Vice President/Secretary

Elaine Herrmann, RN, MPH, has years of nursing experience in hospitals and home health care.  She has produced and hosted a public affairs television program, established the first hospital-based cancer registry along central California coast and also helped create the first two-county comprehensive cancer registry.  

She is a past president of local American Cancer Society and a past board member of the local UNA.Elaine is a published author in national medical and nursing journals, and also published “Yeoman in Farragut’s Fleet,” an annotated Civil War diary.  She has provided a variety of local programs to inform students about the multitude of health care careers, including a Lyceum program to introduce students to often unknown careers in health care.   

Christine Westbrook, Treasurer

Christine is currently Controller at Goodwill Central Coast.

Reason for joining board:  As a child, I pored over the Lyceum catalogs.  I thought that the Lyceum had the most wonderfully exotic classes, like Egyptian culture and foreign languages.  At the time, these classes were offered right on public school campuses through state education funding.  Now as a mother of a school-aged girl, I am sad to see that “enrichment programs” are widely gone from the schools, the funds having been diverted to other budgets.   After all these decades the Lyceum continues to inspire children’s minds and imaginations, and a life-long love of learning.

"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."
-CS Lewis

Maria Owen, Board Member

Maria M. Owen was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Colombian parents. She attended high school in Brussels, Belgium, and obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages at the University of Lille.
After returning to Colombia, she taught French and shortly afterwards she married Guillermo Owen.  With her new husband, she moved to New York, where she obtained her Master’s degree in French language and Literature at Fordham University. She then taught Romance Languages at Mother Cabrini High School.
While in New York, she gave birth to two daughters, and worked as a guide at the United Nations headquarters.

Some years later, the family moved to Houston, where Maria obtained another master’s degree at Rice University. She has been a professor at Texas Southern University and at the University of the Andes in Bogota. 

Maria is the author of several books for young teens, published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. She has been an editor and a translator, working for major American and international publishers. 

She has devoted many years to the local chapter of the United Nations Association, mostly working for the International Film Festival and the Youth Education programs.

Lucille Standifer, Board Member

Lucille is a retired MPUSD Teacher.  She is integral in supporting our History Day program and other Academic Events and Enrichment Activities sponsored by the Lyceum.  She is very active in her church activities, visiting the sick, nursing homes, and shut-ins; working with youth and young adults; being a supportive wife, mother, grandmother, and friend.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel"
- Maya Angelou

Ralucca Gera

A forward thinker, Prof. Ralucca Gera is a leader in the classroom and administration with an education strategy focused on quality, effectiveness, and innovation in the education ecosystem. She supports personalized education through intentional learning strategies that emphasize excellence, exploration, and experimentation.

She empowers students to be confident learners by cultivating curiosity and inquiry, inspiring them to take ownership of their learning experiences. Dr. Ralucca Gera serves as the Associate Provost for Graduate Education, Director of Teaching and Learning Commons, and Professor of Mathematics at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

Forbes Keaton

Forbes has been involved in the educational field for 45 Years. Following her graduation from Cal, with a BA in Art History, she began her professional career as a teacher at Stevenson High School. She has taught classes for the PGUSD Gifted and Talented program, Carmel Adult School, and Hartnell College.

After 27 years of teaching and Administrating at All Saints Day school, Forbes retired in 2022. She is a founding member of the Monterey County History Day program, a founding board member of the Monterey Youth Museum, and was a Youth Music Monterey board member. She also served as a development advisor for the National Steinbeck Center’s Young Authors Program and the History Slam School program.

While Executive Director of the Lyceum from 1994 -1999, class offerings expanded and the Mock Trial Program was established. Her passion for the arts led her to travel extensively in Europe and the Near East, and to serve, first as a docent for the Monterey Museum of Art and its youth outreach program, Museum on Wheels, and later as a board member.