PANGEA WORLD is the creation of its President, Dr. Hana Ayala, formerly on the faculty of the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine.  Dr. Ayala is the originator of the TCR economic-development model (see Foundations) and the architect of PANGEA WORLD’s mission.

Governing Board

The company is governed by a Board of Directors.

Hana Ayala, Founder Director (Co-Chair) and Chief Executive Officer

Douglas K. Freeman, J.D., LL.M., Director (Co-Chair) and Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Douglas Freeman is Senior Managing Director of First Foundation Advisors, and a member of the Board of Directors of First Foundation Inc. and First Foundation Bank.

Michael T. Clegg, Ph.D., Director
Dr. Michael Clegg is Foreign Secretary of the United States National Academy of Sciences, Co-Chair of the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS), and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.

Donald B. Lehr, Director and Communications and Public Affairs Coordinator
Mr. Donald Lehr is President of the Nolan/Lehr Group, a media communications consultancy firm.

PANGEA WORLD Science Advisor

John C. Avise, Ph.D., Distinguished Science Advisor
Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine, and award-winning author of more than a dozen trend-setting books for popular as well as professional audiences, Dr. John C. Avise is credited with launching one of the major scientific revolutions in the late 20th century.

As PANGEA WORLD’s Distinguished Science Advisor, Dr. Avise assumes a leading inspirational and advisory role in the science and conservation components of PANGEA®’s mission.

Honorary Founding Fellows

In 2011, the world lost two extraordinary individuals, Don Fernando Eleta Almarán and Dr. Rodrigo Tarté Ponce.  These two distinguished Panamanian citizens profoundly enriched and accelerated the Pangea World journey, embracing it as part of their own.  They were passionate champions of this journey-igniting TCR Action Plan for the Republic of Panama, and—since the birth of the Pangea World corporation in 2001—tireless advocates of the Pangea World mission’s promise for Latin America and other parts of the world.  Pangea World is honored to recognize the late Don Fernando and Don Rodrigo for their vision and contribution as Honorary Founding Fellows of Pangea World, as announced at a press conference held by Pangea World’s Board of Directors and hosted by the Miramar InterContinental Panama on January 20, 2012.

Fernando Eleta Alamarán, (1921-2011), Honorary Founding Fellow
Don Fernando Eleta, honored with decorations from 13 countries, was media and finance pioneer, Panama’s Minister of Finance and Treasury and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Co-Founder of the Inter-American Development Bank, Founder and Honorary President of The City of Knowledge, and so much more.

Rodrigo Tarté Ponce, Ph.D., (1936-2011), Honorary Founding Fellow
Dr. Rodrigo Tarté was Director of Sustainable Development and Academic Director of The City of Knowledge Foundation, Director General of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Education Center (CATIE, Costa Rica), consultant to numerous bodies of the United Nations including FAO and UNEP, an artist, and much more.

PANGEA WORLD Fellows
have profoundly contributed to the shaping of the TCR model and have lent their expertise to the corporation’s flagship projects.

Richard S. Nicholson, Ph.D., Honorary President and Fellow
Dr. Richard Nicholson was Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Publisher of Science-the world's leading scientific journal (1989-2001).

George Angehr, Ph.D., Fellow
Dr. George Angehr is a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama.

Anthony G. Coates, Ph.D., Fellow
Dr. Anthony Coates is former Director for Scientific Research Programs of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and former Deputy Director of STRI.

Marjorie Reaka, Ph.D., Fellow
Dr. Marjorie Reaka is a Professor of Biology at the University of Maryland, Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, and co-editor (with E. O. Wilson and D. E. Wilson) of the book Biodiversity II:  Understanding and Protecting Our Natural Resources, published by the National Academy of Sciences’ Joseph Henry Press.

Ceferino Sánchez, Ph.D., Fellow
Dr. Ceferino Sánchez is Director of Research at the School of Medicine, University of Panama, and former National Secretary of Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Republic of Panama.

Winston Thompson, Fellow
H.E. Winston Thompson is the Ambassador of the Republic of Fiji to the United States (Washington, DC) and former Senator, Permanent Secretary of Government Ministries, and Ambassador of Fiji to the United Nations (New York).

Adam S. Wilkins, Ph.D., Fellow
Dr. Adam Wilkins, the former editor of BioEssays (1990-2008), is currently editor of the commentaries (“Perspectives”) section of Genetics and is affiliated with the Institute of Theoretical Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin.  

PANGEA WORLD Ambassador

Mary Roosevelt, the widow of the late James Roosevelt, son of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has spent all of her professional life as an educator, with a passion for international educational experiences for all students.

Her designation as PANGEA’s World Ambassador recognizes and formalizes Mrs. Roosevelt’s pivotal role in championing international awareness of PANGEA WORLD’s mission.