The following members of New Stoa meet and discuss various issues of the Stoic community in a group emailing forum that was created to provide
counsel for the direction of our community. We began in 2010 as the Eleven and became the Counsel of X because our numbers change to reflect our growing representation in the world.
To contact the Regional Director of your region, please click on the capitalized name of that director.
Guillaume Andrieu
GUILLAUME ANDRIEU
(1981-),
Toulouse, France,
Regional Director for France/Belgium/Swiss Region. Guillaume is the Editor of the eMagazine, Registry Report (2010). "I currently reside in southern France where I work as a software developer for aircraft documentation. I request to be counted as a member of the New Stoa, because I would like to get in touch with the thoughts of other people who have been exposed to Stoic ideas and think of them as the way to build a human future."
John Barnett
JOHN BARNETT
(1953-),
Orlando, Florida, USA,
Regional Director for Eastern USA. John graduated from Florida Technological University and was commissioned in the Air Force on the same day. As an Air Force Officer he was a navigator and electronic warfare officer. "I flew in B-52s early in my career, then flew as a staff officer on the SAC (Strategic Air Command) Airborne Command Post, and then back to bombers, where I flew in B-1Bs." After retirement, John went back to graduate school and earned a Ph.D. in Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology from University of Central Florida. Shortly after receiving his doctorate, John went to work as a research psychologist for the U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI), where he currently does research to find the best ways to train people using advanced technology such as simulators, computers, and distance learning.
Trevor Byrne
TREVOR BYRNE
(1958 -),
Toronto, Canada,
Regional Director for Canada. Trevor was born in the UK and immigrated to Canada with his family as a child. He obtained a double Bachelor's Degree at the University of Toronto in History and Geography and is presently the President of an international publishing firm specializing in finance for small businesses with operations in 5 countries. Trevor said, "I've had a long time interest in Stoicism and its prescription for happiness, which can be summarized as 'Internal Freedom Regardless of External Circumstances.' I love to travel and explore other cultures."
Matthew Copple
MATTHEW COPPLE
(1970-),
Gladstone Missouri USA,
Regional Director for Central USA. "I have a bachelor's degree in business management and will begin a Master's of Business Administration program shortly. I live in Gladstone, Missouri, USA, a suburb of Kansas City Missouri, where I am a Software Developer. I was born and raised in rural north-central Missouri, in a town of about 200 residents. My mom was a bank executive and my dad was a small business owner. I am married and have one child.
"I came to Stoicism through the study of classical history. I have been a history enthusiast since childhood. I had the luck of being exposed to classical philosophy early in my education and I've been fascinated by it ever since. I became fully aware of its effect on me last year after the death of my mother. It didn't take me long to realize that I grieved very differently for mom than I did for my father several years before. This time around, I grieved with gratitude, rather than loss."
Ian Haigler
IAN HAIGLER
(1961-),
Shanghai, China,
Regional Director for East Asia, specifically China and India. Ian is a University Lecturer and editor in China. "I am an American, but have lived in China for the past four years and expect to live here at least one or two more. I've worked on archaeological digs, in human rights, for the government and in education (literature) for the past thirty years or so. I am currently a lecturer in language and culture at a university near Shanghai. I love music, especially folk music from about everywhere, but am tone-deaf ... so I can't make any music or speak Chinese with any degree of precision. I come from a family of several generations of artists, both professional and amateur, and have an appreciation for such things, but I can't even draw a stick-figure or smiley face accurately."
Giulia Harding
GIULIA HARDING
(1955-),
Liverpool, England,
Regional Director for the British Isles. Ms. Harding is a former BBC current affairs presenter who began her career as a newspaper journalist before joining the BBC in Merseyside at the age of 21. "I then worked on and off in BBC radio around Britain for the next 25 years. I ended my career as a current affairs presenter in the Midlands in 2001 to return to Liverpool to care for my Mother, by then widowed and too frail to manage on her own. I think they call it down-sizing - less money, but less stress and much nicer than consigning mum to an old folks' home."
Giulia's philosophical interest centers on a project begun by her father studying the life of Renaissance linguist John Florio and his relationship with William Shakespeare. "In exploring all the things these two had in common, I found they both seemed to subscribe to the tenets of Stoic philosophy."
Paul Jahshan
PAUL JAHSHAN
(1966 -),
Beirut, Lebanon,
Regional Director for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA). "I have been teaching English and American literature and culture, critical theory, and rhetoric at Notre Dame University in Lebanon, where I am now an associate professor of American Studies. Another course I give is "Human Thought," a history of civilizations and philosophy from antiquity to the 16th century, and I make it a point to include, along with the many wonderful Greek schools of thought, Stoicism, always a favorite with the students. My research interests are in contemporary American fiction, the detective genre, postmodernism, critical theory, cybertheory and, recently, Arab-American studies."
John Laerum
JOHN LAERUM
(1946-),
Pusan, Korea,
Regional Director for parts of East Asia & North Europe.
In East Asia: Korea, Singapore and the Philippines.
John was born in Norway but is now living in Pusan, Korea
Professional background: "I have worked in the Shipping Industry as an Electrical Engineer, mostly as Technical Supervisor for ship-building projects and ships in operation.
"I have found Stoicism as an excellent guide to get through the more unpleasant sides of living. Now working actively for the New Stoa I appreciate the opportunity I now have to share with others the insights Stoic Philosophy has given me."
Paul Lanagan
PAUL LANAGAN
(1955-),
,
Regional Director for Oceania. "I am an aeronautical engineer by profession, starting out in the Royal Australian Air Force, then moving on to working for the aviation regulator here in Australia, then another ten years or so in industry before working for myself as a management system consultant since 2006. I live in Melbourne, Australia. I was fortunate to live and work in the US for three years, and to have visited Canada and the UK during that time.
"I have been interested in philosophy since my early 20's, but I found academic philosophy unsatisfying as a practical guide to living. I came across a passing reference to Stoicism around 1990 while reading a book on leadership, and it somehow stuck in my mind. So, when the Internet came along I used it to find Keith Seddon's correspondence course circa 2002. While working my way through this course I realised that I was experiencing a life changing event. The more I learned about Stoicism the more I was convinced that there were fundamental truths about the nature of the world and our role in it, and more surprisingly, that I had somehow suspected or unconsciously understood some of them for many years. But I am preaching to the converted here, I know. Since then I have come across some patches of adversity in my life and I have seen for myself the power that Stoicism gives the individual to achieve a smooth flow of life. I have decided that in some small way, my participation in the College as a Mentor and Dean may help others along the Stoic path and so is an appropriate action. I am glad to be in such fine company."
Brian Neuhauser
BRIAN NEUHAUSER
(1963-),
,
Regional Director for Western USA. "I'm from a military family, so we lived several places in my youth. Now, Colorado has been home for over 20 years. My wife is of Japanese ancestry and is a Colorado native. I was an electrical engineer by training and for the early part of my career. In order for us to relocate here though, I accepted a posting as a technical writer and have been doing that work ever since.
"A passing interest in Stoicism grew serious after I suffered a heart attack at the ripe old age of 45, in spite of seeming good health. I suspect that my poor response to externals played a big role in what happened. I'm trying to draw upon Stoic techniques to better manage my impressions."
Jerry Robertson
JERRY ROBERTSON
(1940 -),
Boise, Idaho, USA,
New Stoa's Webmaster and technical advisor resides in Boise, Idaho. "I am a retired IT professional. I was previously Information Systems Manager for a fortune 100 company in California where I was responsible for business software development and maintenance for the company's financial, payroll and human resources systems. My other responsibilities included software quality, security, and disaster recovery. I was the original webmaster when the company started using the Internet and developed an Intranet. I have been in the software business since 1972."
Anthony Sanchez
ANTHONY SANCHEZ
(1965-),
Costa Rica,
Regional Director for Latin America. Tony works as a Computer Science Engineer. "Since my teen years I have had an interest in philosophy, basically in ethics and in forming a code of conduct I could feel conformable with and that made sense to me. That quest made me work out some personal beliefs that I later found to be congruent and immensely complemented with Stoic principles, and so I began studying on my own. It is something I have never stopped doing, and which has been very rewarding helping me find a bit of inner peace. I would be very pleased to be able to join others and share in their experiences and wisdom."
Erik Wiegardt
ERIK WIEGARDT
(1945-),
San Diego, California,
Erik was born in Walla Walla, Washington, USA, and lived most of his life on the Pacific Rim. Education in his formative years was in Protestant parochial schools in rural towns in Oregon and California. Higher education included Portland State University, where he received Bachelor's Degrees in Arts & Letters and Social Science; the Oregon Military Academy, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Infantry; and the University of Oregon, where he received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture.
Erik has worked in a number of occupations, including laboratory analyst for the US Army and for North American Aviation where he performed quality control studies on the escape rocket module of the Apollo Moon Rockets. He is a Vietnam Era War veteran and received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for participation in Operation White Coat, a biological warfare unit.
Other employment includes mortician's assistant, insurance executive, baker, restaurant waiter, Graduate Teaching Fellow at the University of Oregon, English teacher in Japan, display designer for Macy's and Nordstrom, advertising copy writer, and Senior Probation Officer for the County of San Diego, California.
Erik has been a Stoic for more than 40 years, and works full time for the Stoic community. He is the founder of the cybercity, New Stoa, the Stoic Registry, the eMagazine
Registry Report, the Stoic Council, and the College of Stoic Philosophers. He lives in San Diego, California, with his wife of more than 20 years.
