Board Members
Paul Armstrong is former Dean of the College, Brown University, where he is currently Professor of English. Books include Play and the Politics of Reading: The Social Uses of Modernist Form (Cornell UP, 2005) and How Literature Plays with the Brain: The Neuroscience of Reading and Art (Johns Hopkins 2013) and Stories of the Brain: The Neuroscience of Narrative (Johns Hopkins UP, 2020).
Ted Coons is Professor of Psychology, Cognition & Perception at the Center for Neural Science at New York University (NYU), arriving there in 1965. He is a pioneer in the field of neuroscience and a major contributor to early studies in neuroaesthetics. As an undergraduate, he studied music composition and theory at Colorado College (B.A., 1951) and then—after a stint in the Air Force—again at Yale University (toward an M.A.). There, however, he became interested in what impact the temporal form of a composition has on the feelings of an audience. He soon switched his career goals and ultimately received his Ph.D. in what is now known as systems neuroscience.
Sheila Devine spent many years as a Real Estate Professional with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was a top producer of residential sales, focusing on high-end market sales. Devine has also been raising funds for the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Specialty Hospital since 2011, as well as the Liver Foundation.
She earned her BA in Fine Arts with a concentration in Art History from St. Lawrence University. She now lives between Maine and New York City.
Sarah Harrison Smith is a writer and editor with a long career in media. Most recently, she worked as Editorial Director for Books and Kindle at Amazon. Before moving to Baltimore in 2014, she spent 12 years at the New York Times, where her roles included Managing Editor of The New York Times Magazine. She is the author of many articles and reviews, as well as ”The Fact Checker’s Bible,” a guide to magazine research, which reflects her early career at The New Yorker. She now teaches in the Center for Leadership Education at Johns Hopkins University.
Kathe Hicks Albrecht is a nationally recognized leader in arts and education. After a career at American University, she was appointed to the National Council for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). She also serves on the National Advisory Board for the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her book The Machine Anxieties of Steampunk: Contemporary Philosophy, Victorian Aesthetics, and the Future was published in 2021. She also contributed an essay for The Aestheticization of History and The Butterfly Effect, edited by Nancy Wellington Bookhart. Albrecht received her BA in art history from UCLA, a master’s degree from American University, and PhD from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts.
Michael Hogan is a lawyer, educator, art collector and recent IDSVA alumnus. He serves as Adjunct Professor of the Practice at Wake Forest University following his retirement from a career in financial services where he held senior positions in operations, legal, compliance, and risk management. Hogan received his BA in French from Bates College, a master’s degree from Lindenwood University, a JD from Suffolk University law School, and a PhD from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts.
Nandita Baxi Sheth has a Bachelor of Arts from Rice University with majors in Architecture, Art History, and English. She has a Master of Community Planning and a Master of Visual Arts Education from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati (DAAP, UC). She completed her PhD from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts with the award-winning dissertation titled Being Melliferous: Towards Multispecies Aesthetics in 2025. In addition to adjunct teaching at DAAP, UC she is also involved in a variety of cross-disciplinary projects with philosophers, engineers, scientists, and educators. She has an active art practice including painting and collage. A US citizen of South Asian (Indian) origin, she grew up in Kansas and lives in the Midwest. Additionally, she has lived in Manila, the Philippines and Beijing, the Peoples Republic of China where she served in a variety of volunteer capacities within international communities.
Adam Daley Wilson (Stanford Law, U. Penn) is a lawyer and conceptual artist. As a lawyer, after a federal appellate clerkship, he practiced constitutional law and civil and criminal antitrust law at international law firms in San Francisco and Washington, DC. He also advised a US and Italy-based global strategy partner for art museums. As an artist, he is represented by Engage Projects in Chicago, which represents 20 conceptual artists from several countries. His first two shows were “Must See” in Chicago (Artforum 2021, 2023). Recent work includes public art with EXPO Chicago (2025). He serves on several nonprofit boards, provides pro bono services to mid-career artists, and is contributing a chapter to a pending art theory book by a Canadian publisher on practice, theory, and institutional critique relating to artist-placed public document art.