Noreen Tomassi, Executive Director
Noreen Tomassi became Director in 2004. She came to the Merc from Arts International, where she was president. Prior to that she directed the Lit program at the NJSCA and she began her career in Play Development at McCarter Theatre in Princeton. Her books are Money for International Exchange in the Arts and American Visions/Visiones de las Americas and she was a contributor to America's Membership Libraries. She earned her BA at Skidmore College.
Brenda Wegener, Head Librarian
Brenda has been a librarian in literature and art for the past twenty years. She has a Master’s Degree in Library Science from USC and a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature from the University of California, San Diego. She is an avid reader of literary fiction and a movie lover. She has two daughters in college.
Kristin Henley, Executive Assistant
Kristin received her MFA in poetry from Columbia University in 2007. She has worked in the publishing and non-profit industries for several years. She is currently the poetry editor for the nationally distributed literary journal Small Spiral Notebook, and her own writing has been published in several small journals. She is a native of California.
Burton Greenhouse, Accounting
Burton Greenhouse is the founder of Checks and Balances Incorporated. It is a financial services company for arts organizations. His company serves many arts non-profits in New York City. He just finished reading Everyman by Philip Roth.
Mary Collins,
Special Collections Librarian
Mary graduated from the Palmer School at Long Island University with a Masters of Science in Library and Information Science, Rare Books and Special Collections concentration. A reader of mysteries, and an amateur genealogist, she also enjoys playing eight ball pool.Board of Directors
Betty Kelly Sargent (Chairman)
Freelance Writer and Editor
Former editor, HarperCollins
Former Editor-in-Chief of William Morrow
Former Fiction Editor, Cosmopolitan
Peter Ginna (President)
Publisher and Editorial Director of Bloomsbury USA
Jessica Weber (Vice President)
President, Jessica Weber Design, Inc.
James Stevens (Treasurer)
Former Chairman and CEO, Prudential Asset Management Group, Member, Board of Directors of the School of the American Ballet
Sharen Benenson (Secretary)
Board Member,
New York Botanical Gardens
Board Member,
New York Horticultural Society
Nancy Dunnan
Financial Advisor, WNYC, New York & Co. with Leonard Lopate, Author, Dunnan’s Guide to Investments (Harper Collins), Business and Investment Columnist for publications including Sylvia’s Porter’s Personal Finance magazine, Lear’s, Your Money, etc.
Nan A. Talese
Senior Vice President of Doubleday Publisher and Editorial Director of Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Gabrielle Bamberger
Head of Gabrielle Bamberger Public Relations
Nick Brumm
Partner, QVT Financial
Claudia Deutschmann, MD
Member, Proust Society of America, Foreign Policy Association, Former Managing Director, Harvard Consulting Group, Former Medical Director, Wyeth Labs Switzerland
Mary M. Luria
Partner, Intellectual Property; Publishing and Licensing; Advertising, Marketing and Promotions; New Media, Davis & Gilbert LLP
Lispet N. Roland
Actress
John Searles
Novelist
Deputy Editor, Cosmopolitan