Officers & Directors

Dave Leroy is a former Idaho Attorney General, Lt. Governor, and U.S. Nuclear Waste Negotiator, who practices law in Boise. Author of Mr. Lincoln’s Book, Oak Knoll Publishing (2009), Chairman of the Governors’ Council of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the related Idaho Commission (2007 – 2010), he is also President of the Idaho Lincoln Institute, an online education site which suggests historic Lincoln quotes as solutions to modern day political problems at looktolincoln.org. In 2013, Nancy and Dave donated a major collection of Lincoln original memorabilia to the State Historical Society, creating a five-room, 220 artifact permanent public museum display, “The Lincoln Legacy Exhibit,” at the Idaho Archives Building. Leroy has also taken a lead role in erecting two heroic Lincoln statutes in Boise, researching and explaining relationship between the 16th President and Idaho Territory and in producing and presenting CLE programs utilizing Lincoln themes.

Dan Monroe is Associate Professor of History at Millikin University. Monroe earned his doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He specializes in American History and has taught seminars and given scholarly talks throughout the United States. He is the author of three books: The Republican Vision of John Tyler (2003), At Home with Illinois’ Governors: A Social History of the Illinois Executive Mansion (2002), and Shapers of the Great Debate on the Civil War: A Biographical Dictionary (2005), with co-author Dr. Bruce Tap. He was recognized as the James Millikin Scholar Faculty Member of the Year (2018-2019) and was named Distinguished Faculty Lecturer (2018). Monroe is past president of the Illinois State Historical Society. Dr. Monroe also serves as the Illinois Historian on the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. He has been a faculty member at Millikin since 2006.

Mark B. Pohlad, Ph.D., is an associate professor of art history at DePaul University in Chicago where he has taught since 1992. His 2017 book James R. Hopkins: Faces of the Heartland (The Ohio State University Press) is a monograph about the important early twentieth-century Ohio painter. Pohlad’s interest in Lincoln began in earnest in 2007 when he was a Road Scholar for the Illinois Humanities Council and gave countless lectures around the state on Lincoln in art and photography. He has published pieces on Lincoln in art and literature in The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Illinois Heritage, and in the ALA newsletter For the People. Pohlad is a frequent presenter at the Conference on Illinois History and attends the Lincoln Forum regularly. His current projects include a book on Lincoln’s memory in Chicago for Southern Illinois University Press (projected 2026).

Scott T. Schroeder is a professional healthcare practitioner and an independent historian focusing on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era. He speaks regularly on those topics and is actively involved in research and manuscript preparation for article and book projects. He has led tours for Lincoln related sites and is involved in the development and/or co-development of multimedia projects related to the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. In addition to his role with the ALA, Schroeder serves on the Board of Advisors for the Lincoln Forum as well as on the Board of Directors for the Abraham Lincoln Institute and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia.

Sameer Somal is the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Technology and Co-Founder of Girl Power Talk. He is a CFA Charterholder, a CFP® professional, and a Chartered Alternative Investment AnalystSM. Sameer leads client engagements focused on digital transformation, risk management, and technology development. A testifying subject matter expert witness in economic damages, intellectual property, and internet defamation, he authors CLE programs with the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. Sameer is a frequent speaker at private industry and public sector conferences, including engagements with the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB), Global Digital Marketing Summit, IBM, New York State Bar Association (NYBSA), US Defense Leadership Forum, and US State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. He proudly serves on the Board of Directors of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and Girl Power USA. Committed to building relationships, Sameer is an active member of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB), American Bar Association (ABA), American Marketing Association (AMA), Business Transition Council, International Trademark Association (INTA), and Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF). A graduate of Georgetown University, he held leadership roles at Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Scotiabank. Sameer is also a CFA Institute 2022 Inspirational Leader Award recipient and was named an Iconic Leader by the Women Economic Forum.

William “Bill” Shepherd, a graduate of the University of Nebraska Law School in 1977, has led a distinguished legal career marked by a commitment to public service and a passion for history, particularly the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Following his admission to the Illinois Bar, Shepherd practiced law in Rockford, honing his skills with an insurance defense firm. In 1982, he transitioned to Chicago to serve as assistant attorney general in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Shepherd’s expertise extended to the Illinois State Senate, where he drafted legislation on nuclear energy regulation and contributed to shaping the groundbreaking State Telecommunications Act. Governor James R. Thompson appointed him to advocate for small business consumers at the Illinois Commerce Commission. In 1990, Shepherd joined the State Farm law department’s legislative/regulatory section, representing the company in various forums. Beyond law, Shepherd’s profound interest in history, especially Abraham Lincoln, drove extensive research and insightful writings on Lincoln and the Civil War. His dedication to Lincoln’s memory is shared by his wife, Mary, former executive manager of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Together, they honor Lincoln’s legacy, reflecting Shepherd’s commitment to both legal excellence and historical preservation.

Andy serves as president of Design Ideas, a company employing 50 people in Springfield and 25 people overseas, which he started in 1982. He is a graduate of Springfield High School, Princeton University, and Stanford Law School. Andy is a published author of the book Always My Friend: A History of the State Journal-Register and Springfield. He serves on the Sangamon County board. He is also an Eagle Scout.

Daniel Weinberg has been president and sole owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Inc. since 1984, having previously been co-owner from 1971. He has performed special research assignments for for such institutions as The Lincoln Museum, the American Bar Foundation, Brandies University, University of Virginia, WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago, the Chicago Historical Society, the Chicago Public Library, Lincoln College Museum, and others. He is Executive Vice President of the Professional Autograph Dealer’s Association, and a Trustee of Lincoln College, Lincoln, Illinois. In 2001 he co-authored Lincoln’s Assassins: Their Trial and Execution.

Jonathan W. White is professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University. He is the author or editor of 16 books that cover a variety of topics including civil liberties during the Civil War, the USS Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads, the presidential election of 1864, and what Abraham Lincoln and soldiers dreamt about. He serves as vice chair of The Lincoln Forum and on the Ford’s Theatre Advisory Council, and in 2019 he won the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award—the highest honor bestowed upon college faculty by the Commonwealth of Virginia. His most recent books are To Address You As My Friend: African Americans’ Letters to Abraham Lincoln (2021) and A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House (2022). In 2023 he will publish Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade.

Bob Willard, past president of the ALA and former President of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, is a retired government and industry professional with experience in both market management and information policy advocacy and with a comprehensive knowledge of the application of information technology to public needs. Willard is a long-time collector of books and other material about Abraham Lincoln, and has advised agencies involved in digitization of Lincoln material.

Cecily N. Zander is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wyoming and a Senior Fellow at Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History. Her first book is The Army Under Fire: Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era, won the 2024 Wiley-Silver Prize for the best first book in Civil War History. Her next book, a history of Abraham Lincoln and the American West, will be published by Liveright. She is also working on a short history of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. In addition to teaching and writing, she edits the History in an Afternoon series at Louisiana State University Press. She has published essays on the Civil War and the American West in numerous edited collections, scholarly journals, and popular magazines.