The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the election of Elizabeth Barry and Charles Zellmer to its board of directors. Ms. Barry and Mr. Zellmer will assume their duties beginning January 1.

Elizabeth Barry

Elizabeth Barry

Ms. Barry received her BA from Hamilton College in 2017, where she majored in economics and history. A dean’s list student, she was actively involved with AHI and served as editor-in-chief of Enquiry: A Publication of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows. An outstanding athlete as well as a scholar, she competed on the varsity swim team and was chosen captain of the diving team.  She holds a black belt in karate.

After graduation, Ms. Barry spent four years as a Business Consultant at Grant Thornton LLP, a highly respected audit, tax, and advisory firm, specializing in technology strategy, digital transformation, and IT integration/separation. Her clients included large healthcare conglomerates, multinational aerospace & defense corporations, prestigious universities, and not-for-profit organizations.

She currently lives in Hanover, New Hampshire where she is pursuing her MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

AHI President Robert Paquette, in speaking of Ms. Barry, observed, “She is a person not only of intelligence but of great integrity and courage. She was the last effective leader of the Hamilton College Republican Club before the woke campus activists effectively shut it down. I have had the distinct pleasure of teaching her in several classes. She excelled in my seminar on Alexis de Tocqueville. Possessed of drive and energy, this young woman is going places!”

Charles Zellmer

Charles B. (Chuck) Zellmer is a graduate of Hamilton College (BA,1965) and Case Western Reserve Law School (JD, 1972). He spent the first part of his legal career at Zellmer & Gruber and then joined the law firm of McDonald Hopkins Co., LPA in 1998. Mr. Zellmer was a member of McDonald Hopkins and served as the chair of the firm’s business department from 2009-2016. He retired from the practice of law in 2018. During his legal career, Mr. Zellmer advised businesses ranging from start-ups to large corporations, many of which were family-owned. He served as general counsel to his clients providing advice on various daily legal matters, strategy, transactions, and transitions. He is currently on the board of Mega Techway, Inc. and on the advisory board of C.A. Litzler Co. He also serves as a board member of several local not-for-profit organizations: They include Beech Brook (an organization devoted to helping families and children overcome adversity and enhancing family health and stability), where he has recently ended his term as Chairman, and The Cleveland Play House (America’s oldest regional theatre), where he serves as a board member and is on the organization’s executive committee. Mr. Zellmer is also past president of the boards of a local Montessori school and Near West Theatre.

“I could not think of a better person to be a board member than Chuck Zellmer,” remarked current board member Robert Cady. “I knew Chuck well while we were both undergraduates and played on the Hamilton Football team together. He is extremely thoughtful and has a quiet confidence about him that will make him just an outstanding board member.”

Board member James Schoff has known Chuck Zellmer since his matriculation at Hamilton College in the late 1960s.  “Chuck was a dorm advisor during his sophomore and junior years before living in the DKE House his senior year,” he recalled.  “He never achieved probation like I did, but he says he participated in a few ‘libation celebrations’ with his younger classmates who enjoyed his liberal approach to alcohol under the age as they wandered through their freshman year.  Levity aside, since graduation, Chuck, like me, has been disgusted by the woke activists and curriculum that have come to dominate the College.  He had a long and distinguished career as a member of the Ohio Bar.  His wisdom derived from work with several non-profit organizations will benefit AHI measurably. I could not be more enthusiastic about his addition to AHI’s board.”

To Liz and Chuck, AHI sends a hearty welcome aboard!