Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees of the American College of Sofia is comprised of remarkable individuals with various connections to ACS and Bulgaria. The Board is academically, geographically, demographically and professionally diverse, with service tenures ranging from one to 42 years. New trustee election occurs by nomination, rigorous vetting, and a vote of the full Board. All trustees are volunteers who receive no compensation for their work or reimbursement for travel to board meetings.
A set of corporate bylaws govern the Board’s operations. Board meetings occur eight times during the school year, in Sofia, the United States and virtually. Seven committees complement the work of the ACS Board: Alumni and Development, Campus Infrastructure and Technology, Education and Strategy, Executive, Finance and Investments, Human Resources, and Nominating and Governance.
The corporate entity funding and operating ACS, Sofia American Schools, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit institution, exempt from income taxes in the United States, and chartered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1926.
Elected Board officers in 2022-2023 are:
Theodora Konetsovska, Chair
Samuel Seymour, Vice Chair
Katherine Georgiev, Treasurer
David Bliss Wilson, Secretary
Written inquiries can be made to the Board’s administrative office at:
Theodora Konetsovska '97
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Bachelor of Arts - Williams College - Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA
Ms. Konetsovska’s professional experiences include investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York City, with a focus on interest rate derivatives and bond issuance for private universities and non-profit healthcare systems, as well as treasury management and strategic planning work in the office of the CFO at Harvard University.
Ms. Konetsovska resides in the Boston (MA) area with her husband and two sons.
Sam Seymour
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Juris Doctor - Columbia Law School - New York, New York, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Dartmouth College - Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Mr. Seymour retired as a partner of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in 2019, and continues to practice at the firm in the field of white collar criminal defense and investigations. Mr. Seymour has also served as an Assistant United States Attorney with the US Justice Department, and as President of the New York City Bar Association.
Mr. Seymour resides in Brooklyn (NY) with his wife.
Katherine Georgiev
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Master of Arts in Education Administration - Santa Clara University - Santa Clara, California, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - University of California, Davis - Davis, California, USA
Ms. Georgiev is a secondary school educator and currently serves as the principal of an all-girls independent, college preparatory secondary school in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her previous professional experience was in management consulting at Accenture and she also served as a policy intern within the National Economic Council of The White House.
Ms. Georgiev resides in San Jose (CA) with her husband, an ACS alumnus, and three children.
David Bliss Wilson
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Juris Doctor - Northeastern University School of Law - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Amherst College - Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Mr. Wilson is a founding partner at Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP in Boston, a law firm specializing in management side labor & employment law and litigation.
Mr. Wilson’s grandfather Howard H. Bliss taught English at ACS in the period 1938-42, and his mother attended ACS in first grade. Mr. Wilson resides in Acton (MA) with his family.
Vesselin Arnaudov '01
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Bachelor of Arts - Brown University - Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Mr. Arnaudov is a director of engineering leading the regional center for new incubation and research activities at VMware. Prior to that, Mr. Arnaudov developed experience in software engineering and startup life, including early explorations of distributed sensor networks in smart buildings.
Mr. Arnaudov resides in Sofia with his wife (ACS class of ’99) and three kids.
Frank Bauer
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Master of Business Administration - Harvard Business School - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - University of Iowa - Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Mr. Bauer is involved with various youth and educational institutions, including the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, Providence St. Mel School, Elgin Math and Science Academy, and ASSIST. From 1991 to 2012, Mr. Bauer served as President and CEO and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund and its successor, the America for Bulgaria Foundation. Mr. Bauer was awarded the Order of the Madara Horseman by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria for the work of these organizations.
Mr. Bauer resides in Chicago with his wife.
Avis T. Bohlen
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Master of Arts - Columbia University - New York, New York, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Radcliffe College - Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Ms. Bohlen is a former U.S. diplomat who served as the 32nd United States Ambassador to Bulgaria from 1996 to 1999. Previously, she was Assistant Secretary for Arms Control from 1999 to 2002.
Ms. Bohlen resides in Washington (DC) with her husband.
Karen Collias
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Doctor of Philosophy - Columbia University - New York, New York, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Ms. Collias is an independent consultant and founder of Knowledge Without Borders, a fund dedicated to expanding socio-economic diversity in education by connecting creativity and philanthropy. Ms. Collias has a background in comparative politics and education with a focus on Eastern Europe and Russia.
Ms. Collias resides with her husband in Yardley (PA), New York City (NY), and Shanghai (China).
Christopher Dell
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M.Phil - Oxford University - Oxford, England
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Bachelor of Arts - Columbia University - New York, New York, USA
Mr. Dell was a career U.S. diplomat and served as Ambassador to Angola, Zimbabwe and Kosovo. Among his other postings he was the deputy chief of mission in Bulgaria. Since retiring from the Foreign Service, Mr. Dell has worked for Bechtel Corporation. He is currently a consultant for Fieldstone, a private investment bank and transaction advisor, serves as a director of Sicona Battery Technology, an Australian start-up, and consults for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mr. Dell lives in Washington, D.C., with his Bulgarian-born wife, but divides his time between there, Portugal and Bulgaria.
Nellie Gencheva Gipson
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Master of Arts - New York University - New York, New York, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Hunter College - New York, New York, USA
Ms. Gipson is an arts management professional. Currently she devotes her time to art and education philanthropy in New York City and Cooperstown, NY.
Ms. Gipson resides in New York City (NY) with her husband.
Valentin Georgiev
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Pew Economic Freedom Fellow Program - Georgetown University - Washington, D.C., USA
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Master of Laws - Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski - Sofia, Bulgaria
Mr. Georgiev has over 15 years of experience in the private sector as an attorney at law, and in civil service as secretary general of the Bulgarian Parliament (1997-2001) and general secretary of Bulgaria’s Central Election Committee. He served as executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria for 14 years (2002-2016). He serves now as secretary general of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Mr. Georgiev is the proud parent of an ACS alumna, and resides in Sofia (Bulgaria).
Dimitar Hristov ‘06
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Master of Science - London School of Economics and Political Science - London, England
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Bachelor of Science - Bayes Business School - London, England
Mr. Hristov heads a construction and wholesale distribution business serving multinational and local
clients in key projects throughout the country. He is a member of a number of international real
estate and construction professional organizations.
Mr. Hristov resides in Sofia (Bulgaria).
Nedko Kyuchukov '03
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Master of Business Administration - Harvard Business School - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Dartmouth College - Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Mr. Kyuchukov is a public equity investor at Generation Investment Management. His previous professional experience was as a long/short equity investor at hedge fund Westray Capital Management, private equity and distressed debt investor at TPG Capital, and investment banker at J.P. Morgan and Lazard.
Mr. Kyuchukov resides in London (United Kingdom) with his wife.
Tom Marshall
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Master of International Affairs - Columbia University - New York, New York, USA
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Master of Education - Harvard University Graduate School of Education - Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Hamilton College - Clinton, New York, USA
Mr. Marshall is Executive Director of Teaching & Learning at Stamford American International School in Singapore. Mr. Marshall served as Faculty Development Coordinator at ACS from 2013 through 2016, and has worked as a teacher and administrator at schools in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States.
Mr. Marshall resides in Singapore.
Marcie Ries
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Master of International Affairs - Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies - Washington, D.C., USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Oberlin College - Oberlin, Ohio, USA
Ms. Ries spent thirty-seven years as an American diplomat, including postings in Belgium, Turkey, the UK, Kosovo, Iraq, and Albania. From 2012 to 2015, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria.
Ms. Ries resides in Washington (DC).
Boris Statev '03
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Bachelor of Science - Lehigh University - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Mr. Statev manages credit risk in emerging markets at Apple. His previous professional experience includes debt investment, and M&A and financing advisory in both banks and advisory boutiques. He started his career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Statev resides in London (United Kingdom) with his wife, an ACS alumna, and their two children.
Borislav Stefanov '97
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Master of Business Administration - Harvard Business School - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Master of International Management - Regent’s University London - London, England
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Bachelor of Arts - American University in Bulgaria - Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Mr. Stefanov is a management consultant and founder of Hilltop 34 Boutique Advisory. Mr. Stefanov’s professional background includes positions in the automotive industry (Daimler AG), management consulting (BCG), and private equity, as well as a four-year period with InvestBulgaria, a government agency attracting and supporting multinational companies in Bulgaria.
Mr. Stefanov resides in Sofia (Bulgaria) with his wife.
Trayan Trayanov '01
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Master of Philosophy - University of Cambridge - Cambridge, England
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Bachelor of Arts - Harvard College - Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Mr. Trayanov is the Chief Executive Officer of Teach for Bulgaria (Фондация "Заедно в час"), a non-profit organization working to ensure equitable access to quality education for every child in Bulgaria.
Mr. Trayanov resides in Sofia (Bulgaria) with his wife and two sons.
Roger Whitaker
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Doctor of Philosophy - Boston University - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Master of Arts - Boston University - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - Heidelberg University - Heidelberg, Germany
During his 1994-2017 tenure at The George Washington University, Dr. Whitaker served as a professor, dean, associate vice president, and founding dean of the school’s College of Professional Studies. In 1991-92, he spearheaded the reopening of the American College of Sofia, and became ACS’s first President from 1992 to 1994.
Mr. Whitaker lived in Bulgaria for ten months in 1975-76 when he conducted research for his Ph.D. dissertation. Mr. Whitaker lives in the Washington (DC) area with his wife.
William J. Williams, Jr.
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Bachelor of Laws - New York University School of Law - New York, New York, USA
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Bachelor of Arts - College of the Holy Cross - Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Mr. Williams has been an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP in New York City since 1962, including partner from 1969 to 2004 and Of Counsel since.
Mr. Williams resides in New York City (NY).