Board of Trustees

NINEVAH LOWERY worked in the computer software industry for 15 years as a technology consultant, sales engineer, and marketing communications leader. Taking time off to care for her children as a stay-home mom, she has been a consistent school volunteer, having served in various parent leadership roles. During this time, she has also held numerous executive board seats and served on regional and national committees in member-based community organizations. She is committed to excellence and approaches her work with passion. Ninevah holds a BS from the University of Alabama, with a major in management information systems, and an MBA from University of Detroit Mercy. Ninevah and her husband, Bryant, have two children, Bryant, II ’24 and Neva-Nataia ’26.

As COO, JULI COOK oversees NBBJ’s global operations across 12 offices and manages the firm’s administrative, financial, legal, information technology, and human resources functions. Juli is widely credited with introducing innovative new business models across a range of professional services and creative industries. Prior to joining NBBJ, she served as executive vice president of Corbis Images, where she managed media products and global operations. Prior to her role at Corbis, she was vice president of product management at Washington Mutual, where she was responsible for developing new products and services for retail bank customers and held management roles at Deloitte Consulting and Sotheby’s. Juli holds a BA in art history and a BFA in painting from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She is currently a member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County Board of Directors, where she serves on the Executive Committee, and she previously served on the Artist Trust Board of Directors, and Artist Trust’s Executive and Finance Committees. Juli is chair of UPrep’s Trusteeship and Governance Committee. She and her husband, Andy, have two children: Max ‘26 and Zander ‘28.

JAMIE EVANS is a partner at Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP, where he represents distinguished technology and life sciences companies in a broad scope of corporate matters. He focuses primarily on capital markets transactions representing issuers, underwriters, and other parties in a variety of public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. He also advises public and private companies in areas including, but not limited to, compliance, SEC reporting, and governance matters. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He and his wife, Kuyler, are the parents of Katy ’26.

TERRY NELSON FROGGATT is a Founder of UPrep. She currently serves as the chair of the Trinity United Methodist Church Board of Trustees and is a board member of the University Ballard Lions Foundation. In addition to being a UPrep Founder, she has served the school in many capacities, including vice president of the board, chair of the Long-Range Planning Committee, vice chair of the Facilities Committee, chair of the Math Department, director of development, chair of the Education Committee, class scheduler for 26 years, and the liaison between the architect and the faculty/staff during many UPrep building projects. Retiring in 2006 after 38 years in education, she continues to serve on the board’s Finance and Audit Committee. Terry is the mother of Jason ’87 and grandmother of UPrep student Sadie Froggatt ’25.

VAN KATZMAN is the co-founder of Ascent Law Partners LLP and Ascent Investments LLC, advising technology start-ups and other businesses on their life-cycle decisions from inception to exit. He teaches the Entrepreneurship intensive course at UPrep. Van is also a member of the University Child Development School Board of Trustees. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in history, earned his law degree from the University of Virginia, and holds a master’s in environmental policy from George Washington University. Van is a member of UPrep’s Finance and Audit Committee. He and his wife, Wendy, have a son, Jack, who graduated from UPrep in 2017 and a daughter, Carly ’25.

THONG LE currently serves as senior managing director and CEO of Accelerator Life Science Partners. Thong has over 20 years of experience identifying, investing in, managing, and successfully exiting numerous seed and early-stage investments in the biotechnology sector. He served as CEO and director of numerous Accelerator Life Science Partners portfolio companies, notably Petra Pharma, Rodeo Therapeutics, Lodo Therapeutics, Proniras, ALSP ORCHID, and KayoThera. Prior to joining Accelerator Life Science Partners, Thong served as a managing Director at WRF Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Washington Research Foundation, a Seattle-based not-for-profit organization that supports research and scholarship in Washington state, with a focus on life sciences and enabling technologies. Prior to joining WRF Capital, Thong was the founder and CEO of MiniMeals Inc. and a consultant for Capital Management Consulting. Thong completed post-graduate studies at the Templeton College of Oxford University and received his AB cum laude in government from Harvard University. Thong serves on the Investment Subcommittee. He and his wife, Jeannie, have two children, Maya ’27 and Adric.

RUSSELL NORMANN ’86 owns and operates a private commercial real estate company with a unique and growing portfolio in the Puget Sound region. Russ oversees all aspects of the business and takes great pride in serving its diverse family of tenants. Prior to entering real estate, Russ had a successful career in technology that spanned over a decade. Russ attended University of Washington, where he graduated with degrees in philosophy and mathematics. He is a proud alumnus of UPrep’s graduating class of 1986, participated on the Alumni Board, and has served on the Finance Committee for several years. When Russ isn’t taking care of buildings and tenants, he enjoys sailing, skiing, traveling, and spending time with family and friends (many of whom stretch back to his days at UPrep). Russ serves on UPrep’s Building committee. He and his wife, Heather, are the parents of Ben ’21.

SUJAL PATEL is currently Founder and CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology. In 2001, Sujal founded Isilon Systems, an enterprise data storage provider. After Isilon was acquired by EMC in December 2010 for $2.6 Billion, Sujal served as the president of EMC’s Isilon Storage Division from the acquisition until November 2012. Sujal holds numerous patents in the areas of storage, networking, and media delivery, is a well-known speaker on entrepreneurship, and has received a variety of industry awards. Currently, Sujal serves on the board of directors at Qumulo and is a trustee of Rainier Scholars. He serves on UPrep’s Investment Committee. Sujal and his wife, Meera, have twin sons at UPrep, Avi and Niam ’26.

DANIELLE (Dani) RUTHFIELD is a strategic advisor to ultra-high net worth individuals, families, and companies in transition. Previously, she was a marriage and family therapist and the head of Northwest Family Therapy, a group practice in Seattle. Before returning to school for her masters in family therapy, Dani served in leadership and development roles at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and as a program manager at Amazon. Dani was previously the chair of the The Evergreen School Board of Trustees and served on the board for nine years. As the chair of the Development Committee, she helped deliver a successful $20M capital campaign. Danielle is a fellow in the Wexner Heritage Program, a worldwide Jewish leadership initiative. She has a BA from University of Puget Sound and masters’ degrees from Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University. Dani serves on UPrep’s Advancement Committee. She and her husband, Scott, and two daughters, Mica and Nava ’25, live in Shoreline.

ANDREW SELBY spent 20 years working in investment banking at companies based in Hong Kong, London, and Johannesburg, with a culminating stint at Barclays Capital, setting up the Africa Investment Banking Operations. After retiring from banking, Andrew founded a sporting events company. The Selby family moved from Cape Town to Seattle in August 2018, with Aleksandr ’22 and Matthew ’24 settling in at UPrep. At the children’s previous school, Andrew chaired its Finance Committee, launched a major fundraising campaign for capital expansion, and founded the Extra Term initiative, which provided an opportunity for current parents to sponsor and mentor children who needed financial assistance. He serves on the UPrep’s Finance and Audit Committee and chairs the Investment Committee.

JEREMY WACKSMAN is the COO at Zillow Group. Jeremy previously served as president of Zillow and chief marketing officer. Before joining Zillow in 2009, he led marketing and product management efforts at Microsoft and Trilogy Software. Jeremy also advises startup and growth companies, having served as a board director for Rover.com and Room77, as well as an advisor to companies, including Dollar Shave Club and GoFundMe. Jeremy earned a BS in computer engineering from Purdue University and a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a member of UPrep’s Finance and Audit Committee. He and his wife, Lucy, are the parents of Eli ’25 and Miles ’29.

JENNIFER ZELL earned a BA in economics from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Washington Business School. After graduate school, she worked for Moss Adams Advisory Services as a financial analyst, performing valuations of privately held companies and earned her CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation. She retired after the birth of her first child. Jennifer served on the Meridian School Board for six years as a regular trustee and was treasurer for two years and chair for three. She was also an emeritus trustee for two years.  Jennifer served two years as the co-president of the Parent Guardian Association, where she previously served as a sports booster and as treasurer. She also volunteered as a class agent for the Puma Fund and a parent ambassador. She currently serves as secretary of the UPrep Board of Trustees after serving two years as president and sits on the Trusteeship and Governance Committee.  She and her husband, Mike, have three children, Courtney ’19, Mitchell ’21, and Trevor ’23.

KRYSIA JOHNSON is the senior vice president of finance for Honor Inc. a venture-backed tech-enabled healthcare company that operates the world’s largest senior care network. Her finance career spans several industries, including healthcare, consumer products, and technology. She has an MBA from the University of Michigan and an undergraduate degree in public policy from Duke University. Krysia also serves as president of the UPrep Parent Guardian Association for the 2023–2024 school year and as a Puma Fund class agent. Krysia and her husband, Bjorn, are the parents of Wynne ’24 and Paige ’26.

CHRISTINA ZEMBRUSKI, originally from New Jersey, has lived in Seattle for seven years. She has been a member of the UPrep community for the past seven years, where she has been a member of the Math Department. She has taught a variety of classes, including Middle School Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2.  Christina has served as grade level Dean in the Middle School for both the Class of 2023 and Class of 2026.  She also serves as a member of the Scheduling Committee. She enjoys listening to podcasts, exploring the Pacific Northwest, and learning to cook new dishes.