FEATHER HOUSTOUN has been named president of the Philadelphia-based William Penn Foundation, effective March 1. Houstoun, a member of the foundation's board since last January, is currently the Maryland/Pennsylvania regional president of AmeriChoice. She has also served as Pennsylvania's secretary of public welfare, New Jersey's state treasurer, and chief financial officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. She will replace KATHY ENGEBRETSON, who is stepping down for health reasons.

The Denver Foundation has appointed MICHELLE SIE WHITTEN to its board of trustees. Whitten, president and CEO of Encore International Inc., a cable and satellite television provider, was founder and president of Asian Television and Communications International. She is, in addition, one of the founding members of the Center for Chinese-United States Cooperation at the University of Denver and serves on the boards of the Social Science Foundation and the Institute of International Education.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation has named SHAUNA RYDER DIGGS as board chair and JOEL FERGUSON as board vice president. Diggs, a dermatologist in private practice and cosmetic service medical director for the Laser Surgery Institute of DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital, has served on the foundation's board of directors since 1999 and also serves on the board of Blue Care Network of Michigan. Ferguson, vice chair of the board of trustees at Michigan State University, has served on the foundation's board and grants committee since 1989.

The Washington, D.C.-based National Park Foundation has named VIN CIPOLLA as president and CEO. Cipolla, currently president and CEO of Veritude, a Fidelity Investments company, was formerly vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He also founded three companies in the financial services, software, and advertising industries, and has served for eight years as board chair of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

The United Nations Foundation in Washington, D.C., has named DEBRA DeSHONG as director of communications and public affairs. DeShong was senior communications advisor for the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign, and previously served as communications director for the Democratic National Committee, New Jersey senator Robert Torricelli, and Maryland congressman Steny Hoyer.

The D.C.-based American Historical Association has named LINDA K. KERBER as president. Kerber, chair of the University of Iowa's history department and a lecturer in the university's college of law, was formerly president of the American Studies Organization and the Organization of American Historians, and currently serves on the federal U.S. commission on educational and cultural exchange with Japan. She will serve as president-elect for one year, and as president for one year beginning January 2006.

In other news, Montana governor JUDY MARTZ has been named to the board of the University of Montana-Western Foundation. Martz, Montana's first female governor, ran a commercial solid-waste business in Butte with her husband for over thirty years and was president of the Butte chamber of commerce. She was also a member of the U.S. Speed Skating Team at the 1964 Olympic Games.