Board Members and Trustees
Board Members
Thomas Lozser, President and Membership
Born in Chur, GR, grew up in Sargans and Mels SG
In USA since 1988, in Novi since 1999, married to Jill, two children Alex and Marissa.
ETH Zürich Mechanical Engineering 1986, MBA UoM 1996
Hobbies: Skiing, hiking, travelling, nice restaurants, music, watching sports.
Independent management consultant and board member in several companies in US and CH. Previous Career positions were General Manager at Automotive Supplier, Managing Director at US subsidiary of a Swiss Electronic component manufacturer, CEO at Swiss Coatings Manufacturer. Spent entire career working for Swiss and German Companies and have been travelling to Switzerland between 5 and 10 times most years for 30 years..
Member of DSS since around 1990.
Shelly Burnside, Treasurer and Events
Born in Detroit, MI. Dual citizen of Graubünden, Switzerland and USA. Resident of Switzerland from 1997-2013 (various locations).
Director, Quality Assurance at Microsoft (Switzerland and US). Past experiences at Swiss Re, Jelmoli, EPFL.
MBA (University of St Gallen, Switzerland), PhD in Chemistry (Cornell University), BS in Chemistry (University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
Hobbies: Travelling, experiencing new cultures, skiing, hiking
Member of DSS since 2013. Member of DSS Board since 2014 (various positions).
Sylvia LaPratt, Correspondence and Events
Born and raised in Frauenfeld, CH. Moved to the USA in 2006. Triple citizen of Switzerland, USA, and Poland. Married to Marcus, three children Lina, Teya, and Anya.
Lived in Switzerland during the COVID year of 2020/2021 with the whole family. Parents, sister, and lots of friends are still in Switzerland.
Elementary Music Teacher in Huron Valley Public Schools.
Harp Performances for weddings and other functions in the USA and abroad.
Hobbies: Musicals and concerts, board and card games with family, skiing, barre exercise, traveling, reading.
Member of DSS since 2006.
Urs Boeckli, Previous President / Member at Large
Born and raised in Zurich-Oerlikon – still have family there.
Apprenticeship, followed by University/Fachhochschule for Betriebsökonom (Business Administration)
I met my wife Esther in the US, we married in Horgen and moved back to Detroit and bought our house in Farmington Hills. Our daughter Karen, Lisa and Kathy live n Chicago and San Francisco, and we have four grandsons, Ben, Bailey, Olivia, and Emmaline.
Work Experience – Started career at Burroughs and worked in Johannesburg and Zurich, living in Horgen. Moved to Detroit with Burroughs in 1977, planned a 3 month assignment that ended up taking 2 years. After that U.S. subsidiary of an Italian Electronics, Later, Sales and Marketing Manager for a local software company in Walled Lake. also taught Global Marketing and Supply Chain Management courses at UofM Dearborn. Retired in 2017.
Event Coordinator – VACANT
Webmaster – VACANT
Trustees
Carl Waltjen, Jim Hallock
One VACANT position