Board of Directors
- Roger S. Newton, Ph.D., Chairman
- Douglas K. Mellinger, Director
- Yun (Luke) Lu, M.D., T.C.M., Ph.D., Founder/President
- Katarina Lu, M.S., Treasurer
- Amy St.Amour, Secretary
Roger S. Newton, Ph.D., Chairman
Roger Newton has been the Chairman of the Board of Golden Courage International since 2005. He is also President of the Esperance Family Foundation, a family-run organization that has supported not only Golden Courage but also other non-profit organizations focusing on human potential, health and the environment.
Dr. Newton is the Founding President of Esperion Therapeutics, a cutting edge research pharmaceutical company and the co-discoverer of Lipitor. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Dr. Newton and his wife, Coco, have three children and have lived in the Ann Arbor area for the past 25 years.
Douglas K. Mellinger, Director
Douglas Mellinger serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Golden Courage International since 2008. He is Vice-Chairman and co-founder of Foundation Source, the nation's leading provider of support services for nearly 900 private foundations.
Mr. Mellinger has a keen interest in community service directed toward youth, education and economic development. He has established a private foundation reflecting his strong personal commitment to improving the quality of teaching and enhancing career opportunities for the economically disadvantaged.
Yun (Luke) Lu, M.D., T.C.M., Ph.D., GCI Founder/President
Yun (Luke) Lu, M.D., T.C.M., Ph.D., GCI Founder/President Dr. Lu is the founder and president of Golden Courage International (GCI). He has been trained as a Traditional Chinese Medical doctor, and received his M.D. from the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing, China. He earned his doctoral degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln studying the impact of AIDS in China. Golden Courage International is an outgrowth of this work.
Dr. Lu is the President and CEO of Dr. Lu's Healing Cuisine LLC, a social enterprise that promotes healthy eating through herbs and seasonal, local, organic ingredients.
His name, "Dr. Luke", was given to him by the people receiving his humanitarian assistance in central China. This name means "the healer who brings hope."
Katarina Lu, M.S., Treasurer
Katarina Lu is treasurer of Golden Courage International and a secondary math teacher. Ms. Lu is a founding member of GCI and organized the first Christmas toy drive in the children housed by the Eastern Treasure Boarding School in 2003. Besides her role on the Board of Directors, Ms. Lu is a leading member of the Rural Teacher Training Program.
Amy St.Amour, Secretary
Since 2003, Amy St. Amour has been the Major Gift Officer for the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine. Prior to that, she spent 10 years out West working with both for-profit and non-profit organizations such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Nike, Sports Illustrated and more. She moved back to Michigan in 2000 and joined Chelsea Community Hospital's development team before moving over to the University of Michigan.