Women’s Leadership Council

Dr. Christine Hunter recently joined the board of WPS Health Solutions, bringing 35 years of experience in federal health programs. WPS and its family of health insurance brands serve the active military, veterans, seniors, employers, and individuals who rely on the company for high-quality health insurance and benefit plan administration. Dr. Hunter also cochairs the National Committee for Quality Assurance Committee on Performance Measurement, working to improve health outcomes for all Americans.

From 2011 until August 2018, Dr. Hunter served as Chief Medical Officer at the US Office of Personnel Management where her responsibilities included medical direction for the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program and oversight of healthcare quality for 8.2 million employees, retirees, and families. She pioneered the FEHB Plan Performance Assessment to link population health outcomes to health plan profit and contributed to the design of new insurance offerings. As a Navy Rear Admiral and Deputy Director of TRICARE Management Activity from 2009–2011, she coordinated healthcare for 9.6 million military beneficiaries and managed a $22B portfolio.

Dr. Hunter is a Distinguished Alumna of Boston University, where she earned both her BA and medical degrees. After beginning her career as one of the first women to serve on Navy ships, she completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Hematology-Oncology. Her clinical practice afforded opportunities to advance care coordination, including the establishment of the Navy’s first multidisciplinary breast cancer clinic. Serving as Commanding Officer of Naval Hospital Bremerton, Dr. Hunter focused on enhancing primary care delivery; while her tour as Pacific Fleet Surgeon offered an opportunity to redesign resuscitative surgery at sea. Assuming command at Navy Medicine West/Naval Medical Center San Diego, RADM Hunter launched a nationally acclaimed center for wounded warrior care and energized her team to achieve the highest ranking among military hospitals for combined quality, population health, and business performance.

Dr. Hunter is a Fellow and Laureate of the American College of Physicians. Her work has been recognized with a Presidential Rank Award, OPM Director’s Award, National Association of Government Communicators Award, Athena Chairman’s Award for Community Leadership, Defense Superior Service Medal, and numerous other military awards. She is a member of the Boston University Advisory Board and Navy Mutual Aid Association Board of Directors and speaks regularly on performance improvement in healthcare.

After receiving her bachelor’s from Questrom School of Business in 1980, Mary Buletza began a career in accounting working for Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, and later Deloitte Touche, where she was a senior manager and leader of the financial planning practice. In 1992, she opened her own firm, which now has offices in both New Jersey and Boston.

Her primary areas of expertise are individual taxation and financial planning, with a special focus on affluent multigeneration family groups, family offices and individuals, trust administration and taxation, and estate planning and taxation.

Maintaining a strong commitment to Boston University since graduation, Mary has served as president of the Questrom Alumni Board of Directors.

An avid ice hockey fan, Mary began attending games as a freshman and has held season tickets ever since graduating and attended all but two Beanpot games since 1977. She and her husband, the Very Rev. Gary Breton, had their first date twenty-five years ago at the Beanpot finals at the Boston Garden. Mary and her husband have two children, Mary and Alexander.

Jenny Gruber was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She graduated from Boston University (ENG’99) with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, and in 2002, earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Science from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes scholar.

Jenny joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a cooperative education student in the fall of 1996, and as a full-time employee in the fall of 2002. She spent nine years in the Flight Design and Dynamics Division of the Flight Operations Directorate. She was a Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) in Space Shuttle Mission Control, and she served as a liaison between Mission Control and United States Strategic Command and as a liaison between Mission Control and scientists with Langley Research Center’s Hypersonic Thermodynamic Infrared Measurements Project. In May of 2012, Jenny moved to the Flight Planning Branch of the Operations Division to become the Lead of the Mission Planning Software Group. In June 2014, she joined the Vehicle Integration and Daily Operations Branch as Lead of the Inventory and Stowage Officers (ISO) in ISS Mission Control. ISOs are responsible for stowage and disposal on ISS, as well as cargo transfer operations for spacecraft visiting the ISS.

Jenny is married to Ron Sostaric, who works in the Engineering Directorate at Johnson Space Center, on Entry, Descent, and Landing for Advanced Projects. They have a son, Markus, who was born in Ethiopia, so their family is Ethiopian-American, and they celebrate that heritage.

In her spare time, Jenny enjoys long-distance running, serving as an Elder and Sunday school teacher at Clear Lake Presbyterian, travel, camping and other outdoor activities, reading, mentoring young people, and learning about Ethiopian history, language, and culture.

As Executive Vice President and Producer for Feld Entertainment, Inc., Alana Feld oversees corporate and family governance and matters relating to her family’s interests and provides creative oversight of new projects. She also spearheads corporate social responsibility programs and manages the Feld Family Foundation. As part of the third generation in the family business, which includes her sisters, Nicole and Juliette, Alana’s lifelong exposure to the creative, marketing, and sales sides of live entertainment has contributed to the continued global success of the company. To date, she has produced 22 shows for Feld Entertainment.

Alana began her career outside of the family business, first working in advertising and media research. In 2003, she joined Feld Entertainment as a marketing specialist and promoted Disney On Ice and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in New York City. She later relocated to the European Feld offices in the Netherlands to guide and manage marketing of tours in the region.

She returned to the United States in 2006 to develop a new touring model for the company’s stage productions, which resulted in remarkable brand expansion into emerging markets. In 2009, Alana added the title of circus producer to her list of accomplishments with the launch of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents BARNUM 200SM alongside her sister Nicole. This marked the first time in circus history two women produced The Greatest Show On Earth®. She went on to produce the 146th Edition of Ringling Bros., the final installment of the iconic show. Alana remains vigilant in acquiring and developing new business, most recently adding Sesame Street Live! to the Feld Entertainment portfolio.

In February 2014, Alana and her two sisters were honored by the Theatre Development Fund for their shared commitment to accessibility for theatergoers with physical disabilities as well as individuals on the autism spectrum. For their dedication to leadership and academic achievement, all three sisters were recognized in April 2015 by Figure Skating in Harlem, a nonprofit organization that provides opportunity, education, and empowerment for girls in underserved New York City communities.

Alana lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters. She is a graduate of Boston University with a degree in advertising from the College of Communication. She continues to have an active role at the University as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Communication and a member of the BU Women’s Leadership Council.

Mary Perry is Senior Program Manager for the US Air Force, working on the staff of the Secretary of the Air Force to implement the Secretary’s special programs. She is also a Senior Editor at GraMac Press (a small independent firm) and serves in the Southwest Florida district of the Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. All these roles tap into her legal training, but none requires the license she holds to practice law in Virginia and the Federal Courts.

Known by Twitter handle, “triple Terrier,” Mary earned her law degree at Boston University’s School of Law, after previously obtaining a BA (magna cum laude) from CAS and an MA (GRS) in political science, with a concentration in international relations. After spending a year in private law practice in the Washington, D.C. area, she put all three degrees to good effect during her 26-year career as an active duty lawyer (JAG) for the US Air Force. She sought diversity in education by studying at the University of Virginia Law School, earning an LLM in international and national security law.

During the last 20 years of her Air Force career, Mary saw international travel as well as legal practice in areas as diverse in subject and geography as Brussels, Belgium, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Throughout these assignments, she contributed international and operations law expertise to decisions on legality and lethality of military operations in peace (in post-9/11 Washington) as well as war (in Iraq and Afghanistan).

After hanging up the uniform (retiring in the grade of Colonel), Mary continued working at the Pentagon in the Department of Defense General Counsel’s Office. There she brought her BU qualifications to bear on the most sensitive issues facing the Obama Administration, contributing to government-wide discussions at various national offices and the White House.

Recognizing the need to throttle back a bit, Mary left the bustle of Washington to advance the pursuits her heart desired, and still contribute to the Air Force as a civilian employee at the pace she determines. Primary among her volunteer pursuits, she enthusiastically embraces the opportunity to serve as President of the BU Alumni Association.