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Promoting Swiss-American Studies since 1927
About Thomas Quinn Marabello
Thomas Quinn Marabello became President of the Swiss American Historical Society in November 2024. He served as Vice President from 2021-24. As president, he is focused on increasing membership, organizing engaging and interesting annual meetings, and supporting young historians. Tom's involvement in the Society has included writing articles and book reviews, serving as the publications lead on the Editorial Board, doing outreach, and starting the SAHS Centennial Committee. SAHS Review articles that he has written include the 500th anniversary of Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation, democracy in Switzerland, the centennial of the Treaty of Lausanne, the connection between Zermatt and Vail, and the 40th anniversary of the Geneva Summit. He got his BA cum laude in History from Marymount University and his MA in Medieval and Early Modern European Studies from Georgetown University. His first career was teaching high school history and social studies, including Advanced Placement European History for over a decade. Tom is an onsite events sourcing manager for Maritz Global Events and lives in Washington, DC.​
About Beth Zurbuchen
Beth Zurbuchen has been Vice President of the Swiss American Historical Society since November 2024. She served as President of the Swiss Center of North America in New Glarus, Wisconsin from 2009 until retiring in April 2024. In that role, Beth worked on collecting and inventorying Swiss genealogical and historical materials, and the founding of the Donald G. Tritt Library and Archives. Beth invited SAHS to hold its annual meeting in October 2023 at the Swiss Center of North America, and collaborated with Tom Marabello to plan and execute what was a very successful and well attended meeting. As the Society's Vice President in the U.S., Beth works on outreach to Swiss Clubs and other organizations, networking and public programming. Her grandfather and great grandparents emigrated from Switzerland to Wisconsin, and Beth is a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland. She got her BA with honors in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and her first career was as a television news journalist. Beth and her husband live in Madison, Wisconsin and she has two adult daughters.​
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About Barbara Müller
Barbara Müller joined the SAHS in 2013, became Vice President of the SAHS Swiss Chapter in 2016 and is President of our sister organization, Friends of the Swiss American Historical Society in Switzerland. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts and later raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where her father, Dr. Hans Heinrich Kuhn (born in Niederuzwil, Switzerland) was a research scientist for Deering Milliken (now Milliken and Co.), who helped found the Swiss Club of the Piedmont and served as Honorary Consul for Switzerland in North and South Carolina from 1970-1990. Barbara got her BA in History from the College of Charleston and emigrated to Switzerland in 1987 where she married Willi Müller. They travelled as expats for Nestlé living 11 years in various West African countries (Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria) and Indonesia and Australia each for 2 years, thus always exploring new cultures. She has done a lot of outreach to young historians in Switzerland and organized many interesting annual meetings in different parts of the country. Barbara has also suggested books and articles for us to publish. The mother of three adult children and several grandchildren, she lives in Murten, Canton Fribourg, Switzerland where she is a tour guide and helps with various other activities in the city.​
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About Ernie Thurston
​Ernie Thurston is a longtime SAHS member who has been the Membership Secretary since 1998. He got his BA in Physics from Harvard University and was a computer programmer and political consultant. His father (Ernest Albert Thürkauf) along with his parents and siblings emigrated from Liestal, Canton Basel-Landschaft in 1913 to Alberta, Canada, and then later to Washington state. Ernie edited his father's revised 1983 memoir in 2003, One Small Lifetime. Now semi-retired, he and his partner enjoy spending time with their two daughters and four grandchildren. Ernie lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
About Robert Foreman
Rob Foreman became a member of SAHS in 2023 and recently learned through genealogy research that he is part Swiss. He is retired from the U.S. federal government, where he worked in health care policy on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Rob also was President of the Kidney Care Council, a national trade association from 2006–2009. He is the author of A Dream, A Journey, An Adventure: My Trip Around the World that was published in 2011. Rob got his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University. He serves on the SAHS Centennial Committee and also has been treasurer for his condo board association, splitting his time between Arlington, Virginia and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
About Jane Maurer
Jane Maurer serves as the Society’s Recording Secretary and became a member of SAHS in 2023. She is also Board Secretary for the Swiss Center of North America. Jane grew up in Wisconsin and attended Colorado State University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in history and literature, and then a dual graduate history degree in Historic Preservation and Archival Sciences. She lived in Colorado for many years before moving to New Hampshire in 2017. Jane has Swiss and Norwegian ancestry, loves history, and works in IT at Southern New Hampshire University.
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About Richard Hacken
Richard Hacken has been our Webmaster since 2018 and also serves on the Editorial Board. Born in Sacramento, California, a city established originally (at least by Europeans) as "New Helvetia" in the days of Johann Sutter. He is also a citizen of "Old Helvetia" (i.e. Switzerland) with ancestral lines from Rüeggisberg, Canton Bern. Richard has a doctorate in German Studies from the University of California at Davis. After having taught at Oregon State University and the University of Kansas, he was the European Studies Librarian at Brigham Young University for over 40 years (now emeritus). He has established and maintained information portals online, including EuroDocs, World War I Document Archive and Deutsche Dichterhandschriften des Poetischen Realismus. Richard has published books and articles in the areas of Swiss and German literature, European history, and library history, as well as translating articles and poetry from German, Dutch, Danish and Norwegian. He wrote and published in July 2025 Helvetic Heights: A Human History of the Swiss Alps. Richard and his family live in Provo, Utah.
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About Robert Sherwood
Robert Sherwood has been an active member since 2010 and has served on the Executive Board, as Recording Secretary, and is also the Book Review Editor. He also coordinates the annual Leo Schelbert Award and has done outreach with Swiss-American affiliated churches, historical societies, and communities, particularly in the Midwest. Rob has been professor of history at Georgia Military College since 2005, where he also serves as department chair and is the cross country coach. Rob teaches a variety of courses, including Historical Research and Writing, World Civilizations and American History. He got his BA in History and French from New Mexico State University and MA in History from the University of Delaware. An area of interest is the Swiss biathlon, which Rob has researched and written about, and he is also a freelance archivist for the U.S. Biathlon Association. He and his family live in Milledgeville, Georgia.
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