Board of Directors

Founder & President: Rob Crane, MD

Rob Crane, MD is a retired Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Ohio State University.  He has worked as a tobacco control advocate for over 25 years and is the founder and president of the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation and Tobacco 21. He was also co-chair for SmokeFree Columbus, the coalition that helped pass smoke-free legislation in a dozen Central Ohio communities and led to statewide legislation. He is also the recipient of the 2011 Public Health Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians and the 2014 C. Everett Koop Award from the American Lung Association. He lives in the Columbus suburb of Dublin with his wife and two teenage boys, while his adult daughter, her husband and his grandchild live nearby.

Vice President: Dr. Marie E. Collart-Hock

Dr. Collart-Hock, retired on October 1, 2013 as President and CEO of The Breathing Association after 32 ½ years of service. Marie has a B.S. in Nursing, M.S. in Nursing Education and Ph.D. in Educational/Communications Technology from The Ohio State University. Marie’s leadership has had an impact on the community in many ways. During her Presidency, the career highlights for Marie were SmokeFree Columbus, the establishment of the Lung Health Clinic and the establishment of the Home Energy Assistance Program. In 2006-07 she was co-leader of SmokeFree Columbus, along with Bishop Timothy Clark and Dr. Rob Crane, with The Breathing Association as the lead agency. This effort accomplished smoke free public places in Columbus and surrounding counties, opening the way for a smoke free Ohio. Along with HEAP Director, Colette Harrell, Marie was the founder of the agency’s free Lung Health Clinic and Mobile Medical Unit, serving low income medically vulnerable clients with needed health care. In 2012-2013, over 1,000 persons received free health care and free prescriptions and 3,500 received testing services. Marie also established the Agency as the second Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) in Franklin County. Linking lung health needs to energy assistance, the agency serves as a National Health Care Model. During Marie’s last year, The Breathing Association served 31,795 people in Franklin County.

Treasurer & Secretary: Timothy T. Miller, C.P.A, J.D.

Tim received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Illinois in 1980 and a law degree from Loyola University, Chicago, in 1987. He is currently employed by Crane Group Co., as a corporate attorney located in Columbus, OH. Prior to joining Crane, Tim, worked as an accountant for the Chicago office of Touche Ross & Company (now Deloitte), a senior accountant for the Chicago law firm of Jenner and Block and an attorney for the Chicago law firm of Rosenthal and Schanfield. Tim currently sits on the Board of Trustees for the Community Shelter Board and the Omicron Alumni Association at the University of Illinois. He is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the United Way of Central Ohio, Faith Mission, Columbus School for Girls, and the Contemporary American Theatre Company of Columbus, Ohio (CATCO). In addition, he also served on the Community Arts Grants Committee for the Columbus Foundation, the Homelessness Prevention Pilot Community Advisory Committee, the Steering Committee for the Rebuilding Lives Updated Strategy Task Force and the Columbus Public Schools Student Mobility Research Project conducted in 2005. Tim and his wife, Jamie Crane, have two grown children, a son, Taylor, and a daughter, Hailey. Tim and Jamie reside in Upper Arlington, Ohio.

Micah Berman

Micah is an associate professor of public health and law at The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health and Michael E. Moritz College of Law. His research explores the intersection between public health research and legal doctrine, with a focus on tobacco policy. Prior to joining Ohio State, Berman established and directed the Tobacco Public Policy Center (Columbus, Ohio) and the Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy (Boston, Massachusetts). He also served as a senior advisor to the FDA Center for Tobacco Products. Before turning his focus to public health, Berman was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and political director for a U.S. Senate campaign. He received a JD with distinction from Stanford Law School and a BA with the highest honors in Public Policy from Brandeis University.

Jack Waxman

Jack is a student at Cornell University studying government and economics. Previously, Jack worked on public health policy and press relations for Senator Chuck Schumer. Jack also served as a national youth ambassador for Truth Initiative, a leading public health non-profit. In 2019, Jack was awarded the J.R. Tesone Youth Public Health Award in his home county of Westchester, NY, the home of almost 1 million people. Jack is also the creator of Juulers Against Juul, a short film on youth drug use prevention that debuted on Good Morning America. In his free time, Jack enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing ultimate frisbee, and cooking.

Dean Camille Nelson

Dean Camille Nelson is currently the Dean of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, prior to her current appointment she served as Dean of American University Washington College of Law, the first person of color to do so. Prior to her appointment at WCL, she was the first woman and person of color to serve as Dean of Suffolk University Law School in Boston. Dean Nelson’s scholarship focuses health law, criminal law and procedure, comparative law, and leadership, through the lens of cultural studies and critical race theory. Her professional service engagements include serving on the Executive and Steering Committees of the Association of American Law Schools, the board of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, the board of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE), the President’s Advisory Network on Global Legal Education for the Law School Admissions Council, Teach for America (Hawai’i), and the Overseers’ Committee to Visit Harvard Law School. Dean Nelson holds a B.A. with high distinction from the University of Toronto in Administration, a magna cum laude law degree from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School.

Rukaya Alrubaye

Rukaya Alrubaye, originally from Iraq, is a senior at Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, AR. She is the recipient of the 2022 National Youth Advocate of the Year Award from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 2022 Truth Initiative Impact Award, and the 2022 Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Award. She has spoken with the FDA and state officials to advocate for a healthier future. Rukaya was selected by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to be their national youth spokesperson. In addition, she has won the 2021 Outstanding Youth award from the Arkansas Prevention Network. Rukaya’s coalition has also received the 2022 Most Impactful Project award and the 2022 Outstanding group award from the Arkansas Prevention Network.

Kevin O'Flaherty

Kevin is the Director of Advocacy – Northeast Region for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a position he has held since 2006. In that role he has played an integral part in countless successful campaigns to increase tobacco taxes, establish smokefree air policies, increase the age of sale to twenty-one and to eliminate the sale of flavored tobacco products. He also leads CTFK’s effort to eliminate the use of smokeless tobacco in Major League Baseball.  Prior to joining the Campaign, he worked in a similar capacity for the American Cancer Society in both Texas and Rhode Island. He received his BA Summa Cum Laude (Philosophy) in 2000 from the University of Houston. He lives in Milford, Connecticut with his wife Mary and his dog Moby. When the weather is warm and the winds are fair, you will likely find him sailing on Long Island Sound and beyond.