NAFUSA member Ira Raphaelson, who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1989-1990, was named Executive Director and General Counsel of Las Vegas Sands, Corp., beginning November 1, 2011, where he will be responsible for the company's legal affairs worldwide. Raphaelson previously served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of Scientific Games Corportation, a leader in the lottery industry.

In addition to serving as U.S. Attorney, Raphaelson was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as Special Counsel for Financial Institutions. He also served as Counsel to the Attorney General (1991-1993). He earned his J.D. from Northwestern University. He is married with three children and two grandchildren.

Luiza and Charlie Savage at the Santa Fe conference

The New York Times correspondent Charlie Savage is not the only journalist in the Savage family. Charlie's wife, Luiza Savage, is a corresondent for Macleans.ca, the Canadian weekly news magazine. Charlie has attended the past two NAFUSA conferences. In New York City in 2010, he moderated the panel discussion on the appropriate forum in which to prosecute terrorism cases. Charlie continues to follow this still unsettled issue. See, for instance, Charlie's October 28, 2011 article in The Times. In Santa Fe, Charlie moderated the panel on the Southwest border and was a WikiLeads panelist.

Luiza Savage accompanied Charlie to Santa Fe. She put her time to good use when she interviewed another WikiLeaks panelist, Valerie Plame Wilson, at La Posada following the panel. Luiza's interview of Valerie Plame can be read here.

Charlie Savage and Valerie Plame Wilson on the WikiLeaks panel