Liberty & Law Institute

Our People

Robert E. Skiver, Executive Director / Member, Board of Directors

The Liberty and Law Institute was founded by Robert E. Skiver, an attorney who resides in Cary, North Carolina. Mr. Skiver, who serves as the Institute’s executive director, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and has served on both active duty and in the reserves as a U.S. Army armor officer.

A graduate of New York University School of Law, Mr. Skiver devoted almost 25 years to trial practice as a criminal prosecutor in both state and federal courts. He has taught practicing attorneys at the National Advocacy Center and periodically assisted teaching law students at the University of North Carolina and Duke University Schools of Law.

After serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina from 1989 to 2007, Mr. Skiver retired to pursue his dream of teaching young Americans what Dr. Martin Luther King described as “the magnificent words of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.” With the formation of the Liberty & Law Institute, that dream became a reality. Mr. Skiver and his wife Melissa have three daughters – all graduates of the University of North Carolina – and one son – a West Point graduate.

John T. Bode, Member, Board of Directors

John T. Bode attended Cathedral School in Raleigh and graduated from there in 1958. He is a 1962 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He served in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer in South America and Southeast Asia where he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He received his law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1969 and has since practiced law in New York and North Carolina. His wife, Lucy Hancock Bode, was Secretary of North Carolina Department of Human Resources and is currently Chairman of the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. John and Lucy have a daughter, Mary Wills, a graduate of Wake Forest University, currently enrolled at UNC School of Law, and two sons, Paul, a graduate of Dartmouth, currently working for Bank of America in New York, and David, a graduate of Washington and Lee University and the Kenan-Flagler School of Business in Chapel Hill, working for GE and living with his wife, Carrie in Chicago.

Donna J. Moss, Member, Board of Directors

Donna J. Moss has been an educator for over 30 years. She has taught both regular education and special education in public schools in Ohio and North Carolina. After receiving a Master of Education in Administration from Campbell University, Donna became the Principal of Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic School in Raleigh, NC in 1999. Her school proudly received a National Blue Ribbon of Excellence in 2007 from the US Department of Education and was the Liberty & Law Institute’s pilot school. After 19 years at Cathedral, Donna was asked to become a Regional Vice President at FACTS Education Solutions. At FACTS, she now works with non-public schools across the Southeast providing instructional services to students and professional development to teachers. Donna and her husband reside in Apex, NC and they have one son.

Matt Segal, Management Operations Officer / Member, Board of Directors

Matt and his wife Meg are natives of Philadelphia. Matt received his BS from Temple University in 1971 and his MA from Central Michigan University in 1975. An Army ROTC graduate, he spent 3 ½ years on active duty and another 25 years in the Army Reserve retiring as a Colonel in 1999. In his civilian career, Matt worked for McDonald’s Corp for 28 years, retiring in 2004 as a Senior Operations Manager in their Store of the Future initiative. After his retirement, Matt formed his own consulting company, QSR Solutions, Inc, which provides operations management and planning services to the quick service restaurant industry. Meg and Matt, who live in Cary, NC, volunteer extensively with the USO of NC. Matt also sits on the Foundation Board of the North Carolina Symphony and serves as Treasurer of the Military Officers Assn of America (MOAA) Triangle Chapter.

Mary Joyce Cable, Member, Board of Directors

Mary Joyce Cable grew up in metropolitan Washington DC where she earned a B.A. in English Literature from Catholic University. She has practiced residential real estate since 2004, first in Atlanta, before moving to the Triangle in 2007 with her husband Joe, a commercial architect, and is a full-time broker with Northside Realty in Raleigh, NC.

Mary Joyce lived in Bamberg, Germany for five years; German is her second language. After giving tours of Bamberg to American tourists, she returned to the USA and became a German-speaking tour guide in Atlanta, giving city history tours to corporate clients. In addition, Mary Joyce has worked for German companies such as Siemens and Hebel USA before turning to real estate.

Mary Joyce loves children and is pleased to volunteer for teaching “A Nation of Liberty, A Nation of Laws” to local 8th graders, which she does with great satisfaction as often as time permits.

Henry Kopf, III, Secretary

Henry Kopf, III, founder of Revolution Law, is an attorney who concentrates in the areas of business advisement, administrative law and technology law. Henry’s past business experience provides him with a unique perspective into client needs and his goal is to provide true value to each and every client.

Prior to his legal career, Henry was an entrepreneur, co-founding and growing businesses focused on development and commercialization of technology used for the purification and separations of liquids for biotechnology and pharmaceutical applications. Henry’s business experience included negotiating and completing domestic and international patent licenses, mergers & acquisitions, international business transactions, letters of credit, technology transfer and commercializing, and expanding manufacturing operations. Additionally, Henry has corporate finance experience, including venture capital, private equity, and debt financing.

Henry received a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters Degree in Economics from Virginia Tech and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Campbell University School of Law. He has also been awarded four U.S. patents and corresponding international patents.

Vic Edwards, CPA, Treasurer

Vic Edwards, a native of Johnston County, North Carolina, is a CPA with a practice in Raleigh (D. Victor Edwards, CPA, PLLC). Vic also holds a Master of Business Taxation from the University of Southern California. In addition to his 20+ years in public accounting, Vic has a variety of experience dealing with various nonprofit entities, high network individuals and small to mid-sized businesses. In the past, he has served as the Treasurer for the Pasadena California Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and also the Membership Chair for the Rotary Club in New Bern, NC. After 34 years of marriage, Vic’s wife, Sandra, passed away on March 12, 2016. Vic currently resides in Chapel Hill with their two teenage children, Stephanie and Samuel.