National Officers and Board of Directors

Michael J. Acquaro-Mignogna, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, is the 2026 president of the Appraisal Institute. He will serve his one-year term as president in 2026, and as immediate past president in 2027. He will also serve on the Appraisal Institute’s Executive Committee and on its policy-setting Board of Directors through 2027.

After studying piano for nearly two decades and graduating from University of Pennsylvania with a degree in music, a position at a mortgage brokerage firm led to an introduction to the appraisal profession, including the Appraisal Institute. Mignogna began his work as a residential appraiser in 1986 and as a commercial appraiser in 1987, leading up to the founding of his firm, Mid-Atlantic Valuation Group, Inc. Licensed as a Certified General Appraiser in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, Mignogna has given expert witness testimony to many state and U.S. courts throughout the region.

Mignogna served as 2013 President of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. He also served on the National Board of Directors from 2017 through 2023, where he served as Chair of the Professional Liability Insurance Program Committee and Audit Committee.

Ashley Johnson, MAI, SRA, of Bloomington, Indiana, is the 2026 president elect of the Appraisal Institute. She will serve as president elect in 2026, president in 2027, and immediate past president in 2028. She will also serve on the Appraisal Institute’s Executive Committee and on its policy-setting Board of Directors through 2028.

Johnson is President of First Appraisal Group, Incorporated, a role that began in 2009, when she took leadership of the business her father established in 1988. The company provides real estate valuation and consulting services throughout Indiana, specializing in assignments for right-of-way acquisition, lending, estate planning, and litigation. Ashley graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in public affairs and is currently pursuing an MBA, expected to graduate in May 2026.

Ashley’s involvement with the Appraisal Institute spans two decades, starting as a Trainee in 2006. She earned her MAI Designation in 2013 and SRA Designation in 2022. From 2015 to 2017, her involvement the Leadership Development and Advisory Council renewed both her passion for the Appraisal Institute and her commitment to the appraisal profession. Johnson served as president of the Hoosier State Chapter of the Appraisal Institute in 2019.

She has been involved with the Women’s Initiative Committee since its launch in 2020, progressing from committee member to vice chair (2020-21) and later chair (2023-24). Her additional service includes the Governance Structure Project Team (2018), University Relations Panel (2018-19), and Region V Chapter Services Chair (2021-22).

Smedmore Bernard, MAI, of Chicago, Illinois, is the 2026 vice president of the Appraisal Institute. He will serve his one‑year term as vice president in 2026, president elect in 2027, president in 2028, and immediate past president in 2029. He will also serve on the Appraisal Institute’s Executive Committee and on its policy‑setting Board of Directors through 2029.

Bernard began his valuation career in 2005 and has built nearly two decades of experience across commercial appraisal, review, and right‑of‑way valuation. He currently serves as Managing Director at 1st Aerow Valuation Group, where he leads right‑of‑way appraisal and consulting services for public agencies, as well as providing expert witness testimony. His prior experience includes senior roles at CBRE, Bank of America, Midwest Bank, and Integra Realty Resources, with responsibilities ranging from multi‑state USPAP compliance review to complex industrial, retail, office, multifamily, and land valuations. He is recognized as an expert witness in multiple Illinois courts and is MBE/DBE certified.

Bernard’s service to the Appraisal Institute includes earning the MAI designation and holding leadership positions at the chapter, regional, and national levels. His Appraisal Institute involvement includes serving as a member of the National Diversity Panel (2016–2018), Regional Representative (2016–2017), Regional Nominating Committee Member, and Chair of Region 3 on the National Board of Directors. His additional professional service includes leadership roles with the International Right of Way Association’s Chapter 12, where he served as Secretary (2016–2017), Vice President (2017–2018), and President (2018–2019). He also has served on The Appraisal Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Bernard earned a B.S. in Economics from Morehouse College and completed graduate studies at Loyola University Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He holds Certified General Appraiser licenses in Illinois, Indiana, Washington, Wisconsin, and Tennessee and has completed all required continuing education through the Appraisal Institute.

Paula K. Konikoff, JD, MAI, AI-GRS of Los Angeles, was the 2025 president of the Appraisal Institute. She serves on AI’s Executive Committee and chairs the 2026 National Nominating Committee.

Konikoff started her career in advertising and quickly moved to law. She joined the corporate department of a large firm in 1978 where her practice focused on corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions. This corporate practice had her review financial statements and appraisals of both businesses and real estate. Konikoff became active in the AIREA (a predecessor organization to the Appraisal Institute) as a member of her chapter’s Admission Committee and as an instructor. She went on to the Appraisal Institute’s Standards Committee and Ethics Committee. She was also on her chapter’s board of directors. When her term on the Appraisal Standards Board ended, she was appointed to AI’s Professional Standards and Guidance Committee (then ASC), and has been a member or, more often, chair of that national committee since 2010.

Most recently, she was instrumental in the creation of the Women’s Initiative Committee and was the first chair of that committee starting in 2019. Konikoff has made presentations to AI chapters, regions and at the annual conference. She is the author of the book, “Appraisers in Arbitration,” the developer of online seminars, was on the development team for the AI-GRS qualifying education and is a reviewer of textbooks and articles submitted to The Appraisal Journal. She was also a member of the Body of Knowledge Committee. Konikoff has been honored twice with the AI President’s Award and once with the Y.T. and Louise Lee Lum Award.

John Udelhofen is the CEO of the Appraisal Institute.

He joined AI in May 2024 as CFO with a focus on fortifying the organization’s position financially. His role then expanded to include COO where he leads AI’s service business units and is refining AI’s operating framework. In September 2024, Udelhofen took on the additional role of interim CEO as the search for a new, permanent CEO got underway.

Udelhofen has more than 25 years’ experience working with entrepreneurial startups and 19 years of corporate experience. Over the past 11 years, he provided strategic services to small- to medium-size businesses, including associations, as well as having founded multiple organizations in the Manufacturing and IT Services industries. In those capacities, he has built strategic plans, flexible business models and high-value management teams that implement and support those models efficiently.

In his role as CEO, his goal is to provide stability and continuity through this transition, which includes rebuilding customer service, transforming the member experience, and modernizing education.

A graduate of Loyola University and Roosevelt University in addition to holding an MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, Udelhofen has been a lecturer and business professor in higher education including at St. Xavier University, College of DuPage and Aurora University. Additionally, he has been an adjunct faculty member at DeVry and Northwestern Business Colleges, teaching all accounting subjects as well as Economics and Business Math.