Rafael L. Bras
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
Rafael L. Bras is provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Bras is a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He is the first Tech faculty member to hold the new K. Harrison Brown Family Chair.
Prior to becoming provost, Bras was distinguished professor and dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. For 32 years prior to joining UCI, he was a professor in the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is past chair of the MIT faculty, former head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department and director of the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory at MIT. He has served as advisor to many government and private institutions, including the National Science Foundation; the National Research Council; the Earth Systems Sciences and Applications Committee of NASA and the NASA Advisory Committee; the National Academy of Sciences Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects; departments at Cornell University, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, Technion, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Puerto Rico, University of California-Irvine, Fundación Chile, Istituto Veneto, and the Stockholm Water Foundation and Prize; and the American Geophysical Union.
Bras is past president of the Hydrology Section of AGU and is presently a member of its board of directors. His many honors and awards include: an honorary degree from the University of Perugia in Italy, Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Hall of Fame, NASA Public Service Medal, the Macelwane Medal of AGU, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize, Simon W. Freese Environmental Engineering Award, Honorary Diplomate of Water Resources Engineering of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers, Horton Medal of AGU, AGU Hydrology Days Award, and Drexel University’s 2010 Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award. He is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Puerto Rico, and a corresponding member of the Mexican National Academy of Engineering. He is also an elected fellow of AGU, ASCE, AMS and AAAS.
Bras maintains an active international consulting practice, currently chairing a panel of experts that supervises the design and construction of a multibillion-dollar project to protect the city of Venice from floods. He has published two textbooks, more than 180 refereed journal publications, and several hundred other publications and presentations.
Marilyn A. Brown
Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Marilyn A. Brown joined Georgia Tech in 2006 after a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. There she led several national scenario studies of climate change technology and policy options and held various leadership positions.
Brown’s current research addresses the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies, the design of policy options to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the evaluation of energy programs and policies. At Georgia Tech, her research projects have included an assessment of the $3 billion/year multi-agency R&D portfolio comprising the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program, analysis of the geography of metropolitan carbon footprints, development of a national climate change technology deployment strategy, and an assessment of the cost and availability of supply- and demand-side electricity resources in the Southeast.
Recognizing the need for policy innovations to promote sustainable energy solutions, Brown teaches Georgia Tech courses on energy policy and technology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as a policy analysis capstone course for master’s students. Brown has authored more than 200 publications and two books: Climate Change and Global Energy Security (MIT Press, 2011), which argues that we have all the technologies needed to live sustainably, and Energy and American Society: Thirteen Myths. Her work has appeared in publications including Science; Energy Policy; The Electricity Journal; Energy Efficiency, Annual Review of Energy and Environment; Journal of Technology Transfer; Technology in Society; and Environment and Planning. She has contributed chapters to more than a dozen books. The School of Public Policy's Working Paper series includes some of her most recent writings. Her work has had significant visibility in the policy arena as evidenced by her numerous briefings and testimonies before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and state agencies.
She also is author of Georgia Tech’s quarterly energy sustainability index, EnergyBuzz. Along with various webcasts, recent presentations and media interactions have included talks at meetings of the Council of State Government, National League of Cities, and the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development.
Brown served for thirteen years on the board of directors of the Alliance to Save Energy, and in that capacity she helped found the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance. She is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Technology Transfer and is a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy. Among her honors and awards, Brown is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Brown’s recent service to federal agencies includes participation on DOE review committees and the National Academies’ Board on Energy and Environmental Systems. In late 2008 she was appointed (from more than 1,000 nominees) to the National Academies’ Committee on America’s Climate Choices.
She also participates on numerous advisory committees to universities and foundations across the country. At Georgia Tech, Brown collaborates with the Strategic Energy Institute, the Sloan Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies, and the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Science and Technology Innovation Program as director of sustainability. She is also a distinguished visiting scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a certified energy manager.
In 2010, she was sworn onto the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power provider, following her nomination by President Barack Obama.
Ashton B. Carter
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
Ashton B. Carter is the deputy secretary of Defense. He previously served as under secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from April 2009 until October 2011. As under secretary, Carter led the department’s efforts to accelerate the fulfillment of urgent operational needs, increase the department’s buying power, and strengthen the nation’s defenses against weapons of mass destruction and other emerging threats. Over the course of his career, Carter has three times been awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal. For his contributions to intelligence, Carter was awarded the Defense Intelligence Medal.
Carter earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and medieval history from Yale University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and was awarded his doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Prior to his most recent government service, Carter was chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and co-director of the Preventive Defense Project. Carter was also senior partner at Global Technology Partners, a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, a member of the board of trustees of the MITRE Corporation and the advisory boards of MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories and the Draper Laboratory, and an advisor to Goldman Sachs.
During the Clinton administration, Carter was assistant secretary of defense for International Security Policy. From 1990 until 1993, he was director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and chairman of the editorial board of International Security. Previously, he held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and Rockefeller University.
Carter has served on the Defense Science Board, the Defense Policy Board, the secretary of state’s International Security Advisory Board, and the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. He is a member of President Obama’s Government Accountability and Transparency Board. Carter is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Diplomacy and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Physical Society. In addition to authoring articles, scientific publications, government studies, and Congressional testimonies, Dr. Carter has co-edited and co-authored eleven books.
Stephen E. Cross
Executive Vice President for Research, Georgia Institute of Technology
Stephen E. Cross is executive vice president for Research of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds faculty appointments as a professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and as an adjunct professor in the College of Computing and the College of Management. Within Georgia Tech, he serves on the President's Cabinet and on the advisory board for the Georgia Tech-Emory Collaboration for Regenerative Medicine. He served as a vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 2003 until assuming his current position in 2010.
Previously, Cross was a research faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University in the School of Computer Science and director of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute. Earlier in his career, he was a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and a faculty member at the Air Force Institute of Technology. His experience includes various R&D assignments spanning research, engineering development, and flight testing. A retired military officer, he received the Air Force Research Award in 1986 and the Federal 100 Award in 1992. He is a distinguished alumnus of the College of Engineering of the University of Cincinnati where he received his BSEE. His MSEE and PhD are from the Air Force Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign respectively.
Cross is a member of the Defense Science Board and also serves on the advisory board for the Alabama A&M Research Institute. A past member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, Cross has supported numerous studies by the National Research Council, testified to Congress on several occasions, and served as a consultant to many government and industry organizations. He has published widely on artificial intelligence, software engineering, and technology transition. Cross is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and a former editor-in-chief of IEEE Intelligent Systems. He is currently an associate editor of the online Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Systems Management.
John M. Deutch
Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John M. Deutch, emeritus professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been on the MIT faculty since 1970. He has served as chairman of the Department of Chemistry, dean of science, and provost. He has published over 140 technical publications in physical chemistry, as well as numerous publications on technology, energy, international security, and public policy issues.
Deutch has served in significant government and academic posts throughout his career. In May 1995, he was sworn in as director of Central Intelligence, following a unanimous vote in the Senate, and served as DCI until December 1996. In this position, he was head of the Intelligence Community (all foreign intelligence agencies of the United States) and directed the Central Intelligence Agency. From March 1994 to May 1995, he served as the deputy secretary of Defense. From March 1993 to March 1994, Deutch served as under secretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Technology.
From 1977 to 1980, Deutch served in a number of positions for the U.S. Department of Energy: director of Energy Research, acting assistant secretary for Energy Technology, and undersecretary of the department.
In addition, Deutch has served on many commissions during several presidential administrations—the President’s Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee (1980-81); the President’s Commission on Strategic Forces (1983); the White House Science Council (1985-89); the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (1997-2001), the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (1990-93); the President’s Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (1996); the Commission on Reducing and Protecting Government Secrecy (1996); and as chairman of the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (1998-99).
Deutch has received fellowships and honors from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978) and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (research fellow 1967-69), and John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (memorial fellow 1974-1975). Public Service Medals have been awarded him from the Department of Energy (1980), the Department of State (1980), the Department of Defense (1994 and 1995), the Department of the Army (1995), the Department of the Navy (1995), the Department of the Air Force (1995), the Coast Guard (1995), the Central Intelligence Distinguished Intelligence Medal (1996) and the Intelligence Community Distinguished Intelligence Medal (1996). He received the Greater Boston Federal Executive Board’s Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Award for exemplary public service in 2002 and the Aspen Strategy Group Leadership Award in 2004. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2007. He delivered the 2010 Godkin Lectures on the Essentials of Free Government and the Duties of the Citizen. He is a member of the National Petroleum Council (2008) and the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board. (2010).
Deutch earned a BA in history and economics from Amherst College, and both the BS in chemical engineering and PhD in physical chemistry from MIT. He holds honorary degrees from Amherst College, University of Lowell, and Northeastern University. He serves as director for Raytheon and Cheniere Energy. He is a trustee of Center of American Progress, Resources for the Future, the Massachusetts General Hospital Physician Organization, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Carlos S. “Santiago” Grijalva
Associate Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Carlos Santiago Grijalva joined Georgia Tech as an associate professor in 2009. His research is on computational methods for power system security and economics, voltage stability, and information systems applied to large-scale electricity networks. He focuses on mission-critical real-time control algorithms, formal data modeling of complex systems such as smart grids, and integration of fringe components such as energy consumer response and renewable energies. Grijalva has more than 40 publications in the areas of power system stability and security, electricity computational systems, electricity markets, and integration of large-scale renewable energy.
Grijalva earned an electrical engineering degree from EPN-Ecuador in 1994, an MSc certificate in information systems from ESPE-Ecuador in 1997, and MSc and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999 and 2002, respectively. From 2003 to 2004, he was a post-doctoral fellow in power and energy systems at the University of Illinois. During his graduate studies, he received Fulbright and American States Organization fellowships. His PhD work was on power system voltage stability and nonlinear available transfer capability computations.
From 1995 to 1997, he was with the Ecuadorian Center for Energy Control as engineer and manager of the software department. After completing his doctorate, he joined PowerWorld Corporation in Champaign, Ill., where he developed advanced visualization and optimization applications. He was the principal developer of the Integrated Topology Processing® (ITP), Optimal Power Flow for Reserves® (OPFR), and Topology Error Detection (TED) modules of the Simulator® software suite, which is currently used by utilities, control centers, and universities in more than 60 countries.
General USMC (Ret.) James L. Jones
President, Jones Group International
In 2011, General James Jones, USMC (Ret), founded the consulting firm Jones Group International, which he serves as president and CEO. He was appointed national security advisor to the president in January 2009. Jones previously served as president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber Institute for 21st Century Energy. From July 1999 to January 2003, Jones was the 32nd commandant of the Marine Corps. After relinquishing command as commandant, he assumed the positions of supreme allied commander, Europe (SACEUR), and commander of the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), positions he held until December 2006. Jones retired from active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps in February 2007, after more than 40 years of uniformed service to the nation.
In November 2007, Jones was appointed the State Department’s special envoy for Middle East Regional Security. In this capacity, he worked with Israeli and Palestinian officials in furthering the peace process, focused on the full range of security issues to strengthen security for both sides.
Jones spent his formative years in France, returning to the United States to attend Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, from which he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1966. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in January 1967 and later that year was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as a platoon and company commander. Over the next four decades, Jones served in a variety of command and staff positions while stationed in the United States, Europe, and Okinawa, Japan. In addition to combat experience in Vietnam, his deployment experiences included tours as commander, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit; in Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq and Turkey; and after advancing to brigadier general, as chief of staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.
In addition to having been awarded national and international military awards, Jones received a Bachelor of Science degree (1966) and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (2002) from Georgetown University. In June 1985, he graduated from the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Robert T. McGrath
Director, Georgia Tech Research Institute; Vice President, Georgia Institute of Technology
Robert T. McGrath serves as vice president at the Georgia Institute of Technology and as director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), an applied research organization providing an array of technology solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other federal agencies and industry.
Prior to joining GTRI in 2011, McGrath worked in a number of capacities with Battelle Memorial Institute supporting a variety of R&D programs, national laboratory and university partnerships, STEM education initiatives, and the Battelle-managed National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he served as deputy director.
From 2004 to 2008, McGrath served as senior vice president for research at The Ohio State University and was a tenured professor in material science and engineering, and physics. Under his leadership, Ohio State’s research and development grew dramatically to more than $740 million per year, ranking it ninth in the United States. Also during his tenure, Ohio State’s ranking for industry-sponsored research rose from sixth to second in the nation. McGrath was appointed by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to serve on the Third Frontier Advisory Board, which manages Ohio’s $2.5 billion technology investment fund for stimulating innovation and jobs.
Between 1996 and 2004, McGrath served as associate vice president for Research and was professor of engineering at Penn Sate University. From 1981 through 1998, McGrath worked for Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., where he directed programs such as cooperative research and development on microelectronics manufacturing and high performance computing applications, as well as coordinated U.S. collaborations with Japan, Europe, and the former Soviet Union on plasma-materials interactions and engineering of high heat flux components for magnetic fusion reactors.
McGrath received his PhD in nuclear science and engineering from the University of Michigan and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Penn State University in engineering sciences, mathematics and physics. He has authored more than 60 journal publications, many with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior researchers who have worked under his direction. He has authored more than 80 published abstracts and conference proceedings, as well as delivered more than 100 scientific seminars, lectures, and technical reports.
Major General Robert H. McMahon
Commander, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center
Major General Robert H. McMahon, commander, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (ALC), Air Force Materiel Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is responsible for worldwide logistics support for C-130 and C-5 transport aircraft, F-15 fighter aircraft, and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft as well as support for remotely piloted vehicles, Air Force helicopters, air-to-air missiles, surface motor vehicles, high-technology airborne electronics, avionics, and electronic warfare requirements. Other responsibilities include comprehensive logistics support and sustainment for the E-8C Joint STARS and the C-17 transport aircraft.
McMahon entered active duty after graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1978. His command experience includes a maintenance wing, a logistics group, and two maintenance squadrons. He has served as the director of Maintenance and director of Aircraft for the Ogden ALC and as director of Propulsion for the San Antonio ALC. McMahon was also the military assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He also served as director of Maintenance, deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Prior to his current position he served as director of Logistics, deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters U.S. Air Force.
McMahon received his Master of Science degree in maintenance management from the Air Force Institute of Technology and his Bachelor of Science degree in international affairs from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Colonel USMC (Ret.) Mark “Puck” Mykleby
Strategist, LRN
Colonel Mark “Puck” Mykleby was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps following his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. He was designated a naval aviator in 1990 and as a qualified F/A-18 pilot the same year. From 1991 to 2006, Mykleby served in five fleet fighter squadrons and performed numerous operational squadron billets to include director of Safety and Standardization, pilot training officer, aircraft maintenance officer, operations officer, executive officer, and commanding officer. He is a graduate of Marine Weapons and Tactics Instructor School, the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Topgun), and the Allied Air Forces Central Europe’s Tactical Leadership Program (TLP).
Mykleby’s operational experience includes numerous deployments to the European, Pacific, and Southwest Asian theaters. He has participated in combat operations in support of Operations Provide Promise, Deny Flight, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom.
Mykleby’s staff experience includes serving as the George Washington Battle Group liaison officer in 1997, serving as a Marine Air Ground Task Force Staff Training Program instructor from 1999-2001, and serving as the Harry S. Truman Battle Group liaison officer to the NATO Combined Air Operations Center Five headquarters (Poggio Renautico, Italy) in 2003. In 2007, Mykleby was assigned to the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), where he developed strategy for Special Operations Forces. From 2009 until 2011, he served as a special strategic assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In that capacity, he co-authored with Navy Captain Wayne Porter A National Strategic Narrative, a concept and vision for a twenty-first century grand strategy for the nation.
Mykleby retired from the Marine Corps in July 2011 and has joined LRN, a company dedicated to helping organizations build ethical, values-based cultures that inspire principled performance in business and in life. He is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation where he continues his work on grand strategy.
Mykleby graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987. He earned a master’s in military studies from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in 1999. In 2007, he graduated from the Air War College with distinction and earned a master’s in national security studies.
Thomas E. Noonan
Chief Executive Officer, JouleX, Inc.
Thomas E. Noonan became CEO and president at JouleX, Inc. in 2010. He also remains operating partner at TechOperators, which he co-founded in 2008.
Noonan is former chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Internet Security Systems (ISS). Prior to co-founding ISS in 1994, he held senior positions at Dun and Bradstreet Software (D&B), where he was vice president of Worldwide Marketing. Prior to this, Noonan specialized in real-time, automated control systems for computer-integrated manufacturing. He founded Actuation Electronics and Leapfrog Technologies. In 2002, President Bush appointed him to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC).
Noonan is on the advisory panel of Arcapita Bank, Venture Capital Arm, and the advisory board at Noro-Moseley Partners. He also serves on the boards of Manhattan Associates. He is active in numerous professional societies and serves on the boards of Woodruff Arts Center, Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, the Carter Center, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Research Alliance, and Young Presidents Organization.
In 1999, Ernst and Young recognized Noonan as “Entrepreneur of the Year,” and the RSA Security conference recognized him with its “Lifetime Achievement Award.” He currently chairs the NIAC Evaluation and Enhancement of Information Sharing and Analysis Working Group. Noonan is also an active philanthropist through the work of the Thomas E. Noonan Family foundation, which supports education, environmental, and healthcare causes locally and nationally.
He holds a mechanical engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a business degree from Harvard University.
Sam Nunn
Distinguished Professor, The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology; Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Sam Nunn is co-chairman and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a charitable organization working to reduce global threats from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. He served as a U.S. senator from Georgia for twenty-four years (1972-1996) and is retired from the law firm of King & Spalding. In addition to his work with NTI, Nunn has continued his service in the public policy arena as a distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech and as chairman of the board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Nunn served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He also served on the Intelligence and Small Business committees. His legislative achievements include the landmark Department of Defense Reorganization Act, drafted with the late Senator Barry Goldwater, and the “Nunn-Lugar” Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which provides assistance to Russia and the former Soviet republics for securing and destroying their excess nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
Nunn attended Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Emory Law School, where he graduated with honors in 1962. After active duty service in the U.S. Coast Guard, he served six years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. He first entered politics as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 1968.
Captain Wayne Porter
U.S. Navy, Naval Post-Graduate School
Captain Wayne Porter was commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1986 after working as a senior contracts manager for Lear Astronics Corporation. Most of his naval career was spent in the intelligence community—both ashore and afloat—where he was also qualified a surface warfare officer. While assigned to the Joint Analysis Center in Molesworth, England, he deployed to Kosovo, where he provided intelligence support to the U.S. political advisor during a period of heightened tension in the Presevo Valley and was subsequently assigned to the special representative of the NATO secretary general as a negotiator between Albanian insurgents and government authorities in southern Serbia.
In 2005, Porter was assigned to the chief of Naval Operation’s personal staff as director, Strategic Actions Group, and most recently to the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, serving as a special assistant to the chairman for strategy. It was during this tour he co-authored, with Colonel Mark Mykleby, the National Strategic Narrative, published by the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars and subsequently cited in televised editorials on both CNN and MSNBC. Porter has had articles published in the Harvard Business Review, Journal of American Foreign Policy Interests, Washington Times, Columbia University Journal of Conflict Management, Naval Institute Proceedings, and the 8th Euromicro Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Processing.
Porter earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California. He received master’s degrees in computer science and joint C4I systems technology at Naval Postgraduate School and has now been appointed by the secretary of Defense as the chair of Systemic Strategy and Complexity.
Jacqueline Jones Royster
Dean, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jacqueline Jones Royster is dean of Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. She holds the Ivan Allen Jr. Dean’s Chair in Liberal Arts and Technology and is professor of English in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture.
A graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Royster earned an MA and DA in English from the University of Michigan. Her research centers on rhetorical studies, literacy studies, and women’s studies, areas in which she has authored and co-authored numerous articles and book chapters. She is the author of three books: Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1997), Traces of a Stream: Literacy and Social Change among African American Women (2000), and Profiles of Ohio Women, 1803-2003 (2003). She co-authored Feminist Rhetorical Studies: New Horizons in Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies (in press). She co-edited Double-Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers and Daughters (1991) and Calling Cards: Theory and Practice in the Study of Race, Gender, and Culture (2005) and edited a textbook for college writing courses, Critical Inquiries (2003). She was consulting writer for Writer’s Choice, a textbook series for grades 6 - 8, and co-edited Reader’s Choice, a series for grades 9 -12, both published by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.
Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 2010, Royster served as senior vice provost and executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for The Ohio State University (OSU). Her 18-year tenure there also included posts as senior associate dean for Research and Faculty Affairs in the College of Humanities, vice chair for Rhetoric and Composition in the Department of English, and director of the Writing Center. Before moving to OSU, Royster held positions as director of the Comprehensive Writing Program, associate dean for Academic Advising, and assistant dean for Freshman Studies at Spelman College.
Royster has held various leadership roles in English professional organizations including chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and chair of the executive committee of the Modern Language Association’s Writing Division. Her awards include the CCCC Braddock Award (2000); the state of Ohio’s Pioneer in Education Award (2000); the MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize (2001); the Columbus YWCA Woman of Achievement Award (2004); the CCCC Exemplar Award (2004); and the ADE/MLA Frances Andrew March Award (2006).
Adam N. Stulberg
Associate Professor and Co-Director, Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy, The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
Adam N. Stulberg is associate professor and co-director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy (CISTP) in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on international security, Eurasian politics and security affairs, nuclear (non) proliferation, and energy and international security, as well as interdisciplinary courses on science, technology, and international security policy. His current research focuses on energy security dilemmas and statecraft in Eurasia, new approaches to strategic stability and denuclearization of military arsenals, internationalization of the nuclear fuel cycle, counter-network warfare, and the implications of nanotechnology for international security.
Stulberg earned his PhD in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He holds an MA in international affairs from Columbia University, an MA in political science from UCLA, and a BA in history from the University of Michigan. He served as a political consultant at RAND from 1987-1997, and as a senior research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies from 1997-1998. He has worked closely with Senator Sam Nunn drafting policy recommendations and background studies on future directions for the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, building regional and energy security regimes in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, and engaging Russia’s regional power centers.
Stulberg has been a post-doctoral fellow at Center for Nonproliferation Studies (2000-2001); a policy scholar at the EastWest Institute; and a consultant to the Carnegie Corporation of New York (2000-present) and the Office of Net Assessment, Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2000-present). Stulberg has either authored or edited three books and has published widely in leading academic and policy journals.
At Georgia Tech, Stulberg is a two-time recipient of the INTA Graduate Student Association’s “Professor of the Year” and has received the same honor from Sigma Iota Rho, the international affairs undergraduate honor society. He also was a 1998 Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning teaching fellow, and he was a Hesburgh teaching fellow in 2009. Most recently, he received the 2010 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Faculty Award in recognition for his scholarship and “demonstrated commitment to serving students at the College, the Institute, and in the Community.” Stulberg has served on numerous school, college, and campus-wide committees and was chair and co-chair of the Sam Nunn-Bank of America Policy Forum in 2010 and 2008, respectively.
Linda Gillespie Stuntz
Founding Partner, Stuntz, Davis & Staffier, P.C.
Linda Stuntz is a founding partner of the law firm of Stuntz, Davis & Staffier, P.C. in Washington, D.C. Her practice includes energy and environmental regulation, as well as matters relating to government support of technology.
Stuntz served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy under President George H.W. Bush. In this and other senior policy positions at the department between 1989 and 1993, she played a principal role in the development and enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Stuntz also helped develop and implement the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In addition, she worked extensively on issues related to potential climate change and measures to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
During both her government service and law practice, she has addressed questions arising under the Natural Gas Act, the Natural Gas Policy Act, the Federal Power Act, and the Energy Policy Act of 2005. She has been an arbitrator and expert witness in cases involving electric power, natural gas, and coal.
Between 1981 and 1987, Stuntz was an associate minority counsel and minority counsel to the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Stuntz serves on the boards of Raytheon Company and Royal Dutch Shell plc. A long-time member of the Energy Bar Association, she was named by Legal Times in May 2005 as one of the leading energy lawyers in the nation. She served as chair of the Electricity Advisory Committee to the U.S. Department of Energy from 2008-2009. In January 2009, the committee produced three reports, including “Keeping the Lights On in a New World.”
Stuntz received a BA in 1976 from Wittenberg University and her law degree in 1979 from Harvard.
James N. Suciu
President, Global Sales and Marketing, GE Energy
James N. Suciu is president of Global Sales & Marketing for GE Energy and an officer of the General Electric Company, which serves the energy sector with technologies in such areas as natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear energy; wind, solar, biogas, and water processing; energy management; and grid modernization.
Under Suciu’s leadership, 8,000 commercial sales and marketing professionals drive key strategic growth initiatives across the GE Energy organization, including: 1) five-year strategic business outlook based on economic scenarios, marketplace conditions and planning assumptions to drive global growth, 2) direct customer, channel, and EPC strategic relationships, and 3) innovative ways of collaborating across the broader organization, such as the Imagination Jam, to solve customers’ challenges. By listening to customers and learning from them about the changing marketplace, Suciu has led the team to solve global challenges and build successful products and solutions that can positively impact the overall health and welfare of the world’s populations.
As a thought leader in the energy industry, Suciu has shared his expertise at numerous global summits and industry events. Highlights include his addresses on the role of smart grid technologies in the sustainable development of Asia’s megacities at the Pacific Energy Summit in Tokyo; the future of a greener economy at the Globe 2010 Conference in Vancouver; how technology and geopolitics will shape our energy future at POWER-GEN Asia in Kuala Lumpur; and building renewable and nuclear energy resources in the Middle East at the U.S.-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum in Atlanta.
Suciu began his career as a member of GE’s Technical Marketing Program in 1982 with sales-focused assignments in medium and large steam turbine businesses. After graduating from the program, he held sales positions of increasing responsibility for GE’s former Power Systems business, focused on industrial, chemical, and petroleum markets. In 1992, Suciu relocated to Singapore, where he held leadership roles responsible for sales, business development, planning, and marketing for the Asia region. He returned to the United States in 1997 as general manager of Commercial Operations for GE’s Global Energy Products business. In October 1999, he was appointed vice president of Energy Services Sales for GE Energy and was named a GE corporate officer. He transitioned to his current role in January 2004.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Suciu earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. He serves on GE’s Corporate Council and is actively involved as a board member for the Georgia Chapter of Junior Achievement.
Frank A. Verrastro
Senior Vice President and Director, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Frank Verrastro is senior vice president and director of the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has extensive energy experience, having spent 30 years in energy policy and project management positions in the U.S. government and the private sector. His government service includes staff positions in the White House (Energy Policy and Planning) and the departments of Interior (Oil and Gas Office) and Energy (Domestic Policy and International Affairs Office), including serving as director of the Office of Producing Nations and deputy assistant secretary for international energy resources. In the private sector, he has served as director of refinery policy and crude oil planning for TOSCO (formerly the nation’s largest independent refiner) and more recently as senior vice president for Pennzoil. Responsibilities at Pennzoil included government affairs activity, both domestic and international, corporate planning, risk assessment, and international negotiations. In addition, he served on the company’s Executive Management and Operating committees, as well as the Environmental, Safety, and Health Leadership Council. As part of Pennzoil’s Caspian Team, he was instrumental in securing approval for the Baku-Supsa pipeline, the precursor to the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan project.
Verrastro holds a BS in biology/chemistry from Fairfield University and a master’s from Harvard University. He completed the executive management program at the Yale University Graduate School of Business and Management. He has been an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and at the University of Maryland. He served as chair for the Geopolitics and Policy task groups for the 2007 National Petroleum Council report, Hard Truths: Facing the Hard Truths about Energy, and as a task force member for the 2006 Council on Foreign Relations report, National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency. He has authored numerous papers on energy and security topics and currently serves on the advisory board for the National Renewable Fuels Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Daniel Yergin
Chairman, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates
Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, is a Pulitzer-Prize winning author and leading authority on energy, international politics and economics and is a recipient of the United States Energy Award for “lifelong achievements in energy and the promotion of international understanding.”
His latest book The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, has been hailed as “a fascinating saga” about the “quest for sustainable resources of energy” and “the book you must read to understand the future of our economy and our way of life.” The Quest is the follow-up to his previous book, The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil Money and Power, which received the Pulitzer Prize, became a No. 1 New York Times best seller, and has been translated into seventeen languages. Other significant works by Yergin include Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy; Russia 2010; Energy Future; and Shattered Peace. Yergin has written for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, International Herald Tribune, and many other publications. He is also CNBC’s global energy expert. Both The Prize and Commanding Heights were made into award-winning documentaries. The eight-hour miniseries The Prize was aired on PBS, BBC, and NHK and viewed by 20 million viewers in the United States alone. The 6-hour documentary of Commanding Heights, which Yergin produced, received three Emmy nominations, the CINE Golden Eagle award, and the New York Festivals Gold World Medal for best documentary.
Yergin serves on the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and chaired the U.S. Department of Energy’s Task Force on Strategic Energy Research and Development. He is a trustee of the Brookings Institution, on the board of the New America Foundation, and on the advisory boards of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative and the Institute for 21st Century Energy.
Yergin holds a BA from Yale University, where he founded The New Journal, and a PhD from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He has taught at the Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.