LCASE 2007 Speaker Biographies
(in alphabetic order)
Al
Byers

Al Byers is the Assistant Executive
Director of Government Partnerships and e-Learning for the National
Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the world’s largest professional
organization of science teachers. In this role Mr. Byers leads an
exemplary team of individuals at NSTA that ensure the timely production of
the e-Learning products for professional development that include:
SciGuides, SciPacks, Science Objects, Web Seminars, Symposia and online
short courses. Mr. Byers is also the engineer and architect of NSTA’s
e-professional development portal called The NSTA Learning Center. These
e-learning resources and online tools are packaged with other NSTA
products to provide teachers across the nation with access to on-demand,
high quality professional development content to enhance their
effectiveness in the classroom.
Prior to joining NSTA in May of
2000, Mr. Byers worked on the staff of Oklahoma State University as an
instructor and Aerospace Education Specialist for the NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center and assisted Goddard and the Space Telescope Science
Institute in the design, development, and implementation of NASA education
support curriculum. Mr. Byers began his career as a physical science
educator, holds teaching certificates in secondary science, physics,
mathematics and middle school, taught at the Virginia Governor’s School
for the Gifted, and received recognition as one of Chesterfield County’s,
Virginia’s Teachers of the Year.
Kenneth
J. Cook
Ken Cook
is President, CEO, and chairman of Ken Cook Co., a leading technical
communications business with a staff of more than 100 professionals in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The company produces technical manual and training programs for companies
such as Volvo, Raytheon Aircraft, Caterpillar, and Ingersoll-Rand, and
developed and markets the AEM-sponsored Rough Terrain Forklift Operator
Safety Training Program. Cook has served on the AEM Product Safety Seminar
Planning Committee for more than six years. He is a fellow and past
president of the Society for Technical Communications, and has more than 38
years experience in the technical communications field as a writer, editor,
executive, and consultant. He has served for more than four years as president and board member of
the National Coalition for Aviation Education.
Karen
Elzey
Karen
R. Elzey is executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute
for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), an affiliate that promotes high
educational standards and effective workforce training systems that are
aligned with each other and with the today’s business demands.
Elzey
serves on the boards and advisory committees of the National ICT Literacy
Policy Council, Community Partnerships for Adult Learning and the National
Teachers Hall of Fame.
Before
coming to the U.S. Chamber in 2002, Elzey worked as the business and
education partnership coordinator for Greater Lafayette Progress Inc., an
economic development organization. Her other work experience includes
serving as a marketing and communications assistant for the Greater
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce and teaching English as a Second Language in
Poland.
Brian
Finnegan
Brian
Finnegan has been an FAA Airframe and Powerplant mechanic for 20 years and
has been President of PAMA since March 2000. He represents PAMA and the
individual AMT on several government and industry committees,
including the General Aviation Coalition, the Aeronautical Rulemaking
Committee and on the FAA’s AMT Awards Committee.
Previously,
Mr. Finnegan was the Manager
of Air Safety Investigation for Textron Lycoming and a field Air Safety
Investigator with Cessna Aircraft Co., also a Textron company. He served as
a Field Service Engineer for McDonnell Aircraft Co. on the F/A-18 fighter
aircraft with the U.S. Marine Corp and the U.S. Navy and with the Spanish
Air Force in support of the EF-18 fighter aircraft.
He earned
his A&P Certificate and a B.S. in Aviation Maintenance Management from
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, working as an assistant instructor in
both the Turbine Engine and Sheet Metal labs. A recreational pilot, Mr.
Finnegan learned aviation at the grass roots working the ramp in the
Colorado Rocky Mountains and as an apprentice A&P in Massachusetts.
Debbie Gallaway
Debbie
currently manages the NASA Explorer Institutes Program (NEI), an initiative
she developed and launched at NASA Headquarters three years ago. NEI is
designed to enhance the ability of organizations like science centers, museums, and community youth groups, to inspire the next generation by
providing them with access to NASA staff, research, technology, information
and facilities. She also serves as a member of the National Coalition for
Aviation Education and represents the US on FAI’s Aviation and Space
Education Commission.
Prior to her
current assignment, Debbie has held numerous educational positions including
Acting Director of Informal Education for NASA’s Office of Education,
Assistant Director for Programs for the U.S. Centennial of Flight
Commission, Senior Program Manager for NASA’s national-level teacher
enhancement and faculty preparation programs, and Educational Liaison for
two White House initiatives. She also has managed several programs at the
U.S. Department of Education and was a classroom teacher. Throughout her
tenure with the US Government, Debbie has received numerous awards for her
contributions to aerospace education.
Debbie has
been an avid pilot since 1977 and currently flies a 1946 Globe Swift.
Paula Lewis
Paula Lewis was appointed
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regions and Center Operations in July
2006. In this capacity she provides leadership and guidance for operations
at the nine FAA regional headquarters and Mike Monroney Aeronautical
Center. In Washington headquarters, Ms. Lewis provides management
oversight
direction for Information Technology, Resource Management, Planning and FOIA
Management, Aviation Logistics, and the Washington Flight Program (Hanger
6.)
Prior to this assignment, Ms.
Lewis served as Director of Operations Planning and Performance Analysis.
She was instrumental in establishing measurable goals and targets in areas
such as on-time, delays, system capacity and efficiency as well as system
availability. Other positions included Director and Deputy Director, Office
of System Capacity, Manager, Information Technology Planning Division,
Management Standards and Statistics Division and Organizational Analysis
Branch. Prior to coming to the FAA, she served as senior program analyst
for the Chief of Naval Operations and Space and Naval Warfare Systems
Command at the Department of Navy.
She
holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from
Winthrop College and a
Master’s Degree in Industrial Organizational Science from George Mason
University.
Carlos
Manduley

Dr. J. Carlos Manduley joined the FAA headquarters
in 2001 as the first full-time, dedicated National Manager, Hispanic
Employment Program (Senior Equal Employment Specialist) in the National
Headquarters Office of Civil Rights (ACR).
Carlos is a professional staff member in the Equal
Employment Model Consulting Group at ACR. He came to the FAA with an
extensive experience from State and local governments, most recently the
Montgomery County Government in Rockville, MD, where he worked for 15 years
as the Diversity and Work/Life Program Manager.
Dr. Manduley has enjoyed a career filled with
numerous achievements in a variety of professional positions. He holds a
Ph.D. in Intercultural/International Education and Multicultural Management
from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Education and the
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Pittsburgh, PA.
Jim
McMurtray
Jim McMurtray is the Executive Director of the National Alliance of State
Science and Mathematics Coalitions. (NASSMC). NASSMC is a network of 42
state coalitions joining business, education, and policy leadership in
working for improved results in science technology engineering, and
mathematics education. He joined NASSMC after serving for 20 years as a
contractor to NASA's Education Division during which time he presented
lectures and workshops on space science (Voyager, Hubble, Galileo, COBE and
other astronomy missions) and on other aerospace related topics throughout
the United States and in Mexico, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.
McMurtray served as an instructor in NASA's Space Flight Participant Program
in 1985, conducting seminars in space science and NASA future programs for
the 114 candidates of the original Teacher in Space Project. As a
representative of NASA, he was involved in the planning and execution of the
first NASA/NASSMC Linking Leaders Workshop in 1996.
In April
2004, McMurtray presented testimony to the President's Commission on
Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, (Moon, Mars and Beyond)
citing the urgent need to address the STEM education crisis with bold action
and the full resources of the science community. A former planetarium
director and teacher of astronomy, he has been actively involved in reform
efforts in science education for over four decades. He is the author of
Barbarian Science(1999), a look at science literacy in America, and the
creator of Starlight (1981), a nationally distributed planetarium show on
the physics of stars. He writes and speaks extensively throughout the
country on systems thinking and structural reform in science, technology,
and mathematics education. He does not always follow his own advice, but he
has enormous respect for it.
Jennifer M. McNelly
Ms.
McNelly was named as the Administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor,
Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) Office of Regional Innovation
and Transformation in June 2007. In that role, she contributes to
implementing a national workforce system that provides America’s workers
with the support they need to compete in a global economy. Ms. McNelly
oversees ETA’s regional offices, working collaboratively with the national
program offices to ensure an integrated workforce investment approach that
promotes the critical role talent development plays in creating effective
regional economic development strategies. Under her leadership, regional
offices promote collaboration beyond traditional strategies for worker
preparation by bringing together state, local and federal entities; academic
institutions; investment groups; foundations; and business to address the
challenges associated with building a globally competitive and prepared
workforce.
Ms. McNelly joined ETA as the
Director of the Business Relations Group in 2004. In this capacity, she
managed the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative. The initiative
takes a groundbreaking approach to closing skills gaps by developing
solutions to workforce challenges and creating partnerships among business,
academic institutions, and the workforce community. Prior to joining the
Department of Labor, Ms. McNelly served as Senior Vice President of
Strategic Partnerships, LLC, an international consulting firm specializing
in assisting Fortune 500 corporations to build strategic partnerships with
government agencies in support of workforce development.
Alex Min
Alex
is a recent MBA graduate from the MIT Sloan School of Management, focusing
on entrepreneurship and marketing. Prior to MIT, Alex spent five years in
sales and business development with a global semiconductor distributor.
Prior to this experience, Alex served in the US Marine Corps as a
naval aviator. After graduating at the top of his flight school class, he
served as an attack helicopter pilot and staff officer, primarily flying the
AH-1W "Super Cobra." Alex received his SB in Art and Design from MIT. Alex
holds commercial pilot certificates with instrument ratings for single
engine land fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
William
“Rol” Murrow
Rol Murrow is the Executive Director of the Wolf Aviation Fund, which
provides grants and information supporting and promoting general aviation.
He has worked in acoustical engineering, film and video production, theatre
operations, and aviation museum construction and management. He is the
founder of the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps and a founder and Chairman of
the Air Care Alliance, promoting groups providing public service
transporting patients and flying disaster relief and other public service
missions.
He was an officer of the California Pilots Association and a
leader in the battle to preserve general aviation access to the skies of
southern California. He represented the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association there and then served as their Northeastern Regional
Representative. He helped found the Connecticut Aviation & Space Education
Council and in 2006 was inducted into the Crown Circle of aerospace
educators. He is a Director of the
Alliance for Aviation Across America. He is a 3000 hour glider and
commercial airplane pilot and aircraft owner.
Judith
A. Rice
Judy Rice,
Careers in Aviation Executive Director, builds partnerships across the
country to make differences in the lives of students and the aerospace
industry. In addition, Ms Rice remains director to two national aerospace
conferences: the National Conference on Aviation and Space Education and the
Leadership Conference on Aviation and Space Education.
Her position
with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) as Deputy Director Aerospace Education and
with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) as the Executive Director
Youth Education involved a wide variety of skills, to include:
collaborations with various national aerospace education organizations;
developing, writing, and editing curriculum; script writing and video
production; implementation of curriculum programs in schools through-out the
nation; professional development; large scale volunteer/member coordination
efforts; coordinating the largest air show event in the nation for youth,
KidVenture; and director to two national aerospace conferences.
Throughout
her life, Judy has had a passion for aviation and space technology. This
interest and sixteen years in formal education eventually brought her into
the field of aerospace education. She values the experience gained in
special education because it gave her a broad knowledge of the learning
process. The National 4-H Aerospace Curriculum Project hired Rice to
produce a series of publications that eventually involved 35 businesses and
thousands of pre-college 4-H members. During the 4-H project, Ms. Rice
learned to fly and currently holds a private pilot, instrument rating,
commercial, and is continuing toward her CFI.
She is the
proud owner of a Grumman TR2 airplane. Her goal is to share her passion for
aviation and her extensive experience with youth and adults everywhere.
Rice's work
has taken her to almost all 50 states representing aerospace education. Ms.
Rice is a member of many aviation organizations and has numerous awards and
accomplishments in her portfolio. Most recently she earned the prestigious
national Strickler Award for her significant achievements in aerospace
education.
Guy
Smith
Guy
is president of the University Aviation Association (UAA), the voice of
collegiate aviation education. Through the collective expertise of its
members, this nonprofit organization plays a pivotal role in the advancement
of degree-granting aviation programs that represent all segments of the
aviation industry. UAA has more than 625 members, including 100 accredited
colleges and universities poised to meet the ever-changing needs of the
aviation industry and address the challenges of the 21st century.
Guy has
a Doctorate in Adult and Higher Education from Montana State University, an
MA in Human Development and Management from
Salve Regina
University, and a BSEE from Purdue University. He was a professor at Rocky
Mountain College and Western Michigan University; and is currently Associate
Program Manager for the Master of Science in Technical Management at
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Worldwide) and Managing Director of
Ypsilon Associates, consultants for research and airline training.
Guy was
a Lead Engineer for the F/A-18 at McDonnell-Douglas and Manager of Human
Factors at Northwest Airlines. He retired from the Navy in 1989; where he
was Mission Commander on the S-3A “Viking”; Aircraft Handling Officer
onboard USS Carl Vinson; Assistant Director of the ASWOC in Bermuda; and
Instructor and Department Chair at OCS in Newport, RI.
Kendall
Starkweather
Dr.
Starkweather is Executive Director/CEO of the International Technology
Education Association (ITEA) located in Reston, Virginia. ITEA is the only
major association in North America existing solely for the purpose of
promoting technological literacy in our schools. As Executive Director, Dr.
Starkweather is involved in association activities designed to advance
ITEA’s mission. He is publisher of the association’s journals, The
Technology Teacher and Technology and Children, which contain curriculum and
instructional materials dealing with all aspects of technology. He has led
the association during the development of ITEA’s Standards for Technological
Literacy and related curriculum work that has been translated into four
languages to date.
Dr.
Starkweather’s background includes high school teaching experience and
nearly a decade of teacher education work at the University of Maryland.
He has
spoken on technology education in most states and provinces in North
America, and has spoken or consulted in Australia, Canada, England, Greece,
the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan.
His
experience as an educator and association executive has allowed him to work
with others in doing what he enjoys the most - helping teachers and students
reach their potential through a better understanding of technological issues
and developments.
Peter
Wolfe
Peter
Wolfe is the Executive Director of the Professional Aviation Board of
Certification. Captain Wolfe retired as a line pilot and human
factors specialist for Flight Operations at Southwest Airlines in 2002.
Peter is an
active member of the Air Transport Association Human Factors Committee and
served as its Chairman from Oct 98 – Oct 2000. He served for ten years with
a regional airline as a line pilot/check airman and in various management
positions including director of flight operations and vice president for
personnel.
A retired USAF colonel, he flew the F-4 Phantom, EC / KC-135 and
T-39 Sabreliner. In addition, he held a wide range of staff and command
positions in various flying, safety, maintenance and training posts,
including duty as the Assistant Director of Operations for the North
American Air Defense Command. He is type rated on the Boeing 737, DC-9,
FH-227 and Gulfstream-159 and has logged over 18,000 hours of flight time.
He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois in Public
Administration.
9-7-07