New Horizons Forum Speaker Biographies
Brig. Gen. Dana H. Born is Dean of the Faculty, U.S. Air Force Academy,
Colorado Springs, Co. She commands the 700-member Dean of the Faculty
mission element and oversees the annual design and instruction of more than
500 undergraduate courses for 4,000 cadets in 32 academic disciplines. She
also directs the operation of five support staff agencies and faculty resources
involving more than $350 million.
BRIG. GEN. DANA H.
BORN
General Born graduated with distinction from the U.S. Air Force Academy in
1983 with a degree in behavioral sciences. She completed master's degrees in
experimental and research psychology, and was first assigned to the
Occupational Measurement Center as a job analyst. Following her tours as an
exchange officer with the Royal Australian Air Force and assistant professor at
the U.S. Air Force Academy, she completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree
in industrial and organizational psychology from Pennsylvania State
University.
John Clark is the Program Manager of multiple UAV Command and Control
and Autonomy related program activities within Lockheed Martin Advanced
Development Programs (ADP). His team is the focal point for all UAV avionics
architectures and C2 development activities for ADP. In his current position as
Program Manager and Chief System Architect, John is responsible for
strategically positioning ADP in the mission autonomy area while leading a
team of personnel developing the core software and hardware architecture
for current and future ADP UAV program activities.
JOHN G. CLARK
John holds a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of
Colorado at Boulder and a Masters in Business Administration from Texas
Christian University.
As the FAA’s Assistant Administrator for NextGen, Victoria Cox leads the ongoing transformation of the nation's air transportation system. She is
responsible for research and technology development, test and evaluation
and lifecycle systems integration of the multi-billion dollar Next Generation
Air Transportation System (NextGen). She also tracks and reports on
performance and conducts outreach to stakeholders. NextGen has been
called the most complex systems integration challenge ever undertaken by
the federal government.
VICTORIA COX
Mr. Fisherkeller has worked in the unmanned systems industry since the mideighties on many game changing defense systems including the Tomahawk
cruise missile, hypersonic aircraft, the Minuteman ballistic missile and is
currently an industry leader in the development of an open-architecture for
command and control of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) including the Global
Hawk, X-47B UCAS and Fire Scout VTUAV programs.
KERRY FISHKELLER
Mr. Fisherkeller serves on the Executive Board of the UCS Architecture
Working Group which is sponsored by the Office of Secretary of Defense
(OSD) and is a Subcommittee Co-Chair for Application Platforms. He
represents Northrop Grumman’s UAS program interests on the UCS
Architecture Working Group as Program Manager and as Chief Architect leads
Northrop’s technical team in development of the common UCS architecture
reference model.
Building a UCS architecture to meet OSD’s business-driven goals of better
buying power through acquisition efficiency requires a combination of
enterprise, systems, and software architecture techniques to maximize
architecture commonality and interoperability for current and future UAS.
Douglas Gregory is a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at General
Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) with expertise in the
strategy, management and development of Open Architectures.
Mr. Gregory is chairman of the OSD UAS Control Segment (UCS) Working
Group (since September 2009) and is one of its inaugural members. He was
also chairman of the SAE Aerospace Avionic Systems Division (ASD) (5 years)
and chairman of its Aircraft Systems and System Integration Committee (AS-1)
(5 years). He has chaired three subgroups of the NATO Industrial Advisory
Group (NIAG) which studied Open Architectures for aircraft weaponization
and UAS weaponization.
DOUGLAS GREGORY
JAMES I. HILEMAN
Mr. Gregory has been Principal Investigator on a number of Open
Architecture research programs for Army, Air Force and Navy customers. He
holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees from the
University of Bath in England.
Dr. Jim Hileman is the Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Environment
for the Federal Aviation Administration. Prior to this, he was the Associate
Director of the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions
Reduction (PARTNER), a leading aviation cooperative research organization
and an FAA/NASA/Transport Canada-sponsored Center of Excellence. As a
principal research engineer within the Department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics at MIT, his research work focused on modeling the impacts of
using alternative jet fuels and innovative aircraft concepts on energy
efficiency, noise, air quality and global climate change. He received his B.S.,
M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He
was awarded the 2010 FAA Excellence in Aviation Research award for his
team’s work on alternative fuels and he was also the FAA Centers of
Excellence Faculty of the Year Award recipient in 2010.
BRIAN T. HOLGUIN
ANTIONIO ELIAS
Brian T. Holguin is an Operations Supervisor for the FAA at Washington Air
Route Traffic Control Center. Brian has over 22 years of operational
experience in air traffic control and air traffic management—including
assignments at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center, Oakland and
Washington Air Route Traffic Control Centers, and Air Traffic Safety Oversight.
His program management experience includes assignments at FAA
Headquarters in Airspace and RNAV Procedures, Planning and Procedures,
and Policy and Standards. Brian is a senior member of AIAA, former chairman
of the Air Transportation Systems Technical Committee, and FAA Co Lead on
the NASA/FAA Dynamic Airspace Configuration Research Transition Team.
Antonio Elias is Executive Vice President and General Manager of Orbital's
Advanced Programs Group which includes its National Security Space and
Human Space Systems divisions. Previous positions at Orbital include VP,
Programs and VP, Engineering. In the late 80's he led the technical team that
conceived and developed the Pegasus Air-Launch vehicle. Before joining
Orbital in 1986 he was a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics from which he
holds Bachelor's Master's, Engineer's and Ph. D. degrees, and member of the
technical staff at the C.S. Draper Laboratory. He is a member of the National
Academy of Engineering, AIAA Fellow and co-recipient of the 1991 National
Medal of Technology.
Dr. Mike Leahy is the Common Mission Management System (CMMS)
Program Manager for the Advanced Programs and Technology (AP&T)
Division of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.
Prior to his August 2010 appointment to his current position, Mike was the
Chief Architect for AP&T, responsible for establishing the architectural
framework standard for all AP&T programs to ensure a consistent and highly
competitive level of design, development and transition for each capability.
Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in September 2007, Colonel Leahy had a
distinguished 27-year U.S. Air Force career and made significant contributions
to the advancement of aerospace technology and advanced systems. He was
a professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology; lead the DARPA/USAF
UCAV ATD (X-45A) from conception through first flight, served as director of
the Air Vehicles Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory and ViceDirector of the 448th Combat Sustainment Wing.
MICHAEL B. LEAHY, JR.
Mike is the AIAA 2010 Hap Arnold Award recipient for sustained excellence in
aeronautical program management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical
engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in
electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico, a master’s degree
in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces,
and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute.
Michael Luther has over 42 years of industry and government experience in
the development and management of space based scientific remote sensing
systems. He spent 12 years in industry prior to his 30 years of government
service with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He
joined NASA’s Langley Research Center in January 1981 for the development,
launch, and early mission operations of a series of Earth remote sensing
instruments. Since joining NASA Headquarters in 1987, Mr. Luther has held a
series of positions with increasing responsibilities including Upper
Atmosphere Research Satellite Program Manager, Earth Science Division
Flight Program Director, Deputy Associate Administrator in the Office of Earth
Science and Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs in the Science
Mission Directorate (SMD).
MICHAEL R. LUTHER
Mr. Luther has received Distinguished (2002) and Meritorious (1998)
Presidential Rank Awards in recognition of his managerial and leadership
skills. He received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2005, the NASA
Exceptional Service Medal in 1992 and the NASA Medal for Exceptional
Engineering Achievement in 1985. He attended the Harvard University John F.
Kennedy School of Government in the fall of 1990 as a Senior Executive
fellow. Mr. Luther received his B. S. degree in mathematics from BirminghamSouthern College in 1967, and his M.S. degree in applied mathematics from
Auburn University in 1969.
Mr. Luther lives with his wife, Judy, in Takoma Park, Maryland. They have a
grown son Matthew living in Wisconsin.
Mrs. McBride has spent more than 20 years in program management and
engineering in the aerospace and telecommunication industries. She is
presently the Executive Director for the Iridium NEXT Program Management
Office (PMO) and Launch Segment. In this position she developed the Iridium
NEXT program office, and leads the launch strategy and supplier selection.
She is now managing the Iridium NEXT PMO responsible for maintaining,
controlling and reporting on the Iridium NEXT budget, cost, schedule and risk.
She is also responsible for the management and oversight of the launch
service providers (LSPs), SpaceX and Kosmotras, and managing the interface
between the satellite prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space, and the LSPs.
SUZI MCBRIDE
Prior to joining Iridium, she held the position of Program Manager at General
Dynamics (now Orbital Sciences Corporation) where she managed NASA and
U.S. Air Force satellite programs. Before coming to General Dynamics, Mrs.
McBride was a Program Director at Motorola. During her time at Motorola
she managed large new technology cellular system implementations in
different locations around the world. She also worked for six years on the
Iridium program in Motorola’s Satellite Communications group as a senior
engineer in satellite manufacturing and launch.
Mrs. McBride received her MBA from the University of Tennessee in the
Executive Aerospace program and her dual undergraduate degrees, a B.S. in
Industrial Engineering from Columbia University and a B.A. in Management
Engineering from Claremont McKenna College. She also holds a masters
degree in Program Management from George Washington University and is
PMI certified.
LESTER MCFAWN
Lester McFawn is Director, Wright Brothers Institute, Dayton, Ohio, USA. The
Wright Brothers Institute (WBI) is a leader in applying advanced innovation
tools, processes, environments and multidisciplinary collaborations to solve
challenging problems. Previously, he was a member of the Federal
Government’s Senior Executive Service, serving in key Air Force leadership
positions in aerospace research, development and acquisition. From 2003 to
2008 he was Executive Director, Air Force Research Laboratory. In this
position he led the Air Force’s $3.7B science and technology program; 10 R&D
business units; and a workforce of 9,900 of the world’s top scientists,
engineers and support staff. He previously held Director positions with
responsibility for policy, strategic planning, manpower, organizational
planning, and out year budget development for the Air Force’s Air Armament
Center and Air Force Materiel Command, both multi-billion dollar enterprises.
As Director, Sensors Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, he had
responsibility for the Air Force’s total science and technology program in
sensors and electronics. Mr. McFawn holds a Masters Degree in computer,
information and control engineering from the University of Michigan, and a
Masters Degree in electronics engineering from Florida State University. He
has received numerous awards including the Outstanding Civilian Career
Service Award, Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive, Defense
Acquisition Executive Certificate of Achievement, and 2010 Non Profit
Business of the Year in the Greater Dayton Region.
Will is the Vice President for Special Projects at Sir Richard Branson's Virgin
Galactic, the world's first spaceline. Virgin Galactic is building on the legacy of
the award-winning SpaceShipOne, bringing a fleet of commercial spacecraft
into service for private, civil, and scientific passengers. He also serves as a
Trustee of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS),
the world's largest student space organization Will is a graduate of Harvard
University, the NASA Academy, and the International Space University. From
2005 - 2011, he worked at the X PRIZE Foundation, the world-leading
incentive prize organization. As Senior Director of Space Prizes, he served as
the primary author and manager of the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE and
the $2 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X CHALLENGE. He has also
worked at Harvard and Brown Universities, the Futron Corporation, and the
United Nations, and was the co-founder and Editor in Chief of
SpaceAlumni.com.
WILLIAM POMERANTZ
Will is married to Diana Trujillo, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. Will and Diana have lived in the Los Angeles area since 2008.
Randall Rothe’s experience as Senior Manager for Boeing’s Advanced
Unmanned Air Systems - Mission Systems Team, in Boeing's Phantom Works
organization puts him on the leading edge of innovation.
With more than 31 years engineering and software management experience
related to UAS Mission Management, Mission Planning and Control Systems,
Mr. Rothe has worked on some of the most innovative aviation projects
undertaken by the aerospace leader. Mr. Rothe is currently the program
manager for the UAS C2 Standards Initiative and is responsible for the
development of the C2 capability for Boeing’s unmanned Phantom Eye and
Vulture (HALE- High Altitude Long Endurance) aircraft.
RANDALL L. ROTHE
Mr. Rothe has a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics from Southwestern
College, Winfield, Kansas, a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Science from
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, and a Masters
Degree in Management Information Systems from Friends University, Wichita
Kansas
As the Vice President for Aerospace Systems, Mr. Schlickenmaier leads Crown
Consulting, Inc., efforts to oversee Crown’s support to the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as well as supporting Crown’s
efforts on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic and aviation safety
programs. Mr. Schlickenmaier is responsible for supporting the NASA Glenn
Research Center with the Business Development and Partnership Program
Support contract, a 3-year contract that provides strategic business and
partnership development, program and project management support, as well
as critical technical assessments of NASA programs. Mr. Schlickenmaier is also
responsible supporting the NASA Headquarters Strategic Planning and
Program Office Technical Support contract, a 5-year contract with the
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate to provide them with strategic
planning, program management and subject matter expert services. This
contract also provides technical support the NASA’s role in the Joint Planning
and Development Office (JPDO), and it will offer opportunities to broaden this
support to include a range of analytic investigations of new air traffic
management concepts.
HERBERT W.
SCHLICKENMAIER
Previously, Mr. Schlickenmaier had a 35-year civil service specializing in
aviation and aeronautics research beginning in the FAA and concluding with
NASA.
Prior to his NASA career, Mr. Schlickenmaier worked at the Federal Aviation
Administration for more than 17 years, conducting and managing research
that supported engineering and operational certification activities. He was
internationally recognized for his research in windshear technology, and was
enlisted by the National Transportation Safety Board as an expert witness on
two accidents in the 1980s.
Gen. William L. Shelton is Commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson
Air Force Base, Colorado. He is responsible for organizing, equipping, training
and maintaining mission-ready space and cyberspace forces and capabilities
for North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Strategic Command
and other combatant commands around the world. General Shelton oversees
Air Force network operations; manages a global network of satellite
command and control, communications, missile warning and space launch
facilities; and is responsible for space system development and acquisition. He
leads more than 46,000 professionals, assigned to 88 locations worldwide and
deployed to an additional 35 global locations.
GENERAL WILLIAM L.
SHELTON
General Shelton entered the Air Force in 1976 as a graduate of the U.S. Air
Force Academy. He has served in various assignments, including research and
development testing, space operations and staff work. The general has
commanded at the squadron, group, wing and numbered air force levels, and
served on the staffs at major command headquarters, Air Force headquarters
and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Prior to assuming his current
position, General Shelton was the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff and Director,
Air Staff, U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
As the Deputy Associate Administrator for Integration, James Stofan reports
to the Associate Administrator for Education. He shares responsibility for
providing executive leadership, functional management and coordination of
NASA's education programs and activities. The agency's goal is to meet
national education needs and ensure a sufficient talent pool to preserve U.S.
leadership in space exploration, aeronautical technology and science.
Stofan joined NASA in September 2003, first as the agency’s Informal
Education Division Director, and until April 2010 as the Deputy Associate
Administrator for Education Integration.
Prior to joining NASA, Stofan served as the Senior Vice President for Education
Programs at the National Wildlife Federation. Subsequent to joining NWF,
Stofan was a faculty member and Director of Distance Education at Johns
Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
JAMES STOFAN
Stofan has served on the National Partners Council of the Points of Light
Foundation, Board of Directors of National Wildlife Productions and on the
Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of eNature.com. He is also the
past Chair of the Environmental Education Coalition. He is a member of the
honor societies Kappa Delta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi.
A native of San Francisco, Stofan graduated in 1989 from Johns Hopkins
University with a degree in behavioral biology and sociology. He earned a
master's degree in instructional technology from the University of Central
Florida.
As director of the Integrated Systems Research Program Office, Ed Waggoner
is responsible for the overall planning, management and evaluation of the
directorate's efforts to conduct integrated, system-level research on
promising vehicle and operational technologies in a relevant environment
that meet energy, environmental and mobility objectives.
In addition, he supports the associate administrator in a broad range of
mission directorate activities, including strategic and program planning;
budget development; program review and evaluation; and external
coordination.
EDGAR WAGGONER
Waggoner began his NASA career in 1982 as a researcher in the theoretical
aerodynamics discipline at NASA's Langley Research Center. He has been
awarded several NASA Group Achievement Awards and NASA Special Act or
Service Awards and has authored or coauthored 44 NASA technical papers,
journal articles and conference publications. He is an associate fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Waggoner received a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from
Auburn University, a master's degree in mechanical engineering from
Southern Methodist University, and master's and doctoral degrees in
engineering management from George Washington University.
Mr. John F. Wagner, DISL, DAF currently holds the position of Chief Technical
Director, Launch & Range Systems Directorate, Los Angeles Air Force Base,
California.
JOHN F. WAGNER
Mr. Wagner graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1976 and was
commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps program.
During his 30 years of military service he held a variety of assignments in
operational, acquisition, and staff units. Assignments included positions at
Headquarters Air Force Systems Command; Assistant Secretary of the Air
Force for Acquisition, Headquarters Air Force, Commander Detachment 9
Launch Group, and System Program Director Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program. He retired as a colonel in September 2006. He entered government
civilian service in October 2006. Before assuming his current position, he was
the Director of Staff, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force
Base, California.
Mr. Wagner is married to the former Janet L. Pearsall from Detroit MI.
They have a daughter, Monique, and a son, Shawn.
Dr. Annalisa Weigel is an Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
and Engineering Systems at MIT.
Dr. Weigel is the Principal Investigator for the Survey of Aerospace Student
Attitudes, a data-driven national investigation into the educational
motivations and career aspirations of our undergraduate aerospace
engineering students. She is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA, chairs the AIAA
Public Policy Subcommittee on Workforce and Education, and is a member of
the IAF Global Space Workforce Development Committee.
ANNALISA WEIGEL
She began her professional career as an engineer at Adroit Systems, first
supporting the DoD Office of the Space Architect during its stand-up and
initial space system architecture design studies in the areas of satellite
communications, satellite operations, and launch on demand. Dr. Weigel has
five degrees ranging across engineering, policy, and management, with four of
them – including her Ph.D. – from MIT.
Dr. Carl Wieman was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as the
Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy in September 2010. Dr. Wieman previously divided his
time between the University of British Columbia and the University of
Colorado. At each institution, he served as both the Director of Collaborative
Science Education Initiatives aimed at achieving widespread improvement in
undergraduate science education and as a Professor of Physics.
From 1984 through 2006, he was a Distinguished Professor of Physics and
Presidential Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado. While at the
University of Colorado, he was a Fellow of JILA (a joint federal-university
institute for interdisciplinary research in the physical sciences) and he served
as the Chair of JILA from 1993-95. Dr. Wieman has conducted extensive
research in atomic and laser physics. His research has been recognized with
numerous awards including sharing the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 for the
creation of a new form of matter known as “Bose-Einstein condensation.”
CARL WIEMAN
Dr. Wieman has also worked extensively on research and innovations for
improving science education; he was the founding Chair of the National
Academy of Sciences Board on Science Education. He has received numerous
awards, including the National Science Foundation’s Distinguished Teaching
Scholar Award (2001), the Carnegie Foundation’s U.S. University Professor of
the Year Award (2004), and the American Association of Physics Teachers’
Oersted Medal (2007) for his work on science education. Dr. Wieman
received his B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1973 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1977.