Chairman
John Engler served as Governor of Michigan for three four-year terms from 1991 to 2003. Gov. Engler is now President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Prior to joining NAM, he served as president of EDS State and Local Government and vice president of EDS Government Solutions of America. Several of the innovative technology-based economic development initiatives Gov. Engler launched during his time in office have provided models replicated or envied across the nation. Most notably, perhaps, are the creation and quasi-privatization of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; the $1 billion portfolio of programs to establish and sustain the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor; and, the $50 million NextEnergy Initiative focusing on alternative energy sources such as hydrogen fuel cells. During his last term in office, Gov. Engler served as chairman of the National Governors Association. He currently is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and serves as a director on the boards of Northwest Airlines, the Munder Funds and Universal Forest Products. He also is a distinguished fellow for the Council of Competitiveness. Gov. Engler earned a degree in agricultural economics from Michigan State University and a degree in law from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Vice Chairman
Michael S. Dukakis served as Governor of Massachusetts for three four-year terms during the period from 1975 to 1991. Gov. Dukakis won the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States in 1988. After leaving public office in 1991, he has been actively engaged in academic pursuits. Gov. Dukakis is currently Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii and has taught in the Senior Executive Program for State and Local Managers at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, at Florida Atlantic University and at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gov. Dukakis was educated at Swarthmore College and obtained his law degree from the Harvard School of Law. He served for two years in the United States Army, sixteen months of which he spent with the support group to the United Nations delegation to the Military Armistice Commission in Korea.
Rebecca Bagley is Deputy Secretary for the Technology Investment Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). In addition to overseeing operations, she manages $83 million in appropriations and approximately $1.7 billion in investments for the office, which serves as a catalyst for growth and competitiveness for Pennsylvania companies and universities through technology-based economic development initiatives including funding, partnerships and support services. Major programs administered by the office include: Keystone Innovation Zones; the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority including the Ben Franklin Technology Partners; the Tobacco Settlement Investment Board; Life Science Greenhouses; Venture Capital Investment Program; Industrial Resource Centers; and additional targeted technology investments. Additionally, Ms. Bagley recently worked on the Governors $650 Million Energy Independence Strategy which passed the legislature in June 2008. She previously served as the Director of Venture Investment for DCED. Prior to her experience at DCED, Ms. Bagley worked for several investment banks including JPMorgan Chase in various capacities.
Richard A. Bendis currently serves as the founding President and CEO of the Bendis Investment
Group LLC, a Global financial intermediary firm headquartered in Philadelphia.
Mr Bendis has a joint venture management agreement with Drawbridge Special
Opportunities Advisors LLC, an affiliate of the New York City based Fortress Investment Group (NYSE, FIG). Under the management agreement, BIG is responsible for the sourcing, due diligence, acquisition, origination, management, servicing, disposition of investments (including, debt, equity, and other assets) located in BIG’s Network. Most recently, Mr Bendis served as Chairman, President and CEO of True Product ID, Inc., a global publicly-traded technology company (NASDAQ, TPDI) headquartered in Philadelphia. Mr. Bendis also founded and served as the first President and CEO of Innovation Philadelphia (IP), a public/private partnership dedicated to growing the wealth and workforce of the Greater Philadelphia Region. Previously, Mr. Bendis successfully leveraged a career in the private sector (with Quaker Oats, Polaroid, Texas Instruments, Marion Laboratories and Kimberly Services) and the venture capital industry (RAB Ventures) to build the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC). As its president and CEO, he developed KTEC into a globally recognized model for technology-based economic development. Mr. Bendis also successfully built an Inc. 500 healthcare software company, Continental Healthcare Systems, Inc., which he took public on NASDAQ and later sold to an international conglomerate.
Michael Cassidy is President of the Georgia Research Alliance, a partnership of six research universities and the business community working with state government to build the environment to nurture the growth and development of the technology sector of the Georgia economy. Before joining the Alliance in 1993, Mr. Cassidy managed the Advanced Technology Development Center based at Georgia Tech, one of the nation’s oldest technology incubators. Prior to that he worked for the IBM Corporation where he held various staff and management positions. Mr. Cassidy consults with several states on issues of science and technology policy. He represents Georgia on the Southern Technology Council and the Southern Governors Association Advisory Committee on Research, Development and Technology. He is active with the Council on Competitiveness in developing their National Innovation Initiative. Mr. Cassidy has earned a Masters degree in Technology and Science Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.B.A. degree in Marketing from Georgia State University.
Ernest (Ernie) Dianastasis is Managing Director of CAIs Delaware Valley Operation, based in Wilmington, DE, one of the four largest IT companies in the region. CAI is a global Information Technology (IT) consulting, integration and outsourcing services organization that focuses on IT productivity with over 2,500 associates world-wide. In this role, he is responsible for all of CAIs activities including Sales, Marketing, Consulting, Delivery, and Quality. Mr. Dianastasis also oversees CAIs operations in Shanghai, China, which opened in 2005. Prior to joining CAI, Mr. Dianastasis was with the IBM Corporation. Mr. Dianastasis is also Chairman of First State Innovation (FSI), a non-profit initiative to foster a more entrepreneurial environment in Delaware and the surrounding region. Through his efforts FSI now has over 50 companies in the pipeline and close to 300 angel investors playing an active role in the new economy. He also serves on Governor Minners Strategic Economic Council and has been a member of The Delaware Business Roundtable since 2001 and currently serves as Chairman. He is a member of the Delaware State Chamber Board of Directors and also serves on the executive committee of the State of Delawares Vision 2015 effort focusing on improving the future of public education in Delaware. He is also on the Board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Innovation Philadelphia Board of Directors. He holds a BS in finance and an MBA in management from Lehigh University.
Michael A. Finney is the President and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK (SPARK), a public-private partnership whose mission is to advance innovation-based economic development in the greater Ann Arbor region. Mr. Finney has more than 25 years of professional experience in the private sector and local government. Prior to taking the helm at SPARK, he served as president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise, Rochester, New York; he also served as Vice President, Emerging Business Sectors for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Senior Vice President and General Manager, Thomson Saginaw Ballscrew Company; and as Assistant City Manager, Saginaw Michigan. Mr. Finney holds a Master of Arts from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Saginaw Valley State University.
Angeline “Angie” Godwin has served since January 2005 as the President for The Area Development Partnership (ADP), a regional economic development organization and chamber of commerce in south central Mississippi. Prior to joining ADP, Dr. Godwin was the president of the research foundation and the vice president of research and economic development at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In 2000, she was named the founding President/CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, the state’s science and technology-based economic development organization. Her work in higher education included the presidency of Ashland Community College in Ashland, Kentucky, the dean of arts and sciences at Jackson State Community College in Jackson, Tennessee, and technology developer, academic faculty and program administrator roles at Michigan State University. She holds a J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan; a Ph.D. and M.S. from The Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida; an M.A. from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and a B.A. from Troy State University, Troy, Alabama.
William "Brit" E. Kirwan became the third chancellor of the University System of Maryland in August 2002. Previously, he served as president of Ohio State University (1998-2002) and as president of the University of Maryland, College Park (1988-1998). Prior to his presidency, he was a member of the University of Maryland mathematics faculty for 34 years. Dr. Kirwan is a nationally recognized authority on critical issues shaping the higher education, including accountability, cost containment, economic competitiveness, and diversity and equity. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation; chairs the College Board's Commission on Access, Admissions, and Success in Higher Education; and is the current Chair of NASULGC's Committee on Student Learning and Accountability.
Bruce Mehlman is a technology industry leader in Washington DC, helping high tech players understand, anticipate and navigate the public policy environment and trends likely to impact the global marketplace through his firm, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti. His largest client is the Technology CEO Council, where as Executive Director he works with the CEOs of Applied Materials, Dell, EMC, IBM, Intel, HP, Motorola, NCR and Unisys to promote innovation leadership and tech-led economic growth. Mr. Mehlman previously served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy. At Commerce, Mr. Mehlman worked closely with leaders from industry, federal labs, universities and governments on issues impacting technology creators and users including innovation policy, broadband, biotechnology, tech-led economic growth, technology transfer, nanotechnology, and workforce policy. Mehlman worked as telecommunications policy counsel for Cisco Systems, policy director at the House Republican Conference, general counsel of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and as a commercial litigation attorney in a major Washington law firm. He serves on the Board of One Economy Corporation, and the Advisory Boards of the NanoBusiness Alliance and the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.
Luis M. Proenza became the 15th president of The University of Akron on January 1, 1999. As chief executive officer of the public research University for Northern Ohio, Dr. Proenza provides overall leadership to more than 4,500 faculty and staff and oversees an annual budget of $300 million serving more than 25,000 students in 350 academic programs, including a consortium medical school and three branch campuses. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Dr. Proenza to serve on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the nation's highest-level policy advisory group for science and technology. Dr. Proenza also is a member of The Council on Competitiveness and The Council on Foreign Relations. He was appointed by Governor Bob Taft to Ohio's Third Frontier Advisory Board, and he chairs the Ohio Aerospace Council. Dr. Proenza holds a bachelor's degree from Emory University (1965), a master's degree from The Ohio State University (1966) and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota (1971).
Catherine S. Renault serves as the Director, Office of Innovation in the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and as Science Advisor to the Governor. As such, The Office oversees and evaluates all programs that receive state funding for research and development, coordinates efforts between and among the states educational, non-profit and for profit research-intensive organizations and develops and implements a science and technology plan for the state consistent with Maines overall economic development strategy. The Office manages the budgets for the Maine Technology Institute and the Technology Centers as well as the annual Comprehensive R&D Evaluation. Dr. Renault comes to Maine from RTI International in Durham, NC where she consulted with a wide variety of states and regions about technology-based economic development. Her previous state experience was as Managing Director of Virginias Center for Innovative Technology where she was responsible for entrepreneurship and access to capital policy as well as statewide technology transfer initiatives. She also spent ten years in the private sector including AT&T and Data General. Dr. Renault is originally from Boston and received her undergraduate degree from Harvard, her MBA from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Phillip A. Singerman is Senior Vice President with B&D Consulting, a national advisory and advocacy firm that focuses on interdisciplinary services for growth sectors of the U.S. economy. Prior to joining B&D Consulting, Dr. Singerman was General Partner with Toucan Capital, a $120 million venture capital fund focused on seed and early-stage life science and advanced technology investments. Before joining Toucan Capital, Dr. Singerman served as the founding Executive Director of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), a state-sponsored technology transfer and commercialization agency. During his six-year tenure, TEDCO garnered a national reputation for successfully investing public funds in technology start-ups. Dr. Singerman, who has thirty years of experience in technology commercialization and economic development, also served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development in the Clinton Administration, and as President/CEO of the Ben Franklin Technology Center of Southeastern Pennsylvania. He spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia, South America. Dr. Singerman holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and a Masters and Ph.D. from Yale University.