NMSI Chief Executive Officer, former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

An attorney, Tom Luce received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Southern Methodist University and has been honored with the SMU Law School and University Distinguished Alumni Awards. He was a founding partner and managing partner of the law firm of Hughes & Luce, LLP until his retirement from the firm in 1997.

Editor in Chief Science Magazine

Former President of the National Academy of Sciences

Bruce Alberts, a respected biochemist with a strong commitment to the improvement of science and math education, has returned to the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, after serving two six-year terms as the president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Lead Director, NMSI

Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Norman R. Augustine was raised in Colorado and attended Princeton University where he graduated with a BSE in Aeronautical Engineering, magna cum laude, and an MSE. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi.

President, College Board

Former Governor of West Virginia

Gaston Caperton, a former two-term governor of West Virginia, is the eighth president of the College Board, a not-for-profit membership association founded in 1900 that consists of 5,000 of the nation's leading schools, colleges, and universities. Among its best-known programs are the Advanced Placement Program (AP) and the SAT*.

Vice President of Public and Government Affairs, Exxon Mobil Corporation

Kenneth P. Cohen is the Vice President of Public and Government Affairs for Exxon Mobil Corporation.  Mr. Cohen has worldwide responsibility for the Company's government relations, communications, media relations, global community relations and corporate brand activities.

Mr. Cohen joined the Company's legal department in 1977 after serving as an Assistant Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis.  He held a variety of staff assignments and, in 1985, he became Chief Attorney, Refining, Environment and Health.  In 1989, he was named Assistant General Counsel, Exxon Company International; in 1991, he became Senior Counsel and Coordinator, Exxon Corporation Law Department.  In 1995, he became General Counsel, Exxon Chemical Company; and in November 1999, he was named to his current position.

State Superintendent of Schools, Maryland State Department of Education

Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick is Maryland's first female state superintendent and the U.S.'s longest serving appointed schools chief. Dr. Grasmick is known for her strong focus on student achievement, teacher quality, parent involvement, public school funding, and early care and education. In fact, it is this commitment to high-quality early learning that has made Maryland the only state in the nation to have consolidated all its early childhood programs at the state department of education.

Under Dr. Grasmick's leadership, Maryland has been nationally recognized for its many achievements. Maryland's SAT scores continue to rank first in the College Board's Middle States region, and Maryland leads the nation in improving high school students' performance in the rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) Program.*

Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Vesalius Ventures

President and Founder, The Harris Foundation, Inc.

Former NASA astronaut, first African-American to walk in space

Dr. Harris is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Vesalius Ventures, Inc., a venture capital accelerator, that invest in early-stage companies in Medical Informatics and Technology (Telemedicine).

Prior to Vesalius Ventures, Dr. Harris was at NASA for 10 years, where he conducted research in musculoskeletal physiology and disuse osteoporosis. Later, as Head of the Exercise Countermeasure Project, he conducted clinical investigations of space adaptation and developed in-flight medical devices to extend astronaut stays in space, which involved the use of telemetry. A veteran astronaut for over 15 years, he has logged more than 438 hours and traveled over 7.2 million miles in space.

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Dr. Ray O Johnson is the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. As an Officer of the Corporation and a member of the executive leadership team, Dr. Johnson guides the Corporation’s technology vision and provides corporate leadership in the strategic areas of technology and engineering, which include more than 70,000 people working on more than 4,000 programs. Dr. Johnson also leads the Corporation’s Advanced Concepts Organization and the Center for Innovation, a world-class laboratory for collaborative experimentation and analysis involving Lockheed Martin, its customers, and industry partners.

He currently serves as a member of the Sandia Corporation and SPIE Boards of Directors and as a member of the Project Lead the Way Advisory Board. Dr. Johnson is a member of the Governing Board of the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and a sponsor of the DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Program.

Head of Education and Human Resources, American Association for the Advancement of Science

A longtime leader in education and science literacy, Shirley Malcom is Head of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The directorate includes AAA programs in education, activities for underrepresented groups, and public understanding of science and technology.

Dr. Malcom serves on several boards-including the Heinz Endowments and the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment-and is an honorary trustee of the American Museum of Natural History. 

In 2006 she was named as co-chair (with Leon Lederman) of the National Science Board commission on 21st Century Education in STEM. She serves as a Regent of Morgan Statue University and as a trustee of Caltech.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Sally Ride Science

Former NASA astronaut, first American woman in space

Sally K. Ride, Ph.D., a former NASA Astronaut and the first American woman in space, is the President and CEO of Sally Ride Science, and a Professor (Emeritus) at the University of California, San Diego. Sally Ride Science is an innovative company dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in math, science and technology, through their programs and publications.

Dr. Ride grew up in Los Angeles, California. She attended Stanford University where she earned her B.S. in Physics and B.A in English in 1973, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics in 1975 and 1978, respectively. Shortly thereafter, she was selected for NASA's astronaut corps. Her first space flight was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983; her second was also aboard Challenger, in 1984. During those flights, she deployed communications satellites, operated the robot arm, and conducted experiments in materials, pharmaceuticals, and Earth remote-sensing.

Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prudential Financial, Inc.

Arthur F. Ryan is retired chairman and chief executive officer of Prudential Financial, Inc., one of the largest diversified financial institutions in the world.

Prior to joining Prudential in December 1994, Mr. Ryan had been president and chief operating officer of Chase Manhattan Bank since 1990. Mr. Ryan ran Chase's worldwide retail bank between 1984 and 1990.

President, Spelman College

Scholar, teacher, author, administrator and race relations expert Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum is the ninth president of Spelman College. Prior to her appointment to the Spelman presidency in 2002, she spent 13 years at Mount Holyoke College, serving in various roles during her tenure there - as professor of psychology, department chair, dean of the College, and acting president.

Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Merck & Co., Inc.

Roy Vagelos is Retired Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co., Inc. He received an AB in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania and an MD in 1954 from Columbia University. Following a residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the National Institute of Health where from 1956-66 he served as Senior Surgeon and then Section Head of Comparative Biochemistry. In 1966 he became Chairman, Department of Biological Chemistry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and in 1973 founded the University's Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. He joined Merck Research Laboratories in 1975 where he was president until 1985 when he became CEO and later Chairman of the company. He retired in 1994.

President, National Academy of Engineering
President Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Charles M. Vest hails from Morgantown, West Virginia. He earned a B.S.M.E degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1963, and M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, in 1964 and 1967, respectively. Dr. Vest is president emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), having stepped down in December 2004 after 14 years in that post, and is a member of the MIT mechanical engineering faculty.

Dr. Vest became the fifteenth president of MIT on October 15, 1990. In recognition of the increasing interdependence of economic, technological, environmental, and political systems both in the United States and throughout the world, Dr. Vest's priorities during his tenure as president of MIT included building a stronger international dimension into education and research programs, developing stronger relations with industry, enhancing racial and cultural diversity within MIT, and rebuilding public understanding and support of higher education and research.

Steven Chu
US Secretary of Energy; former Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Edward Copley
Former President, O'Donnell Foundation

Roger A. Enrico
Chairman of Dreamworks Animation SKG and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo

Peter T. Flawn
President Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin

Susan Hockfield
President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Diana Natalicio
President, University of Texas at El Paso

Peter O'Donnell Jr.
Chairman, O'Donnell Foundation

Carl Wieman
Director of Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, University of British Columbia