OSU Research Week 2008 Guest Speakers

Guest Speakers
		Ron Brakke President and CEO Brakke Consulting Ron Brakke founded Brakke Consulting and has been its President and CEO since its formation 21 years ago. He is an experienced executive in strategic planning, international business plan development, merger and acquisition activities, and product marketing strategies. Mr. Brakke has extensive experience as an advisor to senior management in the animal health, veterinary, and specialty chemical markets. A graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Mr. Brakke has also completed executive study programs at both Harvard and Stanford Business Schools. He continues to manage the family farm in South Dakota. Brakke Consulting is the foremost management consulting firm exclusively serving the worldwide animal health and veterinary industries. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the firm maintains offices throughout the United States, in Australia and Japan
		Dr. Lisa J. Cary Associate professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction University of Texas An internationally recognized scholar in Curriculum Studies, Lisa J. Cary is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. Author of Curriculum Spaces: Discourse, Postmodern Theory and Educational Research (2006, Peter Lang), she has published numerous articles in professional journals. She received the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association in 2004. Her current work focuses on using postmodern curriculum theories to inform educational research. She has worked in educational settings in Australia, Canada and the United States of America.
		Dr. Robert B. Cialdini Regents’ Professor of Psychology and Marketing Arizona State University Robert B. Cialdini is Regents’ Professor of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, where he has also been named W. P. Carey Distinguished Professor of Marketing. He has taught at Stanford University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has been elected president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Donald T. Campbell Award for Distinguished Contributions to Social Psychology, and the (inaugural) Peitho Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Science of Social Influence. Professor Cialdini’s book Influence: Science and Practice, which was the result of a three-year program of study into the reasons that people comply with requests in everyday settings, has sold over a million copies while appearing in numerous editions and twenty-four languages
		Will Daniels Vice President of Quality, Food Safety and Organic Integrity Earthbound Farm Will Daniels is the Vice President of Quality, Food Safety and Organic Integrity at Earthbound Farm. Daniels has been with Earthbound Farm since 1999. He has helped the company grow from a small, regional salad producer to the nation’s largest grower, packer and shipper of organic produce. In this role, Daniels is responsible for leading the continued enhancements to Earthbound Farm’s food safety program, including work on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) program, which includes the implementation of the two-level “Test & Hold” process. In addition to leading these crucial programs for our the company’s processing facilities, he will is responsible for the implementation of these programs at co-packers’ facilities. Daniels also leads the Food Safety and Organic Integrity Advisory Panel, consisting of some of the leading food safety scientists in the country. An active leader in the organic industry, he also serves on the board of directors of California Certified Organic Farmers as Chair, as well as being President of the Processor/Handler Chapter. He also serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the United Fresh Produce Association. Prior to working with Earthbound Farm, he had his own food service consulting company where he worked on projects in menu revision, nutrition and food safety. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a bachelor of science in nutrition. In his free time, Daniels likes to cook - he makes a mean barbecue sauce - and enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter.
		Dr. Andrea G. Hunter Department of Human Development and Family Studies The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Andrea G. Hunter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University and continued postdoctoral work as a National Institute of Mental Health Fellow in Family Process and Psychopathology at The University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University. With an emphasis on Black Family Studies, her research focuses on: (1) variations in the structure and social organization of families and social networks, and their effects on individuals’ roles, behavior, and well-being across the life span; (2) constructions of gender and the ways in which gender affects family roles and life course trajectories, and (3) family history, the life course, and social change. Dr. Hunter has presented her work nationally and internationally, and has published widely in scholarly journals in the areas of family studies, developmental psychology, gender and ethnic studies, family history, and social work.
		Dr. Yolanda K. Jones Assistant Professor of Chemistry Alcorn State University Dr. Yolanda K. Jones received a B.S. in chemistry from Alcorn State University in 1998, and the Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Marquette University in 2005. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Alcorn State University. Her research focus is the development and characterization of polymer materials for chemical sensors. These studies utilize spectroscopic and computational methods to investigate the fundamental interactions of coating materials with targeted analytes and the effect of these interactions and other physical parameters on sensor performance.
		Dr. Don Lucca Regents Professor and Tom J. Cunningham Chair in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Oklahoma State University Don A. Lucca is currently Regents Professor and Tom J. Cunningham Chair in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University. He also holds the position of Guest Scientist in the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies Group (MPA-CINT) in the Materials Physics and Applications Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He received a BS degree from Cornell, MSE from Princeton, and PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute all in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), has received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior Scientists, and holds an honorary doctorate from Universität Bremen. His current research is directed towards developing basic understanding of the mechanics and physics which govern microscale and nanoscale fabrication processes used to create ultraprecision surfaces and thin films, and to investigating the mechanical, chemical, electrical and photonic nature of the surfaces which result.
		Kim McCoy-Heffron Grants Director Oklahoma Arts Council Kim McCoy-Heffron serves as the Oklahoma Arts Council Grants Director. She oversees the application and reporting processes for up to 500 grants annually. Kim has a B.S. in Family Studies and is scheduled to complete a Master of Arts in Public Administration in August 2008. She began her career working in social services and has focused her efforts on non-profit management, community development and public administration for the past decade. Kim is an accomplished grant writer and has prepared and packaged many types of grant applications, including state and federal government, local and national foundation and civic club requests. Her interests encompass public policy reform and advocacy.
		Dr. Michael A. Olivas William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law Director, Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance University of Houston Professor Olivas came to the University of Houston in 1982. He is a leading expert on higher education law, and served two terms as general counsel of the American Association of University Professors. A prolific scholar, his writings are cited in the popular press and debated in academic institutions across the United States. He was selected to the American Law Institute, and is a member of the National Academy of Education; he is the only person to hold membership in both academies. In addition to his expertise on higher education law, Professor Olivas is a recognized expert on immigration law and policy, student higher education financing, and financial aid issues. He has served three times as chair of the Law and Education Section of AALS, and twice as chair of the AALS Immigration Law Section. Olivas founded the Institute for Higher Education Law & Governance in 1982. Professor Olivas served as the Law Center's Associate Dean for Faculty Research from 1990-1995 and has held several system, campus and Law Center committee chairs. From 2002-2005, he served as the UH Law Center's Associate Dean for Student Life. In 2000, he was awarded the UH's highest faculty honor, the Esther Farfel Award.
		Norman Pace University Destinguished Professor University of Colorado Norman Pace is a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He pioneered the development and use of molecular tools to study microbial ecosystems. Pace is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation. He has received a number of awards, including the 2007 Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Microbiology and the 2001 Selman A. Waksman Award for Distinguished Contributions in Microbiology from the National Academy of Sciences, the Nation’s highest award in microbiology.
		David Pettyjohn Program Officer and Director of Programs Oklahoma Humanities Council David Pettyjohn has served as the program officer for the Oklahoma Humanities Council since June 2001 and Director of Programs since January 2005. He holds an M.A. in history and a B.A. in history & secondary education, both from The University of Tulsa. His previous experience includes serving as publications coordinator for SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) and community relations coordinator for Barnes & Noble Union Square, New York.
		Dr. Christine Ruane Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies University of Tulsa Christine Ruane is Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Tulsa. She is also co-editor of the series Russian Studies in History, and has published many articles as well as the monograph Gender, Class, and the Professionalization of Russian City Teachers, 1860-1914 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994). Her current monograph on the Imperial Russian fashion industry is being published by Yale University Press.
		Carol Stearns Director, Programs Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology Carol Stearns joined the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) in 2006. She directs a portfolio of research and development programs supporting the early-stage advanced technology concept through business development and commercialization to market. She has implemented three new programs for the state agency: plant science research, nanotechnology applications, and a seed capital fund for small business development. Ms. Stearns is a graduate of Drexel University and holds a Masters Certification in Project Management from The George Washington University. Before joining OCAST, she spent fifteen years at Sprint Corporation working in telecommunications operations, administration and finance. She is a member of the i2E board of directors and is a member of the Oklahoma Economic Development Council.