Florida International University

Ms. Atkins is the CEO of Baja LLC, an independent venture capital firm focused on the technology and life sciences industry since 1994. Prior to 1994 Ms. Atkins was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCI, Inc. a Functional Food/Neutraceutical company from 1991 through 1993. Ms. Atkins was a co-founder of Ascend Communications, Inc. in 1989, a member of their Board of Directors, and served as its Global Market, Sales, and International Executive Vice President prior to its acquisition by Lucent Technologies in 1999. Ms. Atkins also serves on the Boards of Directors of Polycom, Inc., Reynolds American Inc., and SunPower Corporation. Ms. Atkins publishes and keynote speaks on corporate board governance best practices for the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Ms. Atkins was nominated by the NACD as Director of the Year. Ms. Atkins was a Presidential-Appointee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Advisory Committee, and is a Governor-Appointed member of the Florida International University Board of Trustees.

Armando Codina, an active leader in civic and community activities, is currently the Chairman of Flagler Development Group. Mr. Codina was Chairman/CEO and founder of Codina Group, which in April 2006 merged with Florida East Coast Industries. Flagler Development Group owns, leases and manages approximately 12 million square feet of Class-A office and industrial space, has an additional one million square feet under construction and is a major landowner in the state. Established in 1979, Codina Group, Inc. a Coral Gables, Florida based real estate investment, development, construction, brokerage and property management firm evolved into the finest full-service commercial real estate development corporation in South Florida and was recognized as the largest commercial developer in the State of Florida by Florida Trend Magazine. Prior to establishing Codina Group, Mr. Codina was president of Professional Automated Services, Inc. (P.A.S.), a firm created in 1970 to provide data processing services to physicians. As a result of the firm's success, Mr. Codina is recognized as a pioneer in the development of comprehensive medical management systems including processing, accounts receivable, management reporting and multiple financial services. P.A.S. was sold in 1978. Mr. Codina's commitment to the community and civic affairs is strong. In February 2003, he was appointed President of the VIII FTAA Ministerial and Americas Business Forum. He is “Chairman Emeritus” of the Board of Trustees of Florida International University. He recently was Co-Chair of Community Partnership For the Homeless, a member of Florida Council of 100, the Council’s Partnership to Advance School Success (PASS program) and also served on the Advisory Board for the Panama Canal. Codina currently serves on the Board of Directors of AMR (appointed Lead Director on April 1, 2007), General Motors, The Home Depot and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Codina served on the Board of Directors of BellSouth for 18 years (1989 to 2006) until AT&T acquired BellSouth. At the time of the acquisition, Mr. Codina was the Lead Director of BellSouth. Also, Mr. Codina previously served on the Board of Directors of Burger King Corporation until April 1, 2007. Over the past 15 years he has been honored by the Florida Council on Economic Education’s “Free Enterpriser of the Year” Award, the Merchant Association Enterprise Medalist; Developer of the Year the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties; Entrepreneur of the Year by Florida International University; Office Developer of the Year, Shopping Center Developer of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year by Wharton School. He was inducted into the Building Association of South Florida’s Hall of Fame. He also received the Charles Whited Spirit of Excellence Award from Knight Ridder Newspapers, the Hispanic Entrepreneur Award from NCNB National Bank and the Silver Medallion Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, American Red Cross as its ‘Humanitarian of the Year’ Award and Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Florida International University. In 2002, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce recognized Codina Group as the #1 Private Hispanic Company in Florida as well as in 2003, the Chamber honored Mr. Codina with the Lifetime Achievement Award “Sand In My Shoes”. South Florida CEO magazine honored Mr. Codina with 2003 Business Leader of the Year and in early 2004, the Beacon Council honored him with the Jay Malina Award. In June 2005, Mr. Codina was awarded the Merage Foundation’s National Leadership Award for Leadership in the Business Community.

Michael Reynolds brings a wealth of experience in fitness and wellness programming. Reynolds provides direction in Aquila's fitness programs development, wellness education and internal staff training. Reynolds graduated at the top of his class receiving a Masters in Exercise and Sports Science from Florida International University in Miami, FL. He is Health & Fitness Instructor Certified by American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialists by National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Reynolds is an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University and Miami-Dade College where he lectures on a variety of wellness topics including fitness, nutrient, stress management, and injury prevention. He has presented at the East Coast Alliance's World Fitness conference on sports & fitness training principles and accompanied medical missions to Haiti promoting disease prevention. Reynolds competed as a scholarship track and field athlete at Tulane University and recently completed an Ironman triathlon. He has a love for travel and foreign cultures. Sailing from Mexico to New Zealand, hiking the Himalayas, and eating grasshoppers in Ugandan are some of his most treasured experiences.

Mr. Guillama is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives, the Healthcare and Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Medical Group Management Association. Mr. Guillama continues to hold active licensure as a Building Contractor, Real Estate Broker, Mortgage Broker and Insurance Broker in the State of Florida and held a NASD Series 7 registration from 1990-1995. An active proponent of education, Mr. Guillama serves as a director of the Florida International University Foundation and as a director of the Palm Beach County Community College Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches and served on the Education Advisory Committee of the Village of Wellington from 2003-2006. At FIU, Mr. Guillama also serves as the Chairman of the FIU Academic Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee for the Board. Further, he serves as a member of the FIU Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board. A community advocate, Mr. Guillama also serves on the Board of Directors of The Western Communities Business, Technology and Education Advancement Board, Inc. (BTE), the Palms West Chamber of Commerce, and The Cultural Trust of the Palm Beaches, Inc. Additionally, he is a member of the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Wellington Rotary Club. Mr. Guillama is also a Trustee of Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, Florida. The campus-like facility, which services central and western Palm Beach County, sits on a spacious 74 acres and features 140 beds. On a more national level, Mr. Guillama lends his experience in healthcare and in growing a small business as a member of the United States Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council which represents the issues affecting small businesses throughout the country. Mr. Guillama is the beneficiary of numerous awards of distinction, some of which are from the Lion's Club, Leukemia Society of America and American Diabetes Association. Mr. Guillama is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Birthing of Giants Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (1997 1999).

Arthur "AJ" Meyer is the newest member of the board. He is the Student Body President at Florida International University in Miami and the Chair of the Florida Students Association. Meyer, a native of Long Island, New York, is pursuing a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Construction Management and plans to continue his academic career with an MBA in International Business. Meyer obtained the rank of Eagle Scout as a junior in high school and has continually furthered himself in leadership roles while attending college. He has served as the Student Government Vice-President (2007-2008), Chair of the Florida Student Association Vice-President Council, past President of FIU's Order of the Torch (Honorary Leadership Society) and currently serves as the Vice President for Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

Through some one hundred and forty works composed for a wide range of performance genres, Orlando Jacinto Garcia has established himself as an important figure in the new music world. The distinctive character of his music has been described as "time suspended- haunting sonic explorations" with "moments of supremely delicate magic" - qualities he developed from his studies with Morton Feldman among others. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1954, Garcia migrated to the United States in 1961 and received his DMA in Music Composition from the University of Miami in 1985. A long list of distinguished soloists, ensembles, and orchestras have presented his music at numerous festivals and recitals in most of the major capitols of the world. Recent premieres of his music include those in Holland, France, Spain, Italy, England, and throughout Latin America, the US, and Canada. In demand as a guest composer and lecturer at national and international festivals, he is the recipient of numerous honors and awards from a variety of organizations and cultural institutions. These include two Fulbright artist/lectureships, the first of which took place in Caracas, Venezuela during 1991-92 where Garcia presented master classes, assisted with the set up and development of the Center for Electro-Acoustic Music and Research at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, completed several new works, and conducted and presented premieres of his music. A second Fulbright, this time a Senior Lectureship was realized in Salamanca, Spain during 1996-97 at the Universidad de Salamanca where he presented a graduate analysis course, composition seminars, completed new works, and presented and conducted his music in Spain and other parts of Europe. Additional recognition for his work has come from the Rockefeller Foundation in the form of a summer residency at their Center in Bellagio, Italy during 1999 where he completed a new composition for the Caracas based Orquesta Sinfonica Simon Bolivar. The orchestra premiered the work as part of the Festival Latinoamericano de Musica held in Venezuela in the fall of 2002 and a recording of the premiere was released on New Albion Records in 2004. Further support from the Rockefeller Foundation includes a visiting artist residency at the American Academy in Rome during the summer of 2000 where he completed a new piece for the Juilliard based Continuum Ensemble. The new work was premiered in the fall of 2000 as part of Continuum's tour of Latin America and subsequently as part of the Sonic Boom Festival in the fall of 2001. Garcia is also a two-time Cintas Foundation Fellowship winner (1994-95 and 1999-2000) both supporting the creation of new works for orchestras, soloists, and ensembles based in the US and abroad. Other recent awards of note include a 2001 State of Florida composer's fellowship, first prize in Mexico's Nuevas Resonancias composition competition for, fragmentos del pasado, premiered by the Latin American String Quartet at the 2001 Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende and again at the Foro de Musica Contemporanea in Mexico City in 2004, and first prize (orchestra music category) in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation (JDAF) 2001 composition competition. As part of the prize Garcia completed a new solo cello work for Maya Beiser who premiered it at the JDAF awards ceremony held in New York in May 2001. In the summer of 2001 his work imagenes sonidos congelados for violin and electronics written for violinist Robert Davidovici was selected as part of the Sonic Circuits competition and in 2003 a new work for piano/disklavier and electronics, written for Kathleen Supove was premiered at New York University. Other recent performances of note include his work Auschwitz (nunca se olvidaran) for orchestra and choir, given its NY premiere October 2003 by the Brooklyn Philharmonic with the Trinity Church Choir, 2004 and 2005 portrait concerts of his music realized in New York City and Amsterdam, Holland by the Electronic...

Edwin Ryan is the head athletic trainer and fitness manager at Florida International University (FIU) Recreation Services. He is completing the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at FIU and has a Masters in Advanced Athletic Training/Exercise Physiology. He holds certifications with the ACSM,Cooper Institute and NSCA, ; a NATA BOC Certified and Licensed Athletic Trainer; an NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, and CHEK Institute practitioner.

Camilla Cochrane is a member of St. Stephen's Church, and as Senior Warden, serves on SSEDS Board of Trustees. She and her husband, Bob Strauss, have lived in Miami since 1988. Camilla is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. She was in private practice, specializing in labor and employment issues; and has taught law and business courses as an adjunct faculty member at FIU and St. Thomas University. Prior to becoming an attorney, Camilla spent fifteen years in public education. She holds a Master of Education Degree in Educational Psychology from Temple University, and also completed advanced course work in this area. Camilla worked for school districts in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as an elementary school classroom teacher and later as a special education teacher of severely-to-moderately mentally handicapped children. She left the classroom to join a federally-funded consulting center in Pennsylvania that provided resources and technical assistance support to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the development of programs for special needs children. After four years in this position, Camilla became the director of a similar center in Florida, working with state education agencies in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Although she eventually left this profession to become an attorney, her interest in and commitment to providing quality education for all children continued. While in law school, Camilla wrote a law review comment that addressed issues concerning educational rights and educational needs of the homeless school-age child.

Carole Boyce Davies is Professor of English and African-New World Studies at Florida International University. Recruited to build the African-New World Studies Program at FIU, she served as its director for nine years, moving the program to international recognition. She has held distinguished professorships at a number of institutions, including the Herskovits Professor of African Studies and Professor of Comparative Literary Studies and African American Studies at Northwestern University. She is author of numerous monographs, edited books, and articles, Black Women, Writing and Identity: Migrations of the Subject (1994), Left of Karl Marx. Claudia Jones, Black/Communist/Woman (2007), Ngambika. Studies of Women in African Literature (1986); Out of the Kumbla. Caribbean Women and Literature (1990); the two-volume Moving Beyond Boundaries (1995), and Decolonizing the Academy: African Diaspora Studies (Africa World Press, 2003). She is co-editor with Isidore Okpewho and Ali Mazrui of The African Diaspora: African Origins and New World Identities (Indiana University Press, 1999) as well as the general editor of a 2-volume The Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora (forthcoming, 2008). Currently, Dr. Boyce Davies is writing a series of personal reflections called Caribbean Spaces. Between the Twilight Zone and the Underground Railroad, dealing with the issue of transnational Caribbean/American black identity, and is preparing an edition of the writings of Claudia Jones, Beyond Containment: Claudia Jones, Activism, Clarity and Vision.

Dr. Walker is Vice Chair of the Monroe County School Board, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Florida School Boards Association. She is Adjunct Professor, Sociology and Anthropology at Florida International University, holds an M.A., A.B.D., and Doctorate in Archaeology from Southern Methodist University, and has over twenty years teaching and field experience in archaeology.

Denise Duhamel's most recent poetry title Two and Two (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005) is the winner of Binghamton University's Milt Kessler Book Award. Other titles include Mille et un Sentiments (Firewheel, 2005), Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (Pittsburgh, 2001) and The Star-Spangled Banner (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999). She co-edited, with Maureen Seaton and David Trinidad, Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry (Soft Skull, 2007). Her poetry is at home in such diverse anthologies as Bum Rush the Page; Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe; and The Best American Poetry. Duhamel has read her work on NPR and as a featured poet on the PBS special Fooling with Words, hosted by Bill Moyers. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, she is an Associate Professor who teaches creative writing at Florida International University in Miami.

Diann Newman has been an educator/administrator at Florida International University since 1975. She has had administrative responsibilities ranging from the Director of Admissions to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies to her current role as Academic advisor for Hospitality Management. Professor Newman also teaches graduate courses for teachers through the Teacher Education Institute. Dr. Newman is a professional speaker and workshop facilitator. She conducts seminars on topics such as self-esteem, and communication skills.

Dr. Ellen G. Cohn, Ph.D., has been a member of the Youth Crime Watch of America Board since 2000. She received her Ph.D. in criminology from the University of Cambridge in 1991 and is an associate professor of criminal justice at Florida International University. Dr. Cohn's research and writing focuses primarily on the effect of weather and temporal variables on criminal behavior and on the use of citation analysis in criminology and she has published extensively in both areas. In addition to her work with Youth Crime Watch, Dr. Cohn is a member of the Steering Committee of the Miami-Dade Police Department's Citizen Volunteer Program.

Felice Lifshitz is Professor of History at Florida International University. She is the author and editor of several books, including The Name of the Saint: The Martyrology of Jerome and Access to the Sacred in Francia (forthcoming from University of Notre Dame Press); Viking Normandy: Dudo of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum (ORB, 1996); and The Norman Conquest of Pious Neustria: Historiographic Discourse and Saintly Relics (684 ? 1090) (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Press, Toronto, 1995). She has written numerous articles on topics related to hagiography, gender, and historiography.

FRANCHESKA CASTRO, (also known as Frenchie) has been an active member of FPFHA for 4 years, but has been around horses since she as three years old. She at this time owns a Paso Fino mare, by the name of La Campana de Guadalupe, which she keeps at Hacienda Guadalupe home of 222. Francheska is currently a riding instructor at Hacienda Guadalupe as well and enjoys teaching all her students as she does riding herself. She is a student at Florida International University, and studying Accounting and Business Administration.

Grace Matthews, a veteran law enforcement officer, has worked for the Metro-Dade Police Department since 1981. One of the first female police firearms instructors in the nation, Grace has served as coordinator and primary instructor in the department's Qualification Enhancement Course, Marksmanship Development Program, and Survival Techniques for Female Officers course.

Humberto Busto is a legal assistant at our law firm. He is a student at Florida International University in Miami. He is a graduate of Belen Jesuit High School in Miami, Florida. He assists the firm with assisting client intake, accident & medical report/bill requests, litigation support. He is fluent in Spanish and plans on attending Law School in 2009. Our firm is always looking for interns and we are currently accepting applications for unpaid internships.

Dr. Isabel Castellanos teaches at Florida International University and is the author of numerous books on AfroCuban issues. She has had a special focus on Lydia Cabrera, the grand dame of AfroCuban studies.

James W. Hall is the author of four books of poetry, The Lady from the Dark Green Hills, Ham Operator, False Statements and The Mating Reflex a collection of short stories, Paper Products, a collection of essays, Hot Damn, and fifteen novels, including Under Cover of Daylight, Tropical Freeze, Bones of Coral, Hard Aground, Mean High Tide, Gone Wild, Buzz Cut, Red Sky at Night, Body Language, Rough Draft, Blackwater Sound, Off the Chart, Forests of the Night, Magic City, and Hell's Bay. His books have been translated into a dozen languages, including Japanese, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Romanian, Croatian, Dutch and Russian. Several of the novels have been optioned for film and Hall has written screenplays for two of those projects. His novels have been Book-of-the-Month and Literary Guild selections . He was a Fulbright professor of literature in Spain and is a professor of literature and writing at Florida International University. He and his wife Evelyn and their three dogs, Carrie, Stella and Maggie, divide their time between South Florida and the mountains of western North Carolina.

Janelly joined the Firm in 2002, working part time while still a student. She is currently in charge of Marketing Coordination and Project Submittals. She holds other responsibilities such as assisting in the preparation of construction document sets, coordination between consultants in addressing comments with the building departments, and overall assistance in the daily activities of the firm. She is also currently a student at Florida International University.

Joe Clifford is currently a second-year student in the M.F.A. program at Florida International University. His work has appeared (or is forthcoming) in the Connecticut Review; Traveling: An Anthology of Award-Winning Poetry; Helix; 3AM; Dos Passos Review; Bathhouse; and Bryant Literary Review. He was the 2004 recipient of the Connecticut Review's Leslie Leeds Poetry Prize, as well as that year's representative on the Connecticut Poetry Circuit. He presently serves as fiction editor of Gulf Stream magazine.

Our Goalkeeper Academy Director is Coach Joe Massi. He has more than 25 years of coaching experience, which includes youth, ODP, high school, college and the professional level, and the USSF A License. He was the Goalkeeper Coach for the Miami Freedom and Fort Lauderdale Strikers (APSL), which includes a National Pro Championship. He was also the Goalkeeper Coach for Miami Fusion (MLS). He is presently the Assistant Coach at Florida International University.

Dr. John Zvijac is a Board-certified orthopedic surgeon at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, specializing in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder, elbow and knee. Dr. Zvijac is a founding partner of UHZ Sports Medicine Institute. He formerly served as a clinical associate professor for the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the School of Medicine and a professor in the Department of Exercise & Sports Sciences at the University of Miami. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Exercise & Sports Sciences and a courtesy professor in athletic training in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Florida International University. Dr. Zvijac has been the head team orthopedic surgeon for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 1998. He is also an assistant team physician for the Florida Panthers and Florida International University. Additionally, he is a medical director and provides medical care for all Miami-Dade County public high school sports programs. Dr. Zvijac has served as chief of surgery and chief of staff at Doctors Hospital. He is a member of multiple professional organizations and societies and is currently the delegate for the state of Florida to the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Dr. Zvijac has written numerous articles and book chapters and has presented on a variety of sports medicine topics worldwide.

Dr. Keith Hechtman is a dual Board-certified orthopedic surgeon at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, specializing in sports medicine and arthroscopy of the shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle. Dr. Hechtman has recently been appointed as a professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the Florida International University School of Medicine. He is a voluntary clinical associate professor for the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation in the School of Medicine and as a clinical adjunct associate professor in the Department of Exercise & Sport Sciences at the University of Miami. Dr. Hechtman is a founding partner of UHZ Sports Medicine Institute, and just completed his term as chief of surgery at Doctors Hospital. He is the head team physician for Florida International University and team physician for the Florida Panthers hockey team. He is a physician and coordinator of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools' sports program for the last 20 years. Dr. Hechtman also serves as a clinical instructor for physician's assistants and athletic trainers at Barry University and Nova Southeastern University. He served as an orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. military's Operation Desert Storm, where he was awarded multiple commendation medals. He was a physician for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Dr. Hechtman is a contributing author for SOBE Fit, a health and fitness magazine. He is an active member of many professional societies and is highly regarded for his numerous publications and presentations about injuries of the throwing athlete and ligamentous injuries to the knee. Currently, he is actively involved in using growth factor treatments for tendon injuries. Dr. Hechtman has been chosen as one of the "Best Doctors in America" multiple times since 2003.

Lesley Northup, Ph.D., is Interim Dean of the Honors College and Associate Professor of Religion and Culture at Florida International University. She holds a doctorate in Historical Theology and an M.Div. in liturgics from Episcopal Divinity School. Author and speaker, Professor Northup specializes in a wide variety of topics including women and theology. She has been a priest for 27 years, and was the first woman Episcopal priest to serve as chaplain in the Navy Reserve. She has been at St. Stephen's since 1993. Visit her Web site at http://lesleynorthup.com.

MANUEL MADRID-ARIS, is an engineer and economist. He is currently an international consultant in the field of business-economics and public policy. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics at Florida International University, Miami - USA. His research interest are in the field of development economics, international economics, economics of regulation and antitrust, public utility economics, and environmental economics. His experience as an international consultant is extensive and includes being a consultant to both governmental agencies in several countries as well as to the private sector at international level. He holds an Civil Engineering degree with specialization in water resources and environmental planning from Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria of Chile. He also holds a Master Degree in Economics and a Doctorate in Political Economy and Public Policy from University of Southern California, Los Angeles - USA.

Marc Resnick is an associate professor at Florida International University in the department of industrial and systems engineering. He received his doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1993. He received his M.S. in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan. During his tenure at FIU, he was graduate program director from 1997 to 2003, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory since 1993, an assistant professor and is currently an associate professor. He has done research for the National Science Foundation, NASA, and private companies in the areas of usability engineering, search user interface design, e-commerce, naturalistic decision making, consumer product labeling, and human reliability. [Ergonomics]

Medellin, Colombia. Our Atelierista has a strong background in the visual arts and academic area. She is a licensed in Fine Arts and holds a Master in Sculpture from The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She has over 10 years of exhibiting her artwork in Colombia and abroad where she has won several prices. She also has been over five years a college professor in areas of visual arts education in different universities of Colombia. She worked at the Museum of American Art for two years and taught in the Fine Arts Department at St. John's University, Minnesota during the year 1999-2001. Maria Adelaida has also attended various Reggio Emilia's workshop around the country. She is an active artist and is often invited as Visiting Artist in different universities. She has taught and lectured at various universities and participates in different early childhood initiatives. Maria Adelaida wears many important hats at The Joy of Learning.

Matt holds a Masters Degree in Music Education from Florida International University and a Bachelors Degree in Jazz Trumpet Performance from Indiana University. Currently Matt is an Associate Professor at Florida International University and works for Yamaha Musical Instruments as a Product Specialist and Trainer.

Mike began studying tiger sharks in Shark Bay in 1997 as his Phd research with Dr. Larry Dill from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Their original goals were to determine the seasonal patterns of tiger shark abundance and determine habitat use. In addition to his tiger shark research, Mike began studying sea turtles and other creatures in Shark Bay in 1999. This work was in conjunction with the National Geographic Crittercan research program. Mike is now located at Florida International University, in their Marine Biology program.

Gregory F. Greene is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Ryder System, Inc., a Fortune 500 global transportation and supply chain management solutions company. In this position, he is responsible for leading the Company's human resources functions, including compensation and benefits, training and development, and strategic initiatives to enhance performance management, succession planning, and cultivate talent for future growth. Additionally, Mr. Greene oversees Ryder's corporate communications functions including employee communications and media relations. Mr. Greene is a member of Ryder's Executive Leadership Team. Prior to this appointment, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development, where he was instrumental in developing Ryder's strategy and long-term business model built upon continuous improvement, process improvements and identifying opportunities for profitable growth. Mr. Greene began his career with Ryder in 1993 as Manager of Executive and International Compensation and was promoted to Director of Human Resources for Ryder's International Division in 1996. He later served as Senior Vice President of Field Human Resources until his appointment to Senior Vice President of Global Talent Management where he led the Company's Global Talent Management organization which implements and coordinates policies and programs encompassing all aspects of recruiting, training and organizational effectiveness. His experience also includes several years in executive and management positions with NationsBank and other banking/financial institutions. Mr. Greene holds a master of business administration degree from Barry University and a bachelor of arts degree in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. He serves on the Board of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Board of Trustees at Barry University.

Octavio's appointment to a presidential committee on education demonstrates his respected national reputation. Previously, he served as Superintendent of Schools in Miami-Dade County, the country's fourth largest school district. His tenure, which began at age 39, was one of the longest and most successful of large-city superintendents in the U.S. Octavio co-founded Chancellor Academies in 1999 and led the merger with Beacon Education Management in December 2001. He currently serves as President of Chancellor Supplemental Educational Services. He received both his B.A. in history and M.Ed. from the University of Miami, and is currently a distinguished lecturer at Florida International University.

A partner with Radiology Associates of South Florida, Dr. Janowitz serves as medical director of nuclear medicine in imaging services at the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute. He has served as an assistant professor of radiology and attending physician at Mount Sinai Medical Center, as an assistant branch head of nuclear medicine at the National Naval Medical Center, and as a squadron medical officer on the U.S.S. Nashville in the U.S. Navy. He is a courtesy professor of biomedical engineering for Florida International University and as a voluntary assistant professor of radiology at the University of Miami 's School of Medicine. Dr. Janowitz has published numerous juried articles, exhibitions, and abstracts and regularly lectures on topics involving cardiovascular diagnosis. He is author of Facing Challenges of the New Millennium and has written or contributed to multiple book chapters, including pieces on detection of left-to-right shunts by inhalation of oxygen-15 labeled carbon dioxide, myocardial imaging with thallium-201, and use of noninvasive tests in the investigation of suspected Budd-Chiari Syndrome. He has authored multiple articles on cardiac CT and was one of the original developers of calcium scoring for early detection of coronary atherosclerosis. Dr. Janowitz completed his undergraduate studies at New York University 's School of Engineering and received an M.D. from New York University 's School of Medicine. He also received a J.D. at the University of Miami 's School of Law , graduating magna cum laude. He completed an internal medicine internship and residency with University of Miami Affiliated Hospitals. Dr. Janowitz also completed a separate residency in nuclear medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital and Mount Sinai Medical Center. He is board certified in nuclear medicine and internal medicine.