Institute for Defense Analyses

Dr. David Finkleman is a leading authority on military space systems and strategic defense resources, serves as CSSI's senior scientist. In this capacity, he evaluates and designs orbit estimation and space system simulation techniques while expanding the use of standards in space research. Before coming to CSSI, Finkleman was a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and served as Director of Analysis and Chief Technical Officer for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, CO. He led U.S. and Canadian personnel responsible for all analytical and technical matters regarding U.S. military satellite systems; space surveillance; ballistic missile warning and defense; and all North American aerospace sovereignty and control capabilities. Finkleman is also currently affiliated with the Institute for Defense Analyses and SkySentry, LLC.

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Mr. George G. London Jr., a native of Wilmington, North Carolina and a graduate of Williston Senior High School, had a varied and illustrious career. Following high school graduation, he enlisted for four years in the Air Force in 1965 and served in communications intelligence. He then attended North Carolina A&T State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. London entered the Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training program in June 1973 at Webb AFB, Texas and remained there following graduation as a T-38 instructor pilot. When Webb AFB closed in 1977, he was reassigned to McGuire AFB, New Jersey as a C-141 pilot, instructor pilot, and command post duty officer. He entered an aeronautical engineering program at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio in 1981 and graduated with a Master of Science degree specializing in structural dynamics, structural materials, and structural analysis. His directed duty assignment was to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson as a project manager for a short period before attending the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. He graduated from Test Pilot School in June 1984 becoming one of what are now 14 black graduates (out of 2,400) in the schools 50-year history. Reassigned as a test pilot to the 4952nd Test Squadron, he flew various models of the C-135 and C-18 aircraft. He was a test pilot on the first flight of the EC-18B and participated in all aspects of the flight test program. During the summer of 1988, he returned to the USAF Test Pilot School as an academic instructor, flight instructor, and Chief of the Administration Section. Mr. London taught the engine-out theory and aeroelasticity graduate level engineering academic courses and taught flight-test techniques in the NKC-135 and T-38 aircraft. Research indicates Mr. London was the first black test pilot instructor at the school. In June 1990, he was assigned to the C-17 Combined Test Force at Edwards and on September 15, 1991 flew as co-pilot on the first flight of the C-17, the Air Force's newest airlifter. Research indicates Mr. London was the first black American to fly the first flight on a new military aircraft. He subsequently became Commander of the 417th Test Squadron that was responsible for executing the C-17 test program. He was assigned, from September 1993 to July 1996, to the Air Force Headquarters, Pentagon, in the Test and Evaluation Directorate as the Deputy Director, Test Resources Division responsible for the Air Force's Test and Evaluation budget and other T&E infrastructure related issues. Subsequently, he was reassigned as the Deputy Director for the Joint Program Office for Test and Evaluation, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Since his retirement from the Air Force in November 1998, Mr. London has worked as a Senior Engineer Consultant with TRW and as an Adjunct/Permanent Research Staff Member with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). He works with the scouting program and volunteers in numerous activities within his community and church. He also, on a volunteer basis, teaches courses on understanding and building computers, understanding and designing networks, and some courses in Microsoft Office products. Mr. London is currently a full time teacher (Introduction to Computers, Introduction to Networks, Cisco Certified Network Associates Course, Honors Algebra, and Honors Physics) at Bishop McNamara High School. His significant accomplishments and awards include being a ROTC distinguished graduate, flying over 40 different types of aircraft, and the 1991 recipient of the General Bobby Bond Memorial Aviator Award. This award is presented yearly to the Air Force Materiel Command's top aviator.

Mr. Elliott was appointed Lead Director of Checkpoint Systems, Inc. in August 2002. He served as Chairman of the Board of Checkpoint from May 2002 to August 2002. Mr. Elliott is the retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hercules Inc. From 1991 to April 2000, he served Hercules as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; President and Chief Operating Officer; President and Chief Executive Officer; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Chairman of the Board of Directors. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Wilmington Trust Company, and the Institute for Defense Analyses.

Dr. Robert (Bob) Jacobs is widely recognized for his accomplishments in military simulation research and development. In a current assignment with the Institute for Defense Analyses, Bob is responsible for the conceptual design of the Army's next generation training capability as operational architect for the FCS embedded training system. Bob previously led the development team for the DARPA/Army SIMNET distributed simulation program while heading the Training and Simulation Division of Perceptronics Inc. SIMNET program accomplish-ments included low-cost image generation techniques, efficient simulator networking technology, economical simulator design strategies, and effective methods for employment of distributed collective simulation systems for both training and supporting combat and engineering experimentation. He later applied these technologies at Illusion, Inc. to develop an industry-leading commercial product line of networked large-scale race car simulators. Bob received his BSE degree in Systems Engineering from UCLA, his MS degree in Management Science (Operations Research) from USC, and his Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology from the University of Illinois.

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Dr. Mesirov is chief informatics officer of the Broad Institute where she directs the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Organization. She is also adjunct professor of bioinformatics at Boston University. Dr. Mesirov is a computational scientist who has spent many years working in the area of high-performance computing on problems that arise in science, engineering and business applications. Her current research interest is computational biology with a focus on algorithms and analytic methodologies for pattern recognition and discovery with applications to cancer genomics, genome analysis and interpretation, and comparative genomics. In addition, Mesirov is committed to the development of practical, accessible software tools to bring these methods to the general biomedical research community. In 1997, Dr. Mesirov came to the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research, now part of the Broad Institute, from IBM, where she was manager of computational biology and bioinformatics in the Healthcare/Pharmaceutical Solutions Organization. Before joining IBM in 1995, she was director of research at Thinking Machines Corporation for 10 years. She has also held positions in the mathematics department at the University of California at Berkeley, the Institute for Defense Analyses' Center for Communications Research in Princeton, and as associate executive director of the American Mathematical Society. Dr. Mesirov is a trustee of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a member of review committees for the Department of Energy's Argonne, Livermore, and Los Alamos National Laboratories, the Board of Directors of the International Society of Computational Biology (ISCB), and the National Research Council's Board of Mathematical Sciences and its Applications. She has also served as a member of the Biology and Environmental Research Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy, president of the Association for Women in Mathematics, trustee of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, trustee of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, and chair of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and serves on numerous academic and corporate scientific advisory and journal editorial boards. Dr. Mesirov received her A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania in mathematics and Ph.D. in mathematics from Brandeis University.

Biographical Info: I graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a degree in mathematics and worked for Westinghouse Electric for several years before attending graduate school. I have an MBA from Duquesne University. I met my husband, Elliott, at Carnegie-Mellon and we were married in 1970. Our first home was at the Bryn Mawr Apartments with several other Peabody grads as neighbors, and our second Pittsburgh home was on Kelly Avenue in Wilkensburg. Again, Peabody grads were our neighbors. We moved to Northern Virginia in 1974 and have lived in Annandale since 1978. Elliot is a research staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses and I am a tax specialist and Senior Business Analyst for Aiken and Company, a CPA firm. I am also the manager of the Fairfax office of ValutionOne, LLC. We are again fortunate to have Peabody grads as good friends. My best friend, Karen Weiss Kaufman, was a 1969 Peabody grad and my brother Ken Wiseman and his family live nearby in Chevy Chase, MD. Both of our daughters graduated from the University of Virginia. Elena and her family live in Falls Church, VA. Elena is a CPA and is the controller and acting CFO for the American College of Radiology. Her husband is a technical recruiter and they have given us a terrific granddaughter, Mackensie. Our daughter Rachel, is a PhD candidate in business economics at Harvard University. Elliott and I are looking forward to downsizing to a condo in the fall of 2006. We still enjoy playing bridge and antiquing.