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Governor Terry Branstad served four consecutive four-year terms as the chief executive of the state of Iowa. He completed his term of office in January of 1999. In 1989, he served as chairman of the National Governors Association and led the historic Education Summit in Charlottesville, VA. Branstad was chairman of the Republican Governors Association (1997), and the Education Commission of the States (1998). Governor Branstad has also had careers as a farmer and as an attorney./p>
Adela Acosta is principal of the Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Prince George’s County, MD. From 1978 to 1989, Acosta was a senior program specialist at the U.S. Department of Justice where she dealt with multicultural and desegregation issues in schools. For the past decade, Acosta has worked as a teacher, assistant principal and principal.
Steve Bartlett is president of the Financial Services Roundtable. He served as mayor of Dallas, TX, from 1991 to 1995 and, from 1983 to 1991, as a representative to the U.S. Congress. As ranking member of the Subcommittee on Select Education, he provided leadership on disability matters and many other education issues.
William Berdine, Ed.D., is a professor of special education and chair of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling in the University of Kentucky College of Education. He also serves as the president of the Higher Education Consortium for Special Education.
Paula Butterfield, Ph.D., is the chief academic officer and deputy superintendent of Pittsburgh, PA, Public Schools. Prior to serving in Pittsburgh, Butterfield was a superintendent for 10 years in Mercer Island, WA, and Bozeman, MT. Butterfield began her career in education as a social studies teacher, a reading specialist and special education teacher. She was named Montana Superintendent of the Year in 1998.
Jay Chambers, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow and director in the education program at the American Institute for Research, where he oversees projects on the economics of education and school finance. He also serves as president-elect of the American Education Finance Association and director of the National Special Education Expenditure Project.
Alan Coulter, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies and the School of Allied Health Professions at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. A psychologist by training, he is also the program director for interdisciplinary training and school-age programs at the Human Development Center. He was president of the National Association of School Psychologists in 1983-84 and received its award for child advocacy.
Floyd Flake, D.Min., is the pastor of Allen A.M.E. Church in Jamaica, NY, and president of Edison Charter Schools. Flake serves as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Social and Economic Policy and as a columnist for the New York Post. He is a member of the board of directors of the Fannie Mae Foundation. Between 1987 and 1997, he served as a Representative to the U.S. Congress.
Thomas Fleming is special assistant to the provost at Eastern Michigan University. A preacher and educator, Fleming was selected as the Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1991 and was the National Teacher of the Year in 1992.
Jack Fletcher, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and associate director of the Center for Academic and Reading Skills at the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center. A child neuropsychologist by training, Fletcher has researched many aspects of development of reading, language and other cognitive skills in children with disabilities over the past 20 years.
Doug Gill, Ph.D., has served as the Washington state director of special education since 1990. During the past 30 years, he has been a special education teacher at the elementary and secondary school levels. He was also an instructor at Georgia Southern University and the University of Georgia. Prior to 1990, Gill was director of the Pierce County, WA, Cooperative, an award-winning model that demonstrated improved post-school outcomes for special education students enrolled in vocational education programs.
David Gordon, Ph.D., is the superintendent of the Elk Grove, CA, Unified School District. He has also worked as a special education teacher and served with the California Department of Education.
Nancy Grasmick, Ph.D., a special education teacher and principal, is Maryland’s state superintendent of schools. Grasmick worked as supervisor of special education for the Baltimore County Public Schools for six years and later as assistant and associate superintendent. Grasmick received the 2000 Outstanding Advocate Award from the National Association of School Psychologists and the President's Award from the National Association of Private Schools for Exceptional Children. In 2000, she was awarded the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education.
Stephen Hammerman is vice chairman of the board of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Hammerman serves on the boards of the National Organization for Disability and the National Center on Disability Services. He has also served as a director of the New York Stock Exchange, chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers board of governors and director of the Securities Investors Protection Corporation.
Bryan Hassel, Ph.D., is president of Public Impact, an education policy consulting firm in Charlotte, NC. Hassel conducts research and consults nationally on charter schools, the comprehensive reform of public schools and special education.
Douglas Huntt, Ph.D., is a commissioner for the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission and is the executive director for Assistive Technology of Ohio. From 1991 to 1997, Huntt chaired the Ohio Governor's Council on People with Disabilities.
Michael Rivas is the owner of MJR Group in San Antonio, TX, a design, consulting and construction management company. He is the parent of an autistic child.
Cheryl Takemoto is the executive director of the Parent Education Advocacy Training Center in Springfield, VA. She is the parent of a child with a visual impairment, cognitive disabilities and other health needs.
Katie Wright, Ed.D., is a writer for the St. Louis ARGUS Newspaper in St. Louis, MO. She has worked as an elementary school and special education teacher, a director of special education, a learning specialist at St. Louis University, and an interim and assistant superintendent of schools in Illinois District 189. She also holds the National Council of Negro Women Illinois and National Black Women Leadership Awards.
Beth Ann Bryan is senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Bryan served as education policy director for then Texas Governor George W. Bush during the first year of his administration in 1995. Thereafter, she was an advisor to the Governor's Business Council and was a key leader in the Governor’s Reading Initiative. She also served as program director for the First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas. From 1985 until 1989, she served as city council member and mayor pro tem for the City of West University Place, TX.
Wade Horn, Ph.D., is the assistant secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Previously he was president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. From 1989-1993, Horn was the commissioner for Children, Youth and Families and chief of the Children’s Bureau in HHS. He also served on the National Commission on Children, 1990-1993, and the National Commission on Childhood Disability, 1994-1995.
G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D., is a research psychologist and the chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. Before joining NIH on a full-time basis in l991, Lyon served on the faculties of Northwestern University (1980-83) and the University of Vermont (1983-91). He has taught children with learning disabilities, worked as a third grade classroom teacher and served as a school psychologist for 12 years in the public schools. Lyon has authored, co-authored and edited over 100 journal articles, books and book chapters addressing learning differences and disabilities in children. He also serves as an advisor to President Bush on child development and education research and policies.
Robert Pasternack, Ph.D., is the assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education. Previously, he was state director of special education for the New Mexico State Department of Education. He has worked with students with disabilities and their families for more than 25 years.
Ed Sontag, Ph.D., is assistant secretary for Administration and Management at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, he served as the HHS deputy chief of staff for Management and Operations. Prior to joining HHS, Sontag was an advisor to Wisconsin Governor Tommy G. Thompson.
C. Todd Jones serves as executive director of the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. He also serves as deputy assistant secretary for enforcement in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Prior to joining the administration, Jones was the first president of the National Education Knowledge Industry Association. Previously, he was a staff attorney for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. During that period, he was the chief Republican staff negotiator for House and Senate Members on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997.
Troy Justesen, Ed.D. serves as deputy executive director of the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education. Previously, he served as a policy analyst in the director’s office of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. In the mid-1990s, Justesen worked at the U.S. Department of Justice on enforcement issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. He has also served at the Utah State University-University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service.
Linda Emery is senior policy advisor for the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education. Prior to this appointment, President Bush appointed Emery to be special assistant to the assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. She has also worked as a budget analyst at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget. In both the Reagan and Bush administrations, Emery worked as deputy director for Congressional Affairs for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Previously, she served as a legislative assistant to Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles. Emery began her career as a special education teacher.
Kathleen Blomquist serves as the Commission’s director of media relations. Prior to joining the staff, Blomquist worked as director of advance for the Schundler for Governor campaign in New Jersey. Previously, Blomquist was a lead press advance representative for Bush-Cheney 2000. Prior to the presidential campaign, Blomquist was a member of Burson-Marsteller’s New York public affairs practice. She also worked as a writer for the U.S. Army public affairs office in Giessen, Germany, and for the National Review.
Marissa Muñoz is the confidential assistant to the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education. Previously, Muñoz was employed in the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House where she assisted in the appointments’ process of boards and commissions. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, Muñoz worked on George W. Bush’s Presidential campaign and as a staff member in former Governor Bush’s office of Constituent Services.
Sambia Shivers-Barclay serves as the special assistant to the executive director of the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. She has worked on the staff at Gallaudet University. She has also served as program analyst/interpreter for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.
The Commission wishes to specifically acknowledge the technical assistance of Tracy R. Justesen in legal and content research during the development of this report. We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, for detailing Justesen to provide this valuable assistance.
This page last modified?September 17, 2002 (gpr).