Biographies
University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken
"Welcome and Introductory Remarks"
James B. ("J.B.") Milliken is president of the University of Nebraska, a position he has held since August 2004. He also holds faculty appointments in the College of Law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He previously served as senior vice president for the 16-campus University of North Carolina. Prior to joining UNC, Milliken was vice president of the University of Nebraska.
Milliken is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned his law degree from New York University, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar. He practiced law on Wall Street before joining the University of Nebraska in 1988. He has also worked in Washington as legislative assistant to Congresswoman Virginia Smith.
Milliken serves on the board of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and as a co-chair of the Council on Competitiveness' Regional Innovation Initiative Leadership Steering Committee. He also serves on the board of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce and the Nebraska "Dream It, Do It" workforce initiative. He co-chairs the Nebraska P-16 program and is a member of the Governor's Education Leadership Council, the Board of Academic Advisors of the Omaha-based Building Bright Futures scholarship initiative and the NASULGC Commission on On-line Learning. Milliken is vice chairman of Bio Nebraska and a member of the U.S. Strategic Command Consultation Committee and the Business Higher Education Forum. Milliken and his wife, Nana Smith, live with their three children in Lincoln.
Honorable Dave Heineman, Governor, State of Nebraska
"Opening Remarks"
Governor Dave Heineman was sworn-in as Nebraska’s 39th Governor on Friday, January 21, 2005, when Governor Mike Johanns became the Secretary of Agriculture. Governor Heineman was elected to his first full term on November 7, 2006 by the largest margin in recent history. In May of 2006, he overcame a forty point deficit to win an historic primary. Prior to becoming Governor, he served more than three years as Lieutenant Governor and nearly seven years as State Treasurer.
Governor Heineman’s vision for Nebraska is based on four priorities: education, economic vitality, efficiency in government, and protecting families.
Since becoming Governor, he has worked with the Nebraska Legislature to pass the largest tax relief package in the history of the state and the most comprehensive jobs creation, economic incentive legislation since the 1980s. Governor Heineman has also signed into law a bill making the Department of Health and Human Services more efficient, more effective and more accountable.
Governor Heineman is a strong proponent of local control of schools and a quality education for all children. He supports high academic standards and increased parental involvement in education.
A leader for Nebraska’s agricultural industry, Governor Heineman has secured a $400 million trade agreement with Taiwan for Nebraska wheat, soybeans and corn. He also signed two $30 million trade agreements with Cuba for Nebraska wheat, soybeans, dry beans, pork and beef. Additionally, under his watch, Nebraska has also opened its first-ever international trade office abroad, The Nebraska Center in Tokyo, Japan. Governor Heineman also served as Chairman of the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition in 2007.
Heineman was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2002 and as Lieutenant Governor, he served as Nebraska's director of Homeland Security, chairman of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission (NITC), and the presiding officer of the Nebraska Legislature. As chairman of the NITC, he worked with the University of Nebraska to create a statewide telecommunications backbone, for use by both the university and state government, to reduce costs, expand services and enhance distance learning opportunities. As the state's Homeland Security director, he led Nebraska into the national spotlight helping the state be recognized for its innovative approaches to homeland security.
Governor Heineman was first elected to a statewide office in 1994, as the Nebraska State Treasurer. He was re-elected to that post in 1998. As Treasurer, he implemented the Nebraska College Savings Plan, which has been recognized as one of the best college savings programs in the country.
The Governor is a native Nebraskan. He was born in Falls City and grew up in Fairbury, McCook, Benkelman and Wahoo, where he graduated from high school. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1970 and served five years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of captain. He is also a graduate of the Army's Airborne and Ranger Schools.
The Governor previously served as Chief of Staff for former Congressman Hal Daub and the Fremont Area Office Manager for former Congressman Doug Bereuter. Governor Heineman served on the Fremont City Council from 1990 – 1994.
Governor Heineman’s wife of thirty-one years, Sally Ganem, is a former elementary school principal and teacher. Sally is a graduate of Omaha South High School and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. They have one son, Sam, who recently graduated from Midland Lutheran College in Fremont.
Stan Lapidus, Chairman and Founder of Helicos Biosciences Corporation and
Managing Director, LapidX Associates
"Coming Up with Ideas"
Stan Lapidus is an experienced life-science entrepreneur. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from public and private investors to fund his start-up companies. The aggregate value of the companies he has founded is in excess of $6 billion.
Mr. Lapidus currently serves as Chairman of Helicos BioSciences Corp. (NASDAQ:HLCS), a company which he co-founded in 2003, and Managing Director of LapidX Associates, an investment firm he founded in 2008. Helicos has developed and is marketing the world’s first system capable of directly sequencing billions of individual strands of DNA in a single run. Helicos believes that massively-parallel high-throughput, direct sequencing of DNA will revolutionize research, treatment and diagnosis of important diseases like cancer and diabetes.
In 1995 he founded EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAS), an applied genomics company that has developed non-invasive, DNA-based methods for early detection of colorectal cancer. He served as CEO through 2001 and then as chairman and as a board member through 2006.
In 1987, Mr. Lapidus founded Cytyc Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTC—now merged with Hologic) and served as President through 1994. Cytyc has revolutionized screening for cervical cancer by providing a more accurate and easier to use method to prepare and interpret Pap smears.
In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Mr. Lapidus holds academic appointments in the Pathology Department at Tufts University Medical School and at MIT's Sloan School of Management. At Tufts, he conducted research into quantitative cytology. At MIT, he is a founding faculty member of the joint Harvard/MIT Biomedical Enterprise Program—a dual masters degree program focused on training the next generation of biomedical business leaders.
He graduated with a BSEE degree from The Cooper Union in New York City. He has served as a trustee of The Cooper Union since 2002.
Mr. Lapidus holds 30 issued US patents.
Nancee Berger, President, West Corporation
"Building a Business on Innovative People"
Nancee Shannon Berger is President and Chief Operating Officer of West Corporation. She is responsible for the corporation’s operations and growth.
West Corporation is a leading provider of outsourced communications solutions to many of the world’s largest companies, organizations and government agencies. West helps its clients communicate effectively, maximize the value of their customer relationships and drive greater profitability from every interaction. The Company’s integrated suite of customized solutions includes customer care, sales, 911 services, and accounts receivable management services. West, known as the brand InterCall, is also the world’s largest conferencing provider. West Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Omaha. West has a team of 28,000 employees based in North America, Europe and Asia.
Berger joined West in 1989 and was part of the team that built the largest automated voice response company in the country. She was promoted to her current position in September 1998.
She came to West Interactive from Applied Communications, Inc. a major banking software provider. Before joining ACI, Berger was employed as a Marketing Representative with the IBM Corporation.
Berger graduated in 1982 from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She is married and has three children.
Doug Rath, Chairman, Talent Plus
"Recognizing, Recruiting, and Growing Innovative People"
Doug Rath began the development of structured interview technology in 1966 with Dr. William E. Hall, co-founder of Talent Plus. In addition to his role as chairman, Rath has led the team of analysts, consultants, researchers, recruiters and seminar leaders for Talent Plus clients. He is known across the U.S. and the United Kingdom as a skilled business consultant, seminar leader and teacher.
Rath graduated from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 1972 with a Master of Arts degree in educational psychology. Upon graduation, Rath joined Dr. Hall to develop and implement one of the most advanced selection, recruitment and coaching systems available today. This system is based on years of study and analysis of various psychological “life themes” that determine the success an individual is likely to have in specific endeavors. Talent Plus uses this scientific approach today for all clients – identifying a company’s best employees and creating a benchmark that allows companies to select candidates with the potential to be among their best performers.
Throughout his career, Rath has served on several corporate and community boards of directors. He currently sits on the board of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (Chicago, Ill.).
Rath was with The Gallup Organization for 17 years as primary executive and board member, leading initiatives in North America and Europe in the psychology movement and the development of numerous validated selection instruments.
He is married to Kimberly Rath, Talent Plus’ managing director and president. They have four children, Tom, Makenzie, Austin and Kramer.
Henry Blount, Head of EPSCoR program, National Science Foundation
"Are We There Yet?"
Henry Blount directs the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR is a program designed to fulfill the NSF’s mandate to promote scientific progress nationwide. The EPSCoR program directs its resources at those states that have historically received lesser amounts of NSF Research and Development (R&D) funding. Through this program, NSF establishes partnerships with government, higher education and industry that are designed to effect lasting improvements in a state’s or region’s research infrastructure, R&D capacity and hence, its national R&D competitiveness.
Prior to being named Head of the EPSCoR Office, Blount served as Head of the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in NSF’s Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and in numerous other leadership positions during his twenty-five year career at the Foundation. He received the B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina and the Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia. He was a Research Associate and Teaching Fellow in Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to joining NSF, Blount was a member of the faculty of the University of Delaware. In 1984, he moved from his position as Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Chemistry at the University of Delaware to the Foundation as Program Director for Chemical Analysis. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Tim Fitzsimmons, Materials Science and Engineering Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences
Tim Fitzsimmons joined the Materials and Engineering Physics Team, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy in 1995. His responsibilities have included the EPSCOR program, 2008-present; Synthesis and Processing Science Core Research Activity, 2004-2008; and, the former Engineering Physics Core Research Activity (CRA) 2002-2007. His previous experience with DOE includes one year with the Laboratory Technology Research program managing cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) in materials and process science and three years with the Department’s Office of Program Analysis leading independent program reviews of DOE sponsored research. He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a M.S. in Materials Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. from Purdue Universityin Materials Science and Engineering. He completed a one year AAAS Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship under the sponsorship of the American Welding Society and ASM International in October, 2000. He served his fellowship on the staff of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and provided staff support to the Science and Technology Caucus, a bipartisan group of Senators interested in promoting understanding of scientific and technological issues. He is a former chair of the Washington, DC Chapter of ASM-International and is also active in MRS, AWS, and APS.
Senator Mike Flood, Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature
"The Role of State Government to Develop the State's Innovation Capacity"
Speaker Mike Flood is a lifelong native of Norfolk. A Norfolk Catholic High School graduate, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1997, and the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2001. In 2000, he started US 92 Radio in Norfolk. He is a member of the law firm of Jewell, Collins, DeLay and Flood. In 2004, he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature, serving Madison County. In January 2007, he was elected Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, and currently serves as the youngest Speaker in the United States.
Senator Rod Jetton, Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives
"The Role of State Government to Develop the State's Innovation Capacity"
Representative Rod Jetton, a Republican, represents Bollinger, Madison and Wayne Counties (District 156) in the Missouri House of Representatives. Rod was elected to his first term in 2000. In his second term, Rod was elected Speaker Pro Tem of the Missouri House. As Speaker Pro Tem, Rod worked with his fellow legislators to bring accountability and credibility back to Missouri government. On January 5, 2005, Rod Jetton was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 93rd Session.
Rod focuses his legislative efforts on his continued commitment to quality education, fiscal responsibility, traditional family values, and protecting Missouri jobs. Another focus for Rod has been improving accountability of state transportation funds. In order to draw attention to his cause, he walked 255 miles of highway from his home in Marble Hill to Jefferson City in 2001. Rod used the trip to discuss the necessity of ensuring transportation money is spent wisely and accurately accounted for Rod recently finished a statewide tour for Agriculture in 2006. His purpose was to learn and promote the diversity and success of Missouri’s number one industry as well as bring greater attention to Agriculture.
In 1996, Rod was elected to the Bollinger County Commission. He became the youngest County Commissioner in the state at that time. The Bollinger County Chamber of Commerce gave Rod the "One Year VIP Business Achievement Award" in 1998 for his leadership and service to the community.
In 2003, he received the “Lewis and Clark Statesman Award” from the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association and the “Spirit of Enterprise” award from the Missouri Chamber of Commerce for his efforts to protect and promote Missouri businesses.
Rod is a member of the Harmony Congregation Church, Chamber of Commerce, Optimist Club, Christian Coalition, VFW Post 5900, Farm Bureau, National Rifle Association, and National Federation of Independent Business.
A 1986 graduate of Charleston High School, Rod went on to graduate from Southwest Baptist University with a B.A. in Political Science and History. Shortly after graduation, he joined the Marine Corp and served four years as an Infantry Officer. He was active in operations in both Bosnia and Somalia.
Rod, his wife Cassie, and their three children – Callie, Elaine, and Will – reside in Marble Hill.
