About Us

Board of Regents

General Alfred M. Gray, USMC (Ret.), Chairman, Board of Regents; Senior Fellow; and Member, Board of Directors
In 1991, General Alfred Gray retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 41 years of service and joined Garber International Associates (GIA) as a Senior Associate. From 1987 to 1991, General Gray served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps. He served as military advisor to the President, the National Security Council and the Secretary of Defense. General Gray holds a B.S. from the State University of New York. He also attended Lafayette College, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Army War College and did graduate work at Syracuse University. General Gray is the recipient of a Military Science degree from Norwich University and a Doctor of Strategic Intelligence degree from the Defense Intelligence College. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Institute.

Professor Yonah Alexander, Ph.D., Member, Board of Regents, Senior Fellow, and Director, International Center for Terrorism Studies
Professor Yonah Alexander is a Senior Fellow and Director of ICTS at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. In addition to these responsibilities, Professor Alexander is the director of the Terrorism Studies Program at The George Washington University and the Inter-University Terrorism Program. Previously he has held positions teaching at the State University of New York and as a researcher at Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Terrorism: An International Journal and Political Communication and Persuasion: An International Journal.

Vice Admiral Albert J. Baciocco, Jr., USN (Ret.), Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Vice Admiral Albert Baciocco, Jr. graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1953, where he received a Bachelor of Science in engineering and later completed graduate level studies in the field of nuclear engineering as part of his training in the naval nuclear propulsion program. He served as Chief of Naval Research from 1978-1981 and as the Director of Research, Development, and Acquisition from 1983-1987. Upon retirement, he established the Baciocco Group, Inc., a technical and management consulting practice and has since been engaged in a broad range of business and pro bono activities with industry, government, and academe, including memberships on the Naval Studies Board and the Army Science Board. He has also provided his time to serving on the Boards of Directors of several corporations, both public and private. He is a Trustee of the South Carolina Research Authority, and serves as a Director of the Foundation for Research Development at the Medical University of South Carolina. Vice Admiral Baciocco has been designated a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies by the Council of the National Academies of Sciences.

Jeff Baxter, Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Mr. Jeff Baxter currently serves as Chairman of the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense. He has acted in an advisory capacity for Congressmen Curt Weldon and Dana Rohrabacher, both members of the House Science Committee, and has participated in numerous wargames for the Pentagon. Mr. Baxter was invited to serve on the Laser Advisory Board at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and has lectured at the University of Manitoba School of Political Science on the topic of regional conflict and missile defense. He is a world-renowned guitarist and a former member of both Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers.

Dr. Rita R. Colwell, Member, Board of Regents
Dr. Rita Colwell is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is also Chairman and Senior Vice President of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., a subsidiary of Canon, Inc. focused on medical instrumentation. Dr. Colwell served as Director of the National Science Foundation from August 1998 to February 2004 and was the Founding President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute between 1988 and 1998. She holds many honorary degrees from universities and colleges around the world including her alma mater, Purdue University, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Daniel J. Gallington, Esq., Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Mr. Daniel Gallington is a national security and intelligence policy consultant. He leads the Potomac Institute's studies and projects on the dynamics between new technologies, civil liberties and national security; he also writes regularly on national security, foreign policy and other contemporary issues for several newspapers. Between 2001 and 2003, Mr. Gallington served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, while performing the duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and later as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Territorial Security, while performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Limited Insurgency Conflict. Previously, Mr. Gallington served as: Chief Counsel to the National Commission for the Review of the National Reconnaissance Office; bi-partisan General Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; Deputy Counsel for Intelligence Policy at the Department of Justice; Legal Advisor for Intelligence Oversight in the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Executive Director for the Defense Policy Board; and, as the Secretary of Defense Representative and Member of the U.S. Delegation to the Nuclear and Space Talks with the (former) Soviet Union, for eleven rounds of negotiations between 1985 and 1989. A former career Air Force Officer, Mr. Gallington served tours of duty in Europe, Asia, the Pacific and with the former Strategic Air Command. Mr. Gallington received the B.S. and J.D. degrees from the University of Illinois, and the LL.M degree in international law from the University of Michigan Law School. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College.

Rear Admiral John E. (Ted) Gordon, JAGC, USN (Ret.), Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Radm Ted Gordon was Senior Vice President Washington Operations for Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) from 2001 to April 2007. Prior to that he worked for Litton Industries serving as Vice President for Washington Operations. In both positions he was responsible for all company interface with Congress, the Federal Government, and all other customers in the Washington area. Rear Admiral Gordon retired from the U.S. Navy after having served in several senior positions. He was the Judge Advocate General of the Navy from 1990 to 1992. He had previously served as the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy and as the Commander of the Navy Legal Services Command.

Jay Grove, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. Jay Grove is a Vice President of Argon ST, of Fairfax, VA. Appointed in 2006, Mr. Grove provides strategic direction and operational leadership of the San Diego-based, Network Systems Group. The 200 person group is a leader in mobile ad-hoc networking, datalink inter-communication/processing, and related test & training instrumentation. Prior to joining Argon ST, Mr. Grove served as the Vice President of EMS Technologies, Inc., Defense & Space Systems Division, a position he served in from 2001. Prior to joining EMS, Mr. Grove served technical, management, and leadership roles at ViaSat, Inc., Lockheed-Martin Corporation, and TRW, Inc. Mr. Grove holds a BS degree in Electrical Systems Engineering from Wright State University, a MS degree in Engineering from the University of Dayton, and has completed the Georgia Institute of Technology Management Institute and the Stanford University Executive Institute.

Charles Herzfeld, Ph.D. Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
At present, Dr. Charles Herzfeld is a Senior Fellow at the Institute and consults for a number of government, commercial and other not-for-profit organizations. He also consults for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the National Intelligence Council. He was a member of the President's Information Advisory Council (PITAC) National Security Panel.

Robert V. LaPenta, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. Robert LaPenta is one of the co-founders of L-3 Communications. He was President and CFO of L-3 before he left the company to create L-1 Investment Partners, a new company based in Stamford, CT that conducts private investments in the biometrics market. Before his success with L-3 Communications, LaPenta was with Loral Corporation/Lockheed Martin.

Ambassador David C. Miller, Jr., Member, Board of Regents
Ambassador David Miller, Jr. is a private investor and consultant to a number of major U.S. corporations on issues of international business. Ambassador Miller was Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs on the National Security Council (NSC) staff for President George H. W. Bush from 1989-90, and United States Ambassador to Tanzania from 1981 to 1984 and Zimbabwe from 1984 to 1986. His NSC portfolio included Africa, the United Nations, refugees, public diplomacy, counterterrorism, counternarcotics, and low-intensity conflict. Ambassador Miller received his Bachelor's Degree from Harvard University, his JD from the University of Michigan Law School, and an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Lewis and Clark College. Ambassador Miller founded and serves as Chairman of the Special Operations Fund, which provides scholarships for children and widows of deceased members of special mission military units. He is also a member of the boards of the Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American Ambassadors, and the District of Columbia Bar.

A. Alan Moghissi, Ph.D., Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Dr. Alan Moghissi is the Chair of the Risk Analysis Center and a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. He also serves as co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal, Technology, which the Potomac Institute edits in cooperation with the Institute for Regulatory Science. After more than two decades of federal service at the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Moghissi formed the Institute for Regulatory Science (RSI) in early 1985. While at the EPA, he held a number of positions including that of Principal Science Advisor for Radiation and Hazardous Materials. In addition, he served as the Director of the Bioenvironmental/Radiological Research Division and Manager of the Health and Environmental Risk Analysis Program. Later on, Dr. Moghissi joined the University of Maryland Baltimore as Assistant Vice President, and Temple University in Philadelphia as Associate Vice President. At both universities, his portfolio included operational aspects of environmental health and safety. Dr. Moghissi’s research has dealt not only with his primary area of education which includes biological and environmental kinetics, but increasingly with the development and implementation of the concept of Best Available Science (BAS) in societal (including regulatory) decisions. Dr. Moghissi has written over 400 papers including several books, and has edited a number of scientific journals. He received his training in Zurich, Switzerland and Karlsruhe, Germany where he received a doctorate degree in physical chemistry.

Gordon Oehler, Ph.D., Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Dr. Gordon Oehler received both a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a 1981 graduate of the National War College. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Oehler worked for a small firm in upper New York where he designed instrumentation for metallurgical applications. He subsequently joined the CIA in 1972 and served in a variety of analytical and managerial positions involving weapons systems and foreign policy analysis. Included in these assignments were the Chief of the Technology Transfer Assessment Center (responsible for impeding the flow of Western technology into Soviet weapons programs) and the Director of the Office of Scientific and Weapons Research (responsible for all analysis and reporting relating to foreign weapon systems and technology developments). In May 1992, Dr. Oehler was appointed the Director of the Nonproliferation Center. In this capacity, he was the senior Intelligence Community spokesman on proliferation issues. After leaving the CIA in October 1997, he served as corporate vice president for corporate development at Science Applications International Corporation. Subsequent to that, he was a deputy staff director for the president’s WMD commission that examined the intelligence failures leading up to the second Gulf war. The commission made seventy-three recommendations to improve intelligence capabilities—most of which have been adopted. He currently serves on a senior policy advisory board for the Department of State and is a working group chairman for the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

Joseph Paresi, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. Joseph Paresi is Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of L-1 Identity Solutions and is a partner of L-1 Investment Partners. Mr. Paresi brings three decades of executive management, product development, and design engineering experience in the technology and defense industries to his role within the firm. Prior to joining L-1 Investment Partners, he served as corporate vice president of product development for L-3 Communications and as president of L-3 Security & Detection Systems from 1997 to 2005. During his tenure, Mr. Paresi was responsible for founding the company’s Security Systems division, which grew to $300 million in annual revenues and 1,000 employees. His group was responsible for developing many advanced products for the Homeland Security sector, including the eXaminer 3DX 6000 TSA Certified Explosive Detection System product. Today the product is an integral post-9/11 EDS system for U.S. airports with more than 600 units installed worldwide. Prior to L-3 Communications, Mr. Paresi served as corporate director of technology at the C4ISR Group of Lockheed Martin from 1996 to 1997, and served in the same capacity at Loral Corporation from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Paresi spent over 16 years prior at Loral Electronic Systems as a senior design engineer, director of marketing and director of programs.

Howard K. Schue, Ex-Officio Member, Board of Regents and Member, Board of Directors
Mr. Howard Schue is a Partner and Executive Vice President of Technology Strategies and Alliances Corporation specializing in line and marketing management, new business development, and strategic planning in the aerospace/defense and the command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I) industries. Mr. Schue served on the 1993 Defense Science Board Summer Study on Global Surveillance and on the 1994 Summer Study on Information Architecture for the Battlefield. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, the National Military Intelligence Association, the American Society of Military Comptrollers, the Air Force Association, the Association of Old Crows, the Reserve Officers Association, the Air War College Alumni Association, the Planetary Society, the West Point Association of Graduates, and the Army Athletic Association.

George A. Spix, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. George Spix is the Chief Architect in the Consumer Platforms Division of the Microsoft Corporation.  He also serves on the board of the Digital Audio Video Council (DAVIC), the Information Infrastructure Standards Panel (IISP), the Commerce Department’s Computer Systems’ Security and Privacy Advisory Board (CSSPAB), and a National Research Council (NRC) study focused on trusted computing systems.  Before coming to Microsoft, Mr. Spix spent five years as Director of Systems and Software Development at Supercomputer Systems Inc. where he was responsible for the delivery of systems and software products for a next generation supercomputer. Prior to that, he worked for Cray Research Inc., as a Chief Engineer, responsible for systems and software development for the XMP and YMP line of supercomputers.

Gene T. Sykes, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. Gene Sykes is a partner in the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs and Company. He is responsible for the Far West Region of the Mergers and Acquisitions Department, and is in charge of the firm's mergers and acquisitions efforts with health care, aerospace, and technology companies. He joined the Mergers and Acquisitions Department in New York in 1984 and moved to Los Angeles in 1987. He became a partner in 1992. He is active in fundraising for the Harvard College Fund and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Sykes received his M.B.A. from Stanford in 1984 and his B.A. from Harvard in 1980.

Board of Regents Emeritus