About Us

• About Us • Board of Directors • Staff • GSA Schedule • Credentials • Areas of Expertise • Site Map•

Board of Regents

General Alfred M. Gray, USMC (Ret.), Chairman, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
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, Member, Board of Regents, Senior Fellow, and Director, International Center for Terrorism Studies
Professor Yonah Alexander is a Senior Fellow and Director of The Center for Counter Terrorism Studies 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 Baciocco 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. 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. 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
Daniel Gallington is a Consultant and Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. In the past, he led the Institute's studies and projects related to the dynamics between technology, privacy and national security. Mr. Gallington served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Territorial Security in the Office of the Secretary of Defense while also serving as Special Assistant for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism to the Undersecretary Defense for Policy, among other positions, and was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. He was Chief Counsel to the National Commission for the Review of the National Reconnaissance Office, 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, as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Nuclear and Space Talks with the (former) Soviet Union. A former Air Force Officer, Mr. Gallington served tours in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and with the Startegic Air Command. Mr. Gallington received B.S. and J.D. degrees from the University of Illinois, and an LL.M degree in international law from the University of Michigan Law School.

Mr. Jay Grove, Member, Board of Regents
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. Herzfeld is a Senior Fellow at the Institute and consults for a number of government, commercial and other "not for profit" organizations. Among these is the Los Alamos National Laboratory; Arete, Inc. of Sherman Oaks, CA, Digital Systems International, Arlington, VA., the Sandia National Laboratory, Applied Minds Corporation of Glendale CA, and the Northrop-Grumman Corporation. In this capacity, he focuses on helping clients with business problems associated with the effective use of technology in their markets. He also consults for the Defense Advanced Research Agency, and the National Intelligence Council. He was a member of the President's Information Advisory Council (PITAC) National Security Panel.

Mr. Robert V. LaPenta, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. 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 that will conduct private investments in the biometrics market. Before his success with L-3 Communications, LaPenta was with Loral Corporation/Lockheed Martin. His acquisitions expertise at L-3 may provide a good fit for investing in biometrics. L-1 is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Ambassador David C. Miller, Jr., Member, Board of Regents
Ambassador David Miller 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.

Gordon Oehler, Ph.D., Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow
Dr. Gordon Oehler retired from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on October 31, 1997 after 25 years of service. Dr. Oehler's last assignment was Director of the Non-Proliferation Center at the CIA, and is recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on technology, proliferation, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism. Dr. Oehler received both a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Physics from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Oehler worked for a small firm in upper New York designing electronic instrumentation for metallurgical applications. He subsequently joined the Agency in 1972 and has served in a variety of analytical and management positions involving weapons systems analysis and foreign policy analysis, including Chief of the Agency's Office of Scientific and Weapons Research, the office responsible for the analysis and reporting of foreign weapons system capabilities. He is a 1981 graduate of the National War College. In April, 1989, Dr. Oehler was appointed the National Intelligence Officer for Science, Technology, and Proliferation. In this capacity, he was responsible for community affairs dealing with evolving national level S&T issues, including the worldwide proliferation of ballistic missiles and the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In April 1992, Dr. Oehler was appointed Director of the new Nonproliferation Center. In this capacity, Dr. Oehler has become the senior community spokesman on proliferation issues.

Joseph Paresi, Member, Board of Regents
Joe 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, 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, 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. 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 of the Board and Member, Board of Directors
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.

Mr. George A. Spix, Member, Board of Regents
Mr. George A. 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
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