National Visiting Committee

A National Visiting Committee has been formed to:

Provide advice to the center
Assess the center’s progress and plans and prepare an annual report to the NSF
Advocate for the project and help disseminate the project’s achievements

Members of the National Visiting Committee, who provide direction for the CTC are:

Gordon Snyder, NVC Chairman, NCTT

Gordon F. Snyder, Jr., the NVC Chairman, is the Executive Director and Principal Investigator for the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT). In addition to his work at NCTT, Snyder helped develop the Verizon Next Step program and now serves as the New England telecommunications curriculum coordinator for the program. He is the author of four engineering and engineering technology textbooks and has over 16 years of consulting experience in the field of communications and LAN/WAN design. He has served on several local and national boards including the Microsoft Community & Technical College Advisory Council, the Massachusetts Networking and Communications Council, and the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Voluntary Partnership.

Snyder's popular weekly blogs and podcasts, in collaboration with Mike Qaissaunee, have been read and listened to by thousands. In 2001 he was selected as one of the top fifteen technology faculty in the United States by Microsoft Corporation and the American Association of Community Colleges.

Snyder received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Microbiology and Medical Technology from University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Western New England College.

Todd Benatovich, Manager of Professional Services and Sales, CompUSA

Todd Benatovich develops sales strategies for CompUSA's business sales, industry partners, and the Technical Services division. He serves as the Contributor Advisory Board member to the Internet Home Alliance and is the Chairman of the Connected Home Council for the Continental Automated Buildings Association.

Benatovich earned a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master of Education from the University of South Carolina.

Kevin Hamilton, Cisco Systems Education Lead, Cisco

(Under Construction)

Ron Halbach, Manager, Nortel Networks

(Under Construction)

Maura Schreier-Fleming, Marketing Publicity, IEEE

Maura Schreier-Fleming is the president of Best@Selling (www.BestatSelling.com). She works with business and sales professionals who want to sell more and shorten their sales cycle. She speaks at conferences and sales meetings across the country on skills and strategies that make business professionals more successful. In her consulting, she focuses on sales process and skills to make companies more effective and efficient at sales. She is an active IEEE member.

Schreier-Fleming is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results, writes several columns on selling and is a guest columnist for the Dallas Business Journal.

Schreier-Fleming holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and a Master of Science from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Jeff Wacker, Futurist, EDS

Jeff Wacker has over 30 years business experience, most of which has been in the application of advanced information technology capabilities for high business impact. He is a long time professional member of the World Future Society and has served as the EDS Futurist for 10 years. He is known for his innovative approach in identifying and correlating major trends and applying current and emerging technologies to create differentiated value.

Wacker is a contributor to and often quoted in business, technical, and industry publications as well as appearing on television and radio. He has appeared on the History Channel (Modern Marvels-Future Tech) and has been the focus of a NBC news segment on future technologies.

Wacker received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska.

Fred Moses, President, Telecom Electric Supply

(Under Construction)

Kathy Swigger, Associate Dean College of Engineering, University of North Texas

(Under Construction)

Paul G. Weaver, Director of Guidance Counselors, Plano Independent School District,

Paul Weaver is the District Director of Counseling and Guidance for the Plano Independent School District. Of the almost 53,000 students enrolled in the district, 15,000 are enrolled in the five high schools.

Weaver holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and English from East Texas State University in Commerce. He has also earned a Master of Science degree in Secondary Education and another Master of Science degree in Counseling, both from Texas A&M University in Commerce.

Linda Perez Yater, Assistant Superintendent - Student Services, Dallas Independent School District

Linda Perez Yater possesses over 29 years of educational, administrative, and managerial expertise. Prior to her current position, she has held various positions within the district, including classroom teacher, Districtwide At-Risk and Dropout Prevention Coordinator, and Executive Director of Student Discipline. In 2003-2004, Yater served as Executive Assistant to the General Superintendant for DISD, where she assisted in the logistics of districtwide tasks and served as the Superintendant's liaison with the other district departments and community representatives.

Yater received a Bachelor of Science degree in Vocational Home Economics from North Texas State University and holds a Masters of Education from East Texas State University.

Jeri Chambers, Community Volunteer

Jeri Chambers served on the Board of Directors for the Sci-Tech Discovery Center.Sci-Tech is an emerging hands-on science center intended to serve studnets and their families in Collin County and North Texas. This project is an initiative of the Junior League of Plano. She serves as a field advisor to first year teachers who are entering education through an alternative certification program. She has also taught junior high and middle school math in the Plano Independent School District, Millard Public Schools, Omaha and Richardson Independent School Districts.

Chambers holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Educations from the University of Texas, Austin and a Master of Science in Education Administration and Supervision from the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

Carolyn Corbin, Socioeconomic Futurist, Center for the 21st Century

Carolyn Corbin is the president of the Center for the 21st Century, which provides speeches, executive briefings, consulting, and organizational traing in critical 21st century issues. Corbin has been spotlighted in hundreds of TV, radio, Internet, and periodical interviews including ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates, CNN, the Gannett newswire and Untied Press International throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Among her honors and awards, Corbin has been named Texas Role Model for Entreprenaurial Women; Distinguished Alumna, University of North Texas; Most Impressive American, Toastmasters of Peru; Professional of the Year, American Society for Training and Development; and Distinguished Lion in the McKinney (Texas) High School Hall of Honor.

Corbin has written four books, including Great Leaders See the Future First, which has been named in the top five of The Business Success Store's "best of the best" 2006 Million $ Leadership Books from Amazon.com by The Empowered Business. Great Leaders See the Future First is being used as suggested reading in such graduate schools of business as California State University and in universities as far away as the University of Zululand, South Africa-as well as in corporations, public schools, non-profit organizations, seminaries, and governments in numerous global locations.