Proceedings of a Workshop to Review PATH Strategy, Operating Plan, and Performance Measures (2006)

Manuel Gonzalez, Chair, is a principal at KTGY Group, Inc., in Irvine, California, an award-winning planning and design firm focusing on single and multi-family residential projects. In his previous position, Mr. Gonzalez was director of architecture in charge of residential planning and design for Kaufman and Broad—the nation’s largest on-site homebuilder, constructing over 21,000 homes in 1999. Under the direction of Mr. Gonzalez, Kaufman and Broad received widespread industry recognition and design awards. Prior to this position Mr. Gonzalez was a partner with Johannes Van Tilburg and Partners where for ten years he directed the design of award winning single family and multi-family residential projects and master planned communities. Mr. Gonzalez was a member of the NRC Committee for the Review and Assessment of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing and recently served as chair of the Housing Committee for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He holds a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a graduate degree in architecture from the University of Southern California.

Melvin M. Mark is a professor of psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, president of the American Evaluation Association (2006), and editor emeritus of the American Journal of Evaluation. He has conducted federally funded evaluations in the areas of prevention programs for at-risk youth, federal personnel policies, and industrial modernization and has been involved in evaluations of state and local programs. An award-winning teacher, he has published numerous papers and chapters on the theory and design of evaluations. He is co-editor of Social Science and Social Policy; Multiple Methods in Program Evaluation; Realist Evaluation: An Emerging Theory in Support of Practice; and the forthcoming Handbook of Evaluation (with Ian Shaw and Jennifer Greene). He is co-author (with Gary Henry and George Julnes) of Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs (Jossey-Bass, 2000). He received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1979.

John K. Spear is a practicing architect and real estate broker and developer specializing in affordable housing. He is knowledgeable about technical, architectural, financial, and social issues related to affordable housing and community development. He was a founder and longtime board member of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Houston’s Community Design Assistance Center, providing technical assistance to neighborhood and non-profit groups in building high-quality affordable housing. He is also president of Richwood Realty Advisors and of several LLCs that invest in residential rehabilitation and new housing infill in Houston’s core neighborhoods. As a practicing architect he advises clients on issues including site analysis and design review. He was chair of the AIA’s Housing Committee in 2001, and until late 2004 represented AIA in the creation and development of HUD’s Web-based tool, the Affordable Housing Design Advisor. He holds a B.A. and a B. Arch. from Rice University and a master’s degree in environmental design in urban development from Yale University.

Jorge Vanegas is a professor in the Department of Architecture and director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University. Previously, he had an appointment as professor and group leader of the Construction Engineering and Management Program in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Vanegas was also an associate researcher in the Georgia Tech Institute for Sustainable Technology and Development and in the applied research, technical assistance, and outreach programs of the Sustainable Facilities and Infrastructure Branch and of the Center for Sustainable Urban Revitalization, within the Safety, Health, and Environmental Technology Division of the Electro-Optics, Environment, and Materials Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He has documented and disseminated the results and findings from these projects in over 120 publications in technical refereed journals, technical conference proceedings, and technical reports, in which he is the author or co-author, and in over 100 invited lectures and presentations at various technical forums. Dr. Vanegas is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Committee on Sustainability of the Technical Activities Council, the American Society for Engineering Education, the Urban Land Institute, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. He serves as a member of the board of directors of the FIATECH Consortium and on the external advisory boards for several research and education centers. Dr. Vanegas was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He received a B.S. in architecture from the Universidad de los Andes in 1979, worked for four years, and moved to the United States in 1983. In 1991, he became a U.S. citizen. Dr. Vanegas received an M.S. degree in 1985, and a Ph.D. degree in 1988, from the Construction Engineering and Management Program of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University.

Sarah Slaughter was the CEO and president of MOCA Systems, Inc., through 2005, and the developer of MOCA Systems’ construction simulation system. Before founding MOCA Systems in 1999, she was a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) specializing in construction management. Prior to joining MIT, she was a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh University and a researcher at the National Science Foundation-sponsored Center for Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems. She has researched innovations in design and construction for over 20 years and has published over 50 articles and books on this topic. She is a recognized leader in her field and has been selected for several prominent committees and awards. She received all of her degrees from MIT, including a B.S. in civil engineering, an M.S. in civil engineering and technology and policy, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering and management science.