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Committee and Staff Biographical Information
S. MICHAEL HUDSON, Co-Chair, is currently chairman and CEO of I Power Energy Systems, LLC. Prior to that he was vice chairman, Rolls-Royce North America Holdings, a position he assumed in early 2000 and continued until his retirement in spring 2002. He also held the positions of president and CEO, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer with Rolls-Royce Allison, following its acquisition by Rolls-Royce in 1995. He served on the boards of several joint venture companies in which Rolls-Royce Allison had interest. Mr. Hudson began his career with Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, working in aircraft engine design, installation, and performance, engine development and demonstration, and industrial and marine engine application engineering. Mr. Hudson is a fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Royal Aeronautical Society, an honorary fellow of the American Helicopter Society (AHS), and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Mr. Hudson served on the AIAA Propulsion Committee, the AHS Propulsion Committee, the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers, and the board of directors of Indianapolis Water Company, and he was chairman of the AHS board of directors. Mr. Hudson was a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and he served as chairman of the SAE’s Aerospace Council and on its Aerospace Program Office and Finance Committees. He received the SAE Franklin W. Kolk Air Transportation Progress Award and the Royal Aeronautical Society British Gold Medal. Publications range from technical work on propulsion to defense procurement and business initiatives. Mr. Hudson served on Air Force and Department of Defense review groups, and he was a member of NASA’s Aeronautics Advisory Committee and the Subcommittee on Rotorcraft Technology and chaired the Propulsion Aeronautics Research and Technology Subcommittee. He holds a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. He has served on several National Research Council (NRC) Committees, including the Committee on Aeronautics Research and Technology for Environmental Compatibility, the Committee on Analysis of Air Force Engine Efficiency Improvement Options for Large Non-Fighter Aircraft, and the Committee on Materials Needs and R&D Strategy for Future Military Aerospace Propulsion Systems and has been a member of the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.
WILLIAM S. LEBER, JR., Co-Chair, is senior vice president of Air Traffic Innovations for PASSUR Aerospace. His duties include strategy formation and strategic alliances with other companies, universities, and research organizations. He was formerly a research analyst principal and senior manager for Lockheed Martin in business development for their Collaborative Air Traffic Management Practice where he coordinated Lockheed Martin’s efforts in airport collaborative decision making and other collaborative air traffic management domains. He has
25 years of air traffic management experience coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other air navigation service providers in the Atlantic and Pacific regions. He was a chief flight dispatcher and worked for Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines for more than 26 years. Mr. Leber is a member of the FAA Research Engineering and Development Advisory Committee (REDAC)-National Airspace System Operations Subcommittee, where he was co-chair of the Weather-Air Traffic Management Integration Work Group. He is a former chair of the Collaborative Decision Making Future Concepts Working Group and was co-chair of the Air Transportation Association’s overall collaborative decision making effort from 2001 to 2004. He is a former president and co-founder of the Airline Dispatchers Federation, a non-union professional association. He holds a B.S. in aeronautical administration from St. Louis University and holds aircraft dispatcher and pilot certificates.
JANDRIA S. ALEXANDER is the principal director of the Cyber Security Subdivision in the Engineering and Technology Group at the Aerospace Corporation. The subdivision activities focus on the technical development and delivery of cyber and information assurance (IA) capability in the Engineering and Technology Group. This includes internal and external coordination of cyber and IA test beds and laboratories, developing and enhancing technical capabilities, and supporting cyber and IA-related research and customer tasking. Ms. Alexander currently leads the engineering support for cyber, network, and information security services across the defense, intelligence community, civil, and commercial sectors. She leads teams performing systems engineering for cyber operations, including architecture, requirements, and concept of operations (CONOPS) support for integrating cyber operations into advanced ground and space segments. She also leads the cyber research on cyber operations, malware, space cyber, vulnerability analysis, wireless, mobility, cloud, enterprise architectures, and network infrastructure and monitoring. Ms. Alexander previously supported several customers leading independent assessments with cross-organizational federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) teams, performing strategic and tactical planning support and cybersecurity resiliency risk management, policy, and governance. Ms. Alexander supports several internal aerospace cyber activities: Cyber Corporate Strategic Initiative and the Corporate Research Thrust in Space Cyber. Prior to joining the Aerospace Corporation, Ms. Alexander led security engineering and research in key management, COMSEC software, penetration testing, operating system and application level security; security architectures, threats, vulnerabilities and countermeasures; and risk management for government and commercial customers. She is a commissioner on the Virginia State Cyber Security Commission. Ms. Alexander earned her B.S. in computer science from Brandeis University and M.S. in technology of management from American University. She currently serves on the NRC’s Committee on Future Research Goals and Directions for Foundational Science in Cybersecurity.
STEVEN J. BROWN is the chief operating officer for the National Business Aviation Association. He is responsible for managing representation of the association’s 10,000 members on all domestic and international aviation regulatory, safety, security, and operational policy issues. Mr. Brown previously served as the associate administrator for air traffic services at the FAA where he was responsible for the daily operation of the U.S. Air Traffic Control system. He led a workforce of more than 35,000 employees, from air traffic controllers to maintenance technicians, and administered a $9 billion annual budget. During his tenure, dozens of modernization and technology programs were either initiated or completed, the Y2K transition was accomplished and the recovery from the 9/11 attacks was successfully completed. Mr. Brown is a current commercial pilot and has previously worked as a full-time pilot and instructor. He also is currently serving as chairperson of the board of trustees for the Aviation Accreditation Board International, which is the specialized accrediting organization for university degree-based aviation programs worldwide. He is a graduate of executive development programs at Penn State University and the University of Southern California. Mr. Brown has earned both a B.A. in education and M.Ed. from Texas A&M University.
VICTORIA COX is a consultant for the Victoria Cox Solutions, LLC. Previously she served as the FAA’s assistant administrator for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). At FAA, she led the transformation of the nation’s air traffic control system with responsibility for the multi-billion dollar NextGen portfolio. Within the FAA, Ms. Cox also served as the director of the Air Traffic Organization’s International Office, the director of Flight Services Finance and Planning, and the program director of the Aviation Research Division. Prior to
joining the FAA, she was director of International Technology Programs in the Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, Office of the Secretary of Defense. A physicist, Ms. Cox served as chief of physics and scientific director of the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development in London. As senior scientist of the Seeker Evaluation Branch at the Wright Armament Laboratory, Eglin Air Force Base, she created and managed an organization that provided the then unique capability to generate synthetic signatures and measure performance of space-based sensors for the Ballistic Missile Defense effort. As a NASA scientist, she conducted research in space environmental effects and was responsible for thermal vacuum conditioning and testing of the Hubble Space Telescope. Since retiring from the FAA in 2013, she has served on the Executive Steering Committee for the AIAA’s Aviation 2014 Conference and has recently initiated a consulting practice. She has a certificate in U.S. National Security Policy from Georgetown University. She also earned her private pilot’s license in 1985. She earned a B.A. from Converse College and M.A.Ed. from East Carolina University.
JOSEPH M. DEL BALZO is the president and CEO of JDA Aviation Technology Solutions, a company offering a wide range of airport and airspace planning, safety, security, training, and technology application support to international civil aviation clients. As a direct result of his efforts, JDA has been formally recognized by the FAA to assist air carrier applicants in preparing for the FAR Part 121 air carrier certification process. He has extensive experience in leading safety audits, helping clients move new and innovative technology from the laboratory into the aviation system, successfully guiding new air carrier startups and new start up aircraft manufacturers through the FAA certification process, guiding Part 91 corporate aircraft operators through the FAA Part 135 certification process, and directing the development and implementation of safety management systems. He serves as an independent technical advisor to industry and government clients. He served as acting administrator and deputy administrator of the FAA and also served as FAA’s executive director of system operations, an organization responsible for defining requirements for new technology; installing, operating and maintaining all air traffic control systems and facilities; operating the nation’s air traffic control system; and developing and overseeing safety regulations for all aircraft, airline, and airmen in the National Airspace System. As FAA executive director for system development, Mr. Del Balzo developed long-range research and development programs to support the timely introduction of new technology into the U.S. air traffic control system; refocused FAA initiatives to increase capacity at U.S. airports; and established close working relationships with the members of the U.S. aviation community in developing system requirements for the 21st century. He served as director of the FAA Eastern Region responsible for installing, maintaining, and operating all air traffic control facilities in seven eastern states; overseeing safety compliance of all aircraft, airline, and airmen operating in the seven-state region and ensuring the safe operation of all commercial and general aviation airports located in the region. He is a fellow of the AIAA, a former member of the FAA REDAC, and former chairman of the Aircraft Safety Subcommittee, a former member of the board of directors and former chairman of the Air Traffic Control Association, and a former member of the Civil Tilt-Rotor Advisory Committee. Mr. Del Balzo was awarded an honorary doctor of science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He holds a B.S. in engineering from Manhattan College and an M.S. in engineering from Drexel University.
R. JOHN HANSMAN is the T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is also the director of the MIT International Center for Air Transportation. He conducts research in the application of information technology in operational aerospace systems. Dr. Hansman holds seven patents and has authored more than 250 technical publications. He has more than 5,800 hours of pilot in-command time in airplanes, helicopters, and sailplanes, including meteorological, production, and engineering flight test experience. Dr. Hansman chairs the FAA REDAC as well as other national and international advisory committees. He is co-director of the Aviation Sustainability Center, which is a multi-university FAA Center of Excellence. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the AIAA. He has received numerous awards, including the AIAA Dryden Lectureship in Aeronautics Research, the ATCA Kriske Air Traffic Award, a Laurel from Aviation Week and Space Technology, and the FAA Excellence in Aviation Award. He earned his Ph.D. in physics, aeronautics, and meteorology from MIT. He has served on the NRC’s Committee on Review of
the Enterprise Architecture, Software Development Approach, and Safety and Human Factor Design of the Next Generation Air Transportation System.
AMY R. PRITCHETT is the David S. Lewis Associate Professor of Cognitive Engineering in the School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology. She holds a joint appointment in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Dr. Pritchett has led numerous research projects sponsored by industry, NASA, and the FAA. She has also served as director of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program, responsible for planning and execution of the program, conducted at four NASA research centers and sponsoring roughly 200 research agreements; in that role, she also served on the Office of Science and Technology Policy Aeronautic Science and Technology Subcommittee and the executive committees of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team and the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing program. She has published more than 170 scholarly publications in conference proceedings and in scholarly journals such as Human Factors, the Journal of Aircraft, and Air Traffic Control Quarterly. She has also won the Radio Technical Commission for Aviation’s William H. Jackson Award and, as part of Commercial Aviation Safety Team, the Collier Trophy. The AIAA has named a scholarship for her. Dr. Pritchett is the editor in chief of the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making. She is also a licensed pilot. Dr. Pritchett received B.S., M.S., and Sc.D. degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. She recently chaired the NRC study examining air traffic controller staffing.
AGAM N. SINHA is currently the president of ANS Aviation International, LLC, providing aviation consulting to a wide base of organizations. Dr. Sinha retired from MITRE Corporation where he was a senior vice president as well as general manager of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD). He also directed the FAA’s FFRDC. CAASD supports the FAA, Transportation Security Administration, and international civil aviation authorities in addressing operational and technical challenges to meet aviation’s capacity, efficiency, safety, and security needs. Dr. Sinha has more than 40 years of experience in aviation and weather systems. He serves on the board of trustees of Vaughn College of Aeronautics in New York and is on the advisory board of Ph.D. in aviation at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He served as a member of the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee and on the FAA REDAC. He was chairman of RTCA board of directors and an elected member of the RTCA Policy Board, Air Traffic Management Advisory Committee, and the Air Traffic Management Steering Group. He has also served on the Advisory Committee of Lincoln Lab at MIT and of the National Center of Atmospheric Research (Research Applications Programs). He is an associate fellow of the AIAA. He has more than 80 publications and has been an invited presenter to a wide range of organizations nationally and internationally. Dr. Sinha is the recipient of several awards and citations from the FAA and industry. He earned his Ph.D. in operations research from the University of Minnesota. He is a member the NRC’s Aeronautical and Space Engineering Board and has served as chair of the Aviation Group of the Transportation Research Board.
EDMOND L. SOLIDAY is a state representative of the Indiana State Assembly. Previously, he served as vice president of safety, quality assurance, and security at United Airlines before his retirement. Additionally, he was a line-qualified pilot at United for 35 years. He has qualified to fly numerous civilian and military aircraft. He is a Vietnam War veteran, serving as an attack helicopter pilot. He has served on numerous aviation safety-related advisory boards and commissions, including the Gore Commission’s Aviation Security Baseline Working Group; co-chair of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team; chairman of the Flight Operations Quality Assurance Advisory Rulemaking Committee; past chair of the Air Transport Association (ATA) Safety Council, ATA Environmental Committee, ATA Executive Sub-Committee, International Air Transport Association Flight Safety Committee, and Star Alliance Safety Committee; the executive board of the Flight Safety Foundation; and member of the NASA Aviation Safety Program Executive Panel and the MIT Global Airline Industry Program Advisory Group. Additionally, he served as adjunct professor of Aviation Safety and Security at George Washington University from 1999 through 2007 and as a member of the Adler Planetarium Board of Trustees. He has served as an aviation consultant to the Rand Corporation, Boeing Company, Greenbriar Equity, LLP, Skadden, Arp, Meagher and Flom, LLP, Quirk and Bachelor, PC, and Condon and Forsyth, LLP. Among his awards are the Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety, the Vanguard Trophy, and the Laura Tabor Barbour International Air Safety Award, Federal Bureau of Investigation
and FAA Distinguished Service Awards, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart. The Commercial Aviation Safety Team, which Captain Soliday was the founding co-chair, received the prestigious Collier Trophy for reducing the commercial aviation fatal accident rate by 83% in 10 years and for producing the longest period without a commercial aviation fatality in the history of the industry. He has served on the NRC’s Sub-Committee on Transportation Security Technology, the Decadal Survey of NASA Aeronautics Research, the Complex Integrated Systems Panel (chair), the committee to review NASA aeronautics safety research programs, as well as several other NRC studies and peer reviews, including terms as a member of the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.
RAYMOND VALEIKA is an independent consultant, advising major companies in aviation and technical matters among airlines, original equipment manufacturers, private equity, and lessors. He is an internationally recognized aviation operations executive with over 40 years of managing large airline maintenance operations. He retired from Delta Airlines as senior vice president of technical operations. At Delta Airlines, Mr. Valeika directed a worldwide maintenance and engineering staff of more than 10,000 professionals, maintaining a fleet of nearly 600 aircraft. During his tenure, he oversaw the creation of Delta Technical Operations as a maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) entity, which has grown to become one of the leading MRO service providers in the aviation industry. Through his leadership and focus on continuous improvement of the human processes in aviation maintenance, Delta Technical Operations consistently rated at the top of the industry for performance benchmarks in the areas of safety, quality, productivity, and reliability. In 2008, there were major issues with airworthiness directives implementation which resulted in major flight disruptions; Mr. Valeika was asked by the FAA to participate in a review of airworthiness as part of a special Airworthiness Directives Compliance Review Team. This effort resulted in recommending improved processes for the future of the FAA and industry. He earned his B.S. in aeronautical engineering from St. Louis University.
EDWARD L. WRIGHT is a professor of physics and astronomy at the department of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, Dr. Wright has been the data team leader on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), a co-investigator on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), an interdisciplinary scientist on the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the principal investigator on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Dr. Wright is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is well known for his Cosmology Tutorial website for the informed public, and his web-based cosmology calculator for professional astronomers. He has recently served on the NRC’s Beyond Einstein Program Assessment Committee, the committee to study Autonomy Research in Civil Aviation, and the committee to study NASA’s planned WFIRST-Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRST-AFTA) program.
Staff
DWAYNE A. DAY, Study Director, a senior program officer for the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), has a Ph.D. in political science from the George Washington University. Dr. Day joined the NRC as a program officer for the Space Studies Board (SSB). Before this, he served as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, was on the staff of the Congressional Budget Office, and also worked for the Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University. He has held Guggenheim and Verville fellowships and was an associate editor of the German spaceflight magazine Raumfahrt Concrete, in addition to writing for such publications as Novosti Kosmonavtiki (Russia), Spaceflight, and guest editing Space Chronicle (United Kingdom). He has served as study director for numerous NRC reports, including 3-D Printing in Space (2014), NASA’s Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus (2012), Continuing Kepler’s Quest: Assessing Air Force Space Command’s Astrodynamics Standards (2012), Preparing for the High Frontier: The Role and Training of NASA Astronauts in the Post-Space Shuttle Era (2011), Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (2011), Defending Planet Earth: Near Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies (2010), Opening
MICHAEL MOLONEY is the director for Space and Aeronautics at the SSB and the ASEB of the National Research Council of the U.S. National Academies. Since joining the ASEB/SSB, Dr. Moloney has overseen the production of more than 40 reports, including four decadal surveys—in astronomy and astrophysics, planetary science, life and microgravity science, and solar and space physics—a review of the goals and direction of the U.S. human exploration program, a prioritization of NASA space technology roadmaps, as well as reports on issues such as NASA’s Strategic Direction, orbital debris, the future of NASA’s astronaut corps, and NASA’s flight research program. Before joining the SSB and ASEB in 2010, Dr. Moloney was associate director of the BPA and study director for the decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics (Astro2010). Since joining the NRC in 2001, Dr. Moloney has served as a study director at the National Materials Advisory Board, the Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA), the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and the Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies. Dr. Moloney has served as study director or senior staff for a series of reports on subject matters as varied as quantum physics, nanotechnology, cosmology, the operation of the nation’s helium reserve, new anti-counterfeiting technologies for currency, corrosion science, and nuclear fusion. In addition to his professional experience at the National Academies, Dr. Moloney has more than 7 years’ experience as a foreign-service officer for the Irish government—including serving at the Irish Embassy in Washington and the Irish Mission to the United Nations in New York. A physicist, Dr. Moloney did his Ph.D. work at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. He received his undergraduate degree in experimental physics at University College Dublin, where he was awarded the Nevin Medal for Physics.
ANDREA M. REBHOLZ, program coordinator, joined the ASEB in 2009. She began her career at the National Academies in 2005 as a senior program assistant for the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation. Prior to the Academies, she worked in the communications department of a D.C.-based think tank. Ms. Rebholz graduated from George Mason University’s New Century College with a B.A. in integrative studies-event management. She earned the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 2013 and has more than 11 years of experience in event planning.
