SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Lieutenant Kelly Beck has served with the Michigan State University Police Department for over eleven years. She is currently commanding the department's Operational Support and Planning Division which includes security planning for all major events occuring on campus and managing the department's Community Policing Program.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University in Communications, is currently working toward obtaining a Master of Public Administration degree from Western Michigan University and has obtained further education at the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police.

Lieutenant Donald C. Boomershine, Michigan State Police, Emergency Management Division, First District Coordinator

Lieutenant Boomershine has been a district coordinator within the Emergency Management Division since August of 2001. Prior to that, Lieutenant Boomershine was the training coordinator for the Investigative Services Bureau, Field Detective Division for 8 years. Lieutenant Boomershine, holds an associate degree in business from Lansing Community College, and additional business courses through Ferris State University. A tactical officer with the Emergency Support Team for the past 18 years and a certified Professional Emergency Manager (P.E.M.) through the Emergency Management Division. Lieutenant Boomershine has participated in special events planning for the upcoming Major League Baseball All-Star Game from a tactical perspective and coordinates state and federal assets during emergencies and disasters within his assigned district.

Assistant Chief Charles Bouth served 32 years in law enforcement. He retired as a Paramedic Lieutenant from the Ingham County Sheriffs Department, and most recently served as Chief of Police in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, as well as the city’s Fire Chief. Assistant Chief Bouth is currently an Assistant Fire Chief with the City of Lansing, Michigan. He brings a diverse experience to the classroom, having commanded a variety of police, fire, and EMS incidents utilizing the Incident Command System. His classroom experience of over 30 years greatly assists in relating classroom information to practical field applications.

Assistant Chief Bouth holds Bachelors, Masters, and Educational Specialist degrees from Michigan State University and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy and Executive Fire Officer Program. He is a National Fire Academy certified Response to Terrorism instructor and teaches Incident Command Systems for the Michigan Fire Fighters Training Council and Michigan UICS.

Jerry Burke is a manager of Safety, Training and Security with the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA). Mr. Burke has thirty plus years in the transportation industry. He has been with CATA for twelve years, has spent fifteen years in the insurance industry as a National Loss Control Representative for various insurance companies, and ten years in the Over the Road Trucking industry.

Mr. Burke is a nationally known trainer, certified Director of Safety, and past president of the Lansing Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers.

Special Agent Mark E. Davidson, WMD Coordinator, FBI-Detroit, has served as the Detroit Division’s WMD Coordinator since October of 2001. During this time he has been responsible for working with other federal, state and local response partners to plan a strategy to detect, deter, prevent and respond to CBRNE incidents. These activities have included planning and responding to and assisting in various WMD threat and incident related investigations. Davidson worked with numerous state and local agencies to develop and implement a uniform protocol to respond to “suspicious powder” matters and has assisted with hundreds of threat assessments and responses. Davidson is HAZMAT certified and is a member of the Detroit HAZMAT Response Team (HMRT).

Davidson also is a certified Bomb Technician and is the Detroit Division Coordinator. As such he provides equipment and training support to the 15 bomb squads throughout the state. As a bomb technician he has worked a number of special events including; 2002 Winter Olympics, 2001 & 2005 Presidential Inaugurations, 100th Anniversary of Flight, North American International Auto Show, 2005 NFL Super Bowl and the 2005 MLB All-Star Game.

As the WMD Coordinator and Bomb Program Coordinator, Davidson has worked extensively with other federal, state and local agencies to prepare and implement security plans for numerous special events. Davidson was the FBI Case Agent for the 2004 Ryder Cup held at Oakland Hills Country Club and is currently working on Super Bowl XL to be held in Detroit on February 5, 2006.

Prior to joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Davidson was the Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Sanilac County. Davidson has a Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Food Systems Economics from Michigan State University.

Dr. Ken Edwards DO FACEP/ FACOEP. Dr. Edwards is currently the medical director for the District 1 Regional Medical Response Coalition (D1RMRC) bio-defense network. District 1 is the center of the 8 Emergency Preparedness Regions in Michigan. It includes 12 hospitals, 7 Medical Control Authorities, 9 counties, and over 100 EMS agencies. D1RMRC has been involved with increasing the hospital and prehospital Emergency Preparedness levels for mass casualty events in the district. They have developed a Hospital and EMS mutual aid agreement that serves as a template for other regions in the State to utilize. They have had extensive coordination with local Public Health agencies, Emergency Management, Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), and various public safety agencies.

He also serves as the co-chairman for the Regional Smallpox Planning Team (RSPT) being involved with the vaccination program in 2002 in Michigan.

Dr. Edwards is board certified in Emergency Medicine and has an additional Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) in EMS. He has been an EMS medical director for over 16 years. He is a member of the State of Michigan Quality Assurance (QA) Task force for EMS , and currently serves as the Chairman for the Michigan EMS Coordinating Committee (EMSCC). Additionally, he is the course director at Lansing Community College for the Pediatric Advanced Life Support Class (PALS). Dr Edwards was a member of the State Protocols Task Force that helped develop “Model Protocols “ to serve as a template throughout Michigan.

Lt. Margaret A. (Penny) Fischer, Margaret A. (Penny) Fischer works in the Michigan State University Police Department and is assigned as Emergency Management Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Grand Valley State University and a Master of Science degree from Michigan State University in Criminal Justice. She attained her Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1995 and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in the same year. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Michigan State University, School of Criminal Justice.
In her duties within the Emergency Management Division she is currently working on emergency planning for major event venues and created a unique interdisciplinary committee within each building comprising key academic faculty or researchers with police, fire, building maintenance and evacuation team members to address short and long term protection for vital research initiatives at the university. She works with those in her unit to design exercises to test emergency preparedness, including a full-scale simulated disaster conducted in 2004 with over 100 participating personnel. The unit is now working to enhance planning efforts for transportation incidents due to two major rail lines that bisect the campus.

Lt. Fischer instructs around the country on the topic of mentoring and has done consulting work with municipalities on legal updates for law enforcement. She teaches part time for the School of Criminal Justice and has authored articles on training issues and legal decisions for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. She is also a member of a Legal Instructors Cadre for the State of Michigan that meets to discuss legal training issues for all of the state’s police academies. She is a certified trainer for the Office for Domestic Preparedness, Department of Homeland Security on Weapons of Mass Destruction for both Executive Level Planning and Law Enforcement Protective Measures. She is currently trained as a Hazardous Materials-Operations Level Responder and is a Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) instructor.

Greg Ianni is the Senior Associate Director of Athletics at Michigan State University. He oversees Michigan State's athletic facilities and works toward the development of long-range plans for improving those sites. Currently, he is involved in the expansion project at Spartan Stadium. During his tenure, Ianni has overseen the renovation of Jenison Field House; installation of the track and Astroturf field at the Outdoor Track and Field and Field Hockey Complex, which was named the National Track Facility of the Year in 2003; Spartan Stadium structural restoration; installation of modular grass in Spartan Stadium; the replacement of the indoor field at the Duffy Daugherty Football Building; construction of the Berkowitz Basketball Complex at the Breslin Center; completion of the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athletic Academic Center; Munn Ice Arena expansion; renovation of the Duffy Daugherty Football Building; plus the installation of new scoreboards and video-display boards in Spartan Stadium, Munn Ice Arena and the Breslin Center. In addition to his facilities duties, he has sport management oversight of football, men's and women's golf, women's gymnastics and wrestling as well as sports medicine and event management. In 1993, Ianni returned to Michigan State after serving as associate athletics director at Ohio University where he was responsible for facilities, financial management and daily operation of the 17-sport program. The Dexter, Mich., native graduated from MSU in 1975 with a bachelor of arts and received a master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 1978.

Jim Kus is the “Major Event Planning Workshop” facilitator. He is a retired detective from the Lansing Police Department (LPD). During his 26-year career with the LPD, he served in the burglary, larceny, youth felony and robbery-homicide squads as well as the Lansing Police and Fire Departments’ Arson Unit. He spent several years in the Crime Prevention Unit performing over 400 residential, commercial and industrial security risk assessments.

After 24 years of service, Jim retired from the Michigan National Guard. He last nine years were spent as the State Physical Security Noncomissioned Officer. Duties included the administration of the Army Physical Security Program for all National Guard facilities in the state of Michigan. The focus of his security duties were directed toward the security of all arms, ammunitions and explosives

Jim is a graduate of Michigan State University (MSU) where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. He currently teaches criminal justice and crime prevention programs for the School of Criminal Justice at MSU. In addition, he has been designated a Certified Protection Professional by the American Society for Industrial Security.

Since 1998, he has been the owner of Kus & Associates – a security consulting company based in Grand Ledge, Michigan. He is also a guest columnist for the Greater Lansing Business Monthly Magazine writing on security related articles.

Robert A. McAllister, has been a Special Agent (SA) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since June, 1995, and was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) and assigned to the Special Events Management Unit (SEMU), FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C., since December, 2004. Prior to being assigned to SEMU/ FBIHQ, SSA McAllister was assigned to the Atlanta Division, Savannah Resident Agency, from October, 1995 to December, 2004. SSA McAllister worked violent crimes/corruption matters from 1995 to 2001, counter terrorism matters, from 2001, until his promotion. SSA McAllister was a certified operator on the FBI Atlanta Enhanced SWAT team, 1998 through 2004, certified Firearms Instructor, 1998 to present, certified Defensive Tactics Instructor, 2000 to present, certified Tactical Instructor, 2003, to present, certified Police Instructor, 2002 to present.

Prior to becoming a Special Agent of the FBI, Robert A. McAllister held the position of Police Officer/Detective at the Cobb County Police Department in Metro Atlanta, Georgia from June, 1991 until June 1995.

Robert A. McAllister attended Webber International University (private) in Babson Park, Florida from September 1985 until 1989, at which time he graduated with a double major receiving a bachelor of science in computer science and marketing respectively. SSA McAllister attended the Kellogg School of Management, May, 2005.

Robert A. McAllister also served proudly in the United States Air Force, and was assigned to the Security Forces Squadron from June 1981 until September 1985, when he received an honorable discharge. He also was a member of the Untied States Army Reserves, assigned to the 11th Special Forces Group (deactivated), Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia from 1991 through 1995, when he resigned to accepted his appointment as an FBI Special Agent.

Robert A. McAllister is a native of Queens, New York. Robert McAllister attended Bayside High School in Bayside, New York from 1976 until 1980.

Jennifer McManus is the Personnel Administrator of Grounds Maintenance with Michigan State University. She holds a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University. Her fifteen years of employment at Michigan State University includes eight years with Housing and Food Service and seven with Grounds Maintenance. Ms. McManus is the Campus Snow Removal Plan Coordinator and an 1585 Safety Committee member. She is also responsible for scheduling and staffing the football games' tailgate clean up.

Gordon Meriwether, PMP
Principal - The Uriah Group
gmeriwether@uriahgroup.com
703-556-6883

Mr. Meriwether founded The Uriah Group in 2002 following a distinguished 30 year career in the development of systems solutions for commercial and government clients. In addition to risk management assessments and solutions, his systems experience includes space borne sensors, avionics, integrated software, security systems and professional IT services.

Beginning his career with the US Navy as a ship’s officer, he transitioned to the Naval Intelligence community where he distinguished himself as a reserve intelligence officer serving as Commanding Officer in London, New Orleans and two tours in the Pentagon. He retired in 2001 in the rank of Captain.

His civilian career has paralleled his military service, working for General Electric, Unisys, CACI and DynCorp in various project management capacities. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

He is a graduate of University of Alabama and received his MBA from George Washington University. Mr. Meriwether is a faculty member of the Graduate School of Business and Management at the University of Phoenix both online and on campus instructing Project Management, Operations Management, and Strategic Planning. Mr. Meriwether is a Sorensen Fellow at the University of Virginia.

He has served in various civic and local capacities including Chairman of the advisory committee to the local school board on technical studies.
The Uriah Group is a Veteran-Owned Small Business

Theodore Minnick is a former MSU student employee, fulltime hourly employee, Supervisor, and now a Service manager in the MSU Physical Plant/Custodial Services. Currently Mr. Minnick manages the Custodial Operations, spanning five different work shifts during the seven day week in some 40 campus buildings, as well as staff that unlock and secure many of the campus buildings, the swimming pool operators, and a group of Physical Plant workers known as the Set-Up Crew, whom are active in preparation for may campus events. Mr. Minnick also manages the use of seven work trucks and two fork lifts.

He has been involved in the TV presidential debate in the early 90’s, five presidential visits including the convocation in the Stadium, a large VIP reception, two Presidential train trips, one by a First Lady, as well as preparation for graduations, programs in the MSU auditorium, concerts in Breslin and the Wharton Center, the Rolling Stones Concert, and a “Cold Wars” U of M vs MSU hockey game, both held in the MSU stadium. Ted is involved in campus outdoor events, football, basketball, hockey, and volleyball games in addition to the areas around the game locations.

Ted and his wife, Fran, both graduated from Michigan State University in 1970, with degrees in Education. Ted went on and took additional courses toward a degree in Economics. Fran is an Elementary Principal in Holt, Michigan. Together, Fran and Ted have four sons and two grandchildren. One of the boys is currently a pilot in the military.

When not working, Ted enjoys golfing, fishing, and swimming. His wife also joins him to snowmobile in the winter.

Michael E. Moll, Mr. Moll brings a combined 20 years of Law Enforcement and Security experience to the Protective Advisor Position, including risk analysis, security surveys, emergency action plans, mitigation procedures, and business continuity plans. Mike is a Certified Protection Professional with the American Society of Industrial Engineers, Certified Crime Prevention Professional, Certified Women’s Self Defense Instructor, and Certified in Crime Prevention through Environmental Design.

Mr. Moll last worked as the law enforcement liaison for the Transportation Security Administration, having responsibility for the Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo airports. During his tenure, Mike was tasked to perform vulnerability assessments at all three airports in relation to a MANPADS attack. After the assessment, Mike then was asked to establish mitigation plans for each assessment. As a direct result of those plans, Mike was one of six people in TSA selected to sit on the national MANPADS mitigation planning board, which established a template for MANPADS mitigation for all 450 commercial airports in the nation.

Prior to TSA, Mr. Moll was the Public Safety Director for the Davenport College Educational System, having responsibility for 18 college campuses in Michigan and Northern Indiana. While at Davenport, Mr. Moll stood up the campus public safety department, and wrote the emergency action and business continuity plans for all the campuses. Mike also investigated several high-profile financial aid fraud cases, resulting in several federal and state prosecutions.

From 1990 until 1996 Mike served in the Michigan Air National Guard as a Security Police Officer specializing in Air Base Ground Defense. Mike also served in the Persian Gulf War and received an Honorable Discharge in 1996.

EDUCATION: Masters of Public Administration, Projected: 2007, Grand Valley State University
Bachelor’s of Science, Criminal Justice, 1993, Ferris State University

PERSONAL: Mike currently lives in Grandville, Michigan and is married to his wife Dianne. They have two children, Kyleigh 2 ½ and Brayden 11 months. Mike enjoys hunting, fishing, hockey and softball.

Sergeant Michael Perez, Sgt. Michael J. Perez is the Program Manager for Emergency Services in Ingham County Michigan. Sgt. Perez was born in Ingham County and except for two years in the State of Colorado has resided in Mid-Michigan all of his life. He is married and has two children, a boy and a girl.

Sgt. Perez graduated from the Mid-Michigan Police Academy in June of 1980 and has worked at the Capitol City Airport Department Of Public Safety as well as the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office. He has worked in various divisions within the office as well as several specialty units. They are the corrections division, field services division, and paramedic section. He has also been assigned to the underwater search and recovery team, the metro narcotics team and as a field training officer. Sgt. Perez was also one of the first paramedics assigned to the Lansing Police Department Special Tactics And Rescue Team (S.T.A.R.T.) as a tactical medic. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1998, served as the paramedic section supervisor for approximately one year before being assigned to staff services as the program manager for emergency services in March of 2000.

Sgt. Perez holds a General Associates Degree from Lansing Community College, an Advanced Officers Training Certificate, Airport Rescue Fire Fighter Certificate, Paramedic License (1998), Basic S.W.A.T. certification, Technician Level Amateur Radio License, SCUBA Open Water Certification, Two Meritorious Service Awards, Two Unit Citations, and Various Certificates of Appreciation from the Sheriff’s Office. He has received training at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg Md., Michigan State Police Emergency Management Division, and has been involved in one Presidential Declaration, many Haz-Mat responses, and natural hazards responses. He has received training in Threat and Risk Assessment for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Integrated Emergency Management Systems (IEMS), and Tactical EMS. He has completed the curriculum for and has been certified as a Professional Emergency Manager (PEM) in the state of Michigan.

Guy Procopio, Assistant Auxiliary Manager, began working for Michigan State University in 1988 as the MSU Concessions Manager. He is now the Assistant Auxiliary Manager overseeing both food and novelty sales at all concessions related events. Guy was the former President of the National Association of Collegiate Concessionaires. He graduated from Michigan State University’s School of Business, majoring in Material and Logistic Management in 1984.

Detective Paul G. Schofield is a 33 year veteran of the Michigan State University Police Department. His professional duties included uniformed police patrol, Community Police Officer, fraud investigator, defensive tactics and use of force instructor, firearms instructor, expert witness and consultant in emergency, pursuit and counter-terrorist driving, Highway Traffic Safety adjunct professor, and currently a physical security and alarm specialist. Detective Schofield's physical security training came from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia, in 1996. Since that time, Detective Schofield was responsible for conducting security surveys, threat assessments, workplace violence and security presentations, and personal protective assignments for members of the Michigan State University community and visiting dignitaries. Detective Schofield holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science and a
Master's degree in Education.

John A. Schwartz, JD, Risk Management Consultant United Educators. John Schwartz is a risk management consultant at United Educators (UE) Insurance Reciprocal Risk Retention Group, where he is responsible for providing risk management services to 1,200 colleges, universities, and schools.

Prior to joining UE, Schwartz held administrative positions at three large public universities: the University of Kansas, as an Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs; Texas A&M University, where he coordinated the Student and Academic Affairs risk management program; and Iowa State University, where he helped lead the Office of Risk Management and coordinated the workers’ compensation program.

Schwartz holds B.A, M.A., and J.D. degrees from the University of Kansas

Mark Semear, graduated from Western Michigan University (WMU) in 1983 with a Bachelor's of Science. He was commissioned in the United States Army and served with 3/64 Armor 3rd Infantry Division until 1986. When hired as a Special Agent with ATF in 1987, he became a certified explosive specialist in 1988. Mr. Semear graduated in 1996 with a Masters in Public Administration from WMU. He has worked several terrorist related investigations including the 1992 Animal Liberation Front arson at Michigan State University (MSU), 2000 arson at MSU by the Earth Liberation Front, the 9/11 attack at the Pentagon, and several Militia investigations.

Dr. Dean Sienko is the Medical Director of the Ingham County Health Department and Chief Medical Examiner for Ingham County. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School, completed a preventive medicine residency at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and has a M.S. Degree in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis from the University of Michigan. He is board certified in preventive medicine and public health. During the mid-80's, Dr. Sienko worked for the Michigan Department of Public Health and has been in his current position with the Ingham County Health Department since 1988. Additionally, during the summer, 2004, he was appointed as Acting Chief Medical Executive for the Michigan Department of Community Health.

Military Portion:
Dr. Sienko has also had a 22 year career in the U.S. Army. He has held multiple positions in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Dr. Sienko is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War where he was a medical officer in Saudi Arabia. In the spring and summer of 2001, he was the Commander of Task Force Medical Falcon, and the senior U.S. medical officer in Kosovo. Dr. Sienko became a Brigadier General on 1 October 2002 when he assumed the command of the 804th Medical Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, Devens, Massachusetts. The 804th was called to active duty in February 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. From May 2003 through February 2004, Dr. Sienko served in the Middle East as the 804th Medical Brigade Commander and the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) Surgeon. Dr. Sienko is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. He was awarded a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Richard C. Sigelko is a Michigan native. He grew up on a farm in the "Thumb". He graduated from Michigan State University (MSU) in Packaging and has worked for MSU for 39 years in Housing & Food Services. Mr. Sigelko has worked as a Food Supervisor, Food Service Manager, Assistant Coordinator of Food Services, a Management Analyst, and for the past 15 years as Manager of Housing & Food Services Information Technology Department. He is married with two children and three grand children.

Mr. Sigelko has worked Athletic events and football since his freshman year at MSU in 1962. In this capacity, he has worked directing traffic, ushering, ticket taking, and various security positions. In 1976-77, he implemented an accounting system for football concessions. He then worked in the football programs office setting up an accounting
system for that operation. In 1987, Mr. Sigelko was ask to take over the management of the Stadium event staff on game days which he is still doing today. They expect to open this fall with approximately 500 ushers, ticket takers, and security staffers for the 2005 football season. Besides the many football games that he has worked as the manager of the event staff over the past 18 years, he was also responsible for the staffing for a Rolling Stones Concert in Spartan Stadium, Commencement with President Clinton as the speaker, and "The Cold War", the ice hockey game between MSU and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in Spartan Stadium.

For relaxation Mr. Sigelko enjoys golfing, traveling, working on his house and yard, and attending other MSU sporting events.

Gavin J. Smith is the Assistant Director and Director of Operations of the Jack Breslin Student Events Center at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. Mr. Smith has been employed at Michigan State University for twenty-three years. He was the first Technical Facilities Manager for the Department of Performing Arts Facilities and Programs where he assisted with the opening of the Wharton Center for Performing Arts in 1982. In 1989 he moved to the Breslin Center and was instrumental with the opening of the building in the fall of that year.

During his tenure at the Breslin Center he has been involved with the planning and execution for appearances of President Bill Clinton, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, World Bank Chairman James Wolfensohn, and numerous international recording artists.

In addition to planning hundreds of events in the Wharton Center and Breslin Center, Mr. Smith has been involved with several major events in Spartan Stadium – the Rolling Stones concert, and MSU Convocation ceremonies with President Bill Clinton.

He is a member of the International Association of Assembly Managers, the International Facility Management Association and is currently Recording Secretary for the Administrative Professional Supervisors Association at MSU.

Fire Chief Randall Talifarro has served as the lead official for the City of East Lansing Fire Department since March of 2001. The City of East Lansing is a full-time career fire department that services the residents of East Lansing, as well as the students and campus of Michigan State University. The fire department performs fire, emergency medical (Paramedic level), hazardous materials (Technician level), high-angle rescue, confined space, structural collapse and water rescue services for the local community. Chief Talifarro has a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Michigan and he has received his State of Michigan Professional Emergency Manager (PEM) designation (1998). He retired as an Assistant Chief of the city of Flint Fire Department in 2001.

Chief Talifarro has extensive training from FEMA attending both the (NFA) National Fire Academy and (EMI) Emergency Management Institute. He is a Dept. of Homeland Security (WMD) Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness level (AWR-160) instructor; an EMI certified instructor in Incident Command as well as a State of Michigan certified Instructor for EMS (to the Paramedic level), Hazardous Materials (Awareness/Operations level), (CAMEO) Computer Aided Management of Emergency Operations, Firefighter I/II, Fire Officer I/II and Emergency Response to Terrorism – Basic Concepts. During his tenure as Safety/Training Officer (with the City of Flint) he coordinated and instructed for numerous new recruit fire academies.

Chief Talifarro was a contributor to the most recent version of Chief Officer (2nd ed., 2004, Stowell, IFSTA, International Fire Service Training Association). He has significant fire and EMS field and classroom experience upon which to draw. He served as Safety Officer at a natural gas explosion that caused multiple casualties and injuries at a nursing home. He served as a lead official in the command staff of a major rail propane incident and he served as an Incident Commander and/or in the Command Staff of many fire and EMS incidents.

William T. Wardwell, Inspector, Michigan State University Police, Inspector Wardwell has served with the Michigan State University Police Department for over 36 years. He is currently commanding the Investigations Division with responsibility for criminal case investigations, Homeland Security, Intelligence and Executive Protection. He previously served as the Emergency Management Coordinator with responsibility for overall planning and coordination of emergency preparedness and response to disasters and other major events.

Inspector Wardwell graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and from Western Michigan University with a Master of Public Administration degree. He has received advance police training at the F.B.I. National Academy and has earned certification as a Professional Emergency Manager in the State of Michigan.

Brent Williams is an independent consultant providing a diverse range of services related to radio communication system design, FAA and FCC licensing assistance, propagation studies, and tower climbing and construction.

With an emphasis on “keeping it simple”, Mr. Williams work is ideally suited to the small to mid-sized governmental unit or company that is in need of sound advice to meet specific communication needs, without vendor bias or pressure. He has experience in the design, planning and implementation of projects such as: wide area repeater systems, single site repeaters, propagation analysis and recommendations to improve radio system coverage, assisting clients with needs assessment, and finding novel ways to meet a difficult communications need.

Mr. Williams has hands on experience to compliment his technical knowledge, thus creating for the customer systems that work in the “real world”, not just on the drawing board. This experience includes 12 years as a police patrol officer and over 20 years as a practicing paramedic. He has training from the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch through their executive certification program. He has operated a small business providing tower climbing and antenna installation services and is able to advise customers on tower and antenna solutions that are both affordable and effective.

Since January 2002, Mr. Williams has also served as the EMS Radio Communications Consultant to the EMS and Trauma Services Section of the Michigan Dept of Community Health.

Timothy S. Williams, Supervisory Special Agent (SSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), FBI Headquarters - Washington, D.C.

SSA Williams has more than fourteen years of service with the FBI. He is currently a Supervisor in the Special Events Management Unit (SEMU). He is the Program Manager for the Special Events Management Program. The SEMU is part of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division. The mission of the SEM Program is to serve as the single point-of-contact at FBIHQ for planning, coordinating, and managing support to field offices charged with counterterrorism responsibilities for a Special Event. The SEMU helps to coordinate local, state, and federal assets for Special Events to ensure that appropriate measures have been taken to identify, acquire, and to plan, the use of resources needed to prevent and/or respond to a potential or actual terrorist incident.

Prior to this assignment, SSA Williams served as a member of the Attorney General's Protection Detail (AGPD). The AGPD is responsible for the personal protection and physical security of the United States Attorney General and his/her family. SSA Williams was responsible for the protective operations for former Attorney General Janet Reno (1998-2001) and for former Attorney General John Ashcroft (2001-2005). Over the course of this assignment, SSA Williams developed an extensive knowledge of protective detail operations and a thorough understanding of security issues as they relate to operating in high risk environments and how protective operations relate to Special Events. He has received extensive training in protective operations from the United States Secret Service, the C.I.A., the State Department's Diplomatic Security Branch, and the U.S. Army CID. Prior to his assignment with the AGPD, SSA Williams served in the Chicago Field Division (1992-1998), specializing in the investigation of violent street gangs and criminal gang intelligence. He served as a founding member of the Joint Task Force on Gangs, and was also assigned to a Criminal Intelligence Squad. As part of his collateral duties he served for more than four years as a member of the Chicago Division's Enhanced SWAT Team and as a member of the Evidence Response Team.

SSA Williams' education includes a Bachelors of Art Degree in Political Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania (1984), a Master's of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Youngstown State University (1987), and a law degree from Capital Law School (1991). He is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society. SSA Williams is also a recent graduate of the Wharton/ASIS International Program for Security Executives (March 2005), offered by the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, SSA Williams received his accreditation as a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) by the American Society of Industrial Security International (ASIS).