Presenters, Workshop Titles, and Biographies

"Walking in Beauty on an Ever-changing Path - A Native Woman Engineer's Perspective" is presented by Sandra Begay-Campbell (Navajo) is a Regent for the University of New Mexico and works at Sandia National Laboratories where she is a principal member of the technical staff. Sandra leads Sandia's technical efforts in the Renewable Energy Program to assist tribes with renewable energy development.

Sandra is the former executive director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase the number of American Indian scientists and engineers.

In 1987 Sandra received a bachelor of science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of New Mexico. She worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories before she earned a master of science in Structural Engineering degree from Stanford University and she also worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Sandra served on the national Board of Directors for Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network (WEPAN). In 2000 Sandra was a recipient of Stanford University's 2000 Multicultural Alumni of the Year Award and she was also selected as a recipient of the Governor's Award for Outstanding Women from the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women. Sandra was awarded the 2003 Women of Color Emerald Honor for Community Service during the Third Annual Women of Color Research Sciences and Technologies Awards Conference.

"Education Alternatives Have Been A Long Time Coming" will be presented by Lloyd Elm, Ph.D. (Onondaga). Dr. Elm is a graduate of Haskell Institute, a federal Indian boarding school located in Lawrence, Kansas. He received his bachelor's degree from Syracuse University, and his master's degree and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in educational administration. His dissertation, "The Legal Role of the Federal Government in American Indian Education," included extensive research on federal Indian treaties, federal legislation, and case law.

Dr. Elm was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1958. His professional career includes 14 years as a high school teacher of biology and physics, and 22 years as the building principal for three schools: the Onondaga Nation Indian School, the Native American Magnet School in Buffalo where he simultaneously was an adjunct professor at Buffalo State College teaching cultural history of the Haudenosaunee, and the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also the chief educational consultant for two years at First Americans Community Technology Inc. of Syracuse, NY.

Dr. Elm eventually returned to teaching, first as an instructor of American Indian Studies at Cornell University, and currently as associate professor at Buffalo State College where he is involved in upgrading a leadership model to reflect a new set of standards. Lloyd Elm could not escape his destiny to teach. His American Indian name means "he stands with the children," and by age 14 he knew where his life was headed.

"Reflections and Ruminations: A Native Son's Journey" is presented by Dr. Norbert S. Hill Jr. (Oneida), executive director of the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC), originally from Wisconsin. He has devoted his professional career to helping Native Americans rebuild Indian communities, primarily through education.

Dr. Hill was the assistant dean of students at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the Director of American Indian Educational Opportunity Program at the University of Colorado - Boulder. He also served as the executive director of American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) for 15 years in Boulder before joining the AIGC staff in June 2000.

Dr. Hill serves on numerous boards, including the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Environmental Defense, chair and board member of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and has authored publications on education issues for Native Americans. He was the founder and publisher of Winds of Change magazine, with a readership of one hundred thousand, which focuses on American Indian issues and career opportunities, and the American Indian Graduate magazine. Dr. Hill also authored Words of Power, a collection of quotations by American Indian leaders and is currently writing a series of essays on contemporary Indian leadership.

Awards and honors include the Reginald H. Jones Distinguished Service Award from the National Council for Minorities in Engineering (1988); a fellowship at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. (1980-81); and a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship in Bellagio, Italy (1995).

Dr. Hill holds a bachelor's degree in sociology/anthropology (1969) and a master's degree in guidance and counseling (1971), both from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. He was also awarded honorary doctorates in engineering (Clarkson University, 1996) and law (Cumberland College, 1994). Norbert and his wife, Mary Anne, have three children and live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Tsyunhehkwa: Using Our Traditional Agriculture to Strengthen Body, Mind, and Spirit  is presented by Professor Jane Mt. Pleasant, Ph.D. (Tuscarora), director of the American Indian Program and associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University. In addition to teaching in both horticulture and American Indian Studies, she conducts research in the areas of plants and human well being and indigenous agriculture. She lectures frequently on indigenous agriculture and its links to issues of sustainability. Mt.Pleasant received her BS and MS in agronomy from Cornell and a PhD in Soil Science from North Carolina State University. She joined the Cornell faculty in 1987. In 1997 she received the Ely S. Parker Award from the American Science and Engineering Society, which recognizes a Native American scientist who has made outstanding contributions to Native peoples through research. Mt.Pleasant is of Tuscarora ancestry.

James Ransom (Mohawk) was recently re-elected as chief of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council. He has worked in various capacities for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and community of Akwesasne for the past 26 years. He has a strong interest in education, is a past president of the Tribal Education Committee, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Education for the Salmon River Central School District.

Chief Ransom has extensive experience on environmental issues. In 1978, he helped start the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe's Environment Program and served as its director through 1990. Chief Ransom also has served on the New York State Superfund Management Board, originally appointed to the Board by Governor Mario Cuomo and later reappointed by Governor George Pataki. He also has served on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Tribal Science Council.

Chief Ransom serves as one of the lead negotiators in the Tribe's land claim settlement discussions with the State of New York. He also helped raise Mohawk environmental and cultural concerns during the relicensing of the St. Lawrence-FDR hydroelectric project on the St. Lawrence River.

Chief Ransom holds a bachelor of science in Civil Engineering from Clarkson University as well as an Associates Degree from Canton Agricultural and Technical College in Civil Technology.

What you mean is ... : What is education doing to your mind ? is presented by Susan Stebbins, Ph.D. an associate professor of Anthropology at SUNY Potsdam, and director of Global and U.S. Cultural Studies. She teaches many classes for the Native American Studies minor. Her dissertation research focused on gender, class and race issues in education. Currently she is conducting historical research on Native American women and men who function as transculturalist in the 17th, 18th, and early 20th centuries.

The Spirit of Wellness: Leadership in the 21st Century is presented by Darryl Tonemah (Kiowa) who received his Ph.D., from the University of Nebraska in counseling psychology and cultural studies. He has earned a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma in Community Counseling, and earned three bachelor's degrees from Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. The road of education and entertainment have run parallel and often intersect in his life. Throughout his education he has pursued a career in music. Tonemah says, "Learning and exploration can come in many different forms. I have learned from life, from books, and from those around me, my music helps me explore myself, and the meaning of these relationships in my life."

Through his education he has been given the opportunity to publish his own research on empowerment and multiculturalism and health behavior change. He has also been featured in two textbooks as a minority leader.

Professionally he has given workshops across the United States and Canada in grassroots communities, health centers, colleges, universities and corporations. His workshops deal with issues of wellness (mind, body, spirit, emotions) including: personal motivation, healthy communications, leadership training, conflict resolution, community mobilization, and multicultural issues among others. He has been selected to serve on several national committees for promoting wellness among Native Americans. He has worked extensively in the areas of domestic violence in native communities.

Laura Weber will act as the moderator for the History of AISES National and AISES at Clarkson segment on Friday evening. Ms. Weber is the director of Solid Waste Management for the Environmental Division of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. She served as a member of the Board of Directors for AISES National from 1992-96. She graduated with a bachelor of science in Chemical Engineering, and B.A. in Chemistry from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1986, and a master's of science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Clarkson University in 1991.

The keynote address, "The meaning of life is to understand your gifts: The purpose of life is to give them away," will be presented by Dr. A.D. Cropper, (Kalinago Indian-Carib). Dr. Cropper is a technology development manager for the Electronic & Sensor Products, within the Remote Sensing Systems, Electro Optics and Electrical Engineering, Center of Excellence in ITT Industries Space Systems Division (formally Commercial & Government Systems Business Unit at Eastman Kodak Company). A.D. was born in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, of Kalinago Carib, African and French ancestry and came to the U.S.A. in the late seventies. He acquired his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and his Ph.D. in electrical/materials engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

A.D.'s accomplishments are extensive: Academia for eight years at Norfolk State University, in Norfolk Virginia, at The University of The West Indies in St. Augustine Trinidad, West Indies, and Clarkson University in Potsdam New York;Howard University Dean's List, E ngineering Honor Roll, Outstanding Young Men of America Award; Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society) and Beta Kappa Chi (Science Honor Society); Teacher of the Year award (1991, School of Technology at Norfolk State University); Who's Who of Science and Engineering (1994); and Who's Who in the World (1996).

1996: A.D. joined Corning Incorporated and worked for three plus years in various measurement development and project leadership roles, project leader of High Purity Fused Silica Process Measurements; Global Characterization Leader for Corning's Plasma Displays in Avon, France ; and established the laser burn in/life test capability for Corning's 980 nm pump laser project where he became the project leader.

1996-1999: Corporate Advisory Council for the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES) for Corning.

1996-1997: Science & Technology's Awareness Quality Improvement Team (AQIT) Recruitment Committee chairman.

1997: Recognized with the "Broadening Diversity Efforts" Award and formed Corning's Society of Black Professionals.

1997-1999: Served as Corning Incorporated campus manager and recruiter for Howard University.

1997-1998: Member of the Black Leadership Council-CAT.

1998: Received the Corning Incorporated, AQIT, "HBCU Recruiting" Award.

1999: Served as Corning Inc.'s second representative to the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Board of Corporate Affiliates.

1999: "Excellent Leadership as Campus Manager of Howard University" Award.

1999: Joined Kodak as a research associate and project manager of OLED Applications where he led a cross functional team of engineers, scientists and technicians in a matrix environment to develop an application market for the Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) display panels.

2000: Appointed to the role of Corporate Advisory Council member to AISES for Kodak.

2001: Transitioned to manage the Image Extraction Group and then the Image Science Products Technology Center where his team of 33 individuals work with digital image processing and algorithm development, and perform compression studies and analysis on information within images.

2002: Appointed as hiring manager for the Image Science Center of Excellence within the Commercial & Government Systems (C&GS) Business Unit. Spokesperson of the Native American Council at Kodak (NACK) Employee Network.

2002: C&GS Business Unit presented A.D. with the " IPT Leadership Development Program" Award.

2003/2004: Granted a U.S. Patent ( 6,623,608) for " A Method for Manufacturing an Integrated Display Device including an OLED Display and a Touch Screen," a nd (6,814,642), " Touch Screen Display and Method of Manufacture."

2004: Guest speaker for IEEE Engineering Management Society, Workshop on " Careers in Technical Management." Elected to the AISES Board of Directors as well as the Native American Cultural Center Inc. Board of Directors.

2004 - present: Appointed t echnology development manager for the Electronic & Sensor Products where he is responsible for Electronic and Sensor Product (E&SP) technology development, including relevant technology transfers, interfacing with government research labs, prime contractors, chief technology officer, and principle investigators. He monitors government publications and Web sites to determine discriminating Electronic and Sensor Product technologies needed to support business objectives. He prepares technology roadmaps, and initiates and pursues both internal and external funding for R&D projects within E&SP.

2004/2005: One of the founders and c harter member p resident of ITT Industries, Space Systems Division, Spectrum Employee Network, and was elected to its Board of Directors.

A.D. has been active in many organizations ranging from IEEE, SID, MRS and SPIE professional societies, national minority organizations NSBE and AISES, and at high school and college campuses both nationally and internationally during the last 20 years. He has been involved in giving presentations at professional societies' national and international conferences; judging both the local and national AISES Annual High School Science Fairs; and conducting technical and professional workshops at minority and majority high school and college campuses, as well as at the AISES leadership and national conferences. Also, he works with the local K-12 school districts in the upstate New York region in the capacity of role model and liaison. He participates in judging the Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Education K-8 Science Fair and works with the Northern Plains region linking urban and rural people of color around a common education philosophy.

A.D. enjoys swimming, scuba diving, outdoor activities, reading and dancing. He successfully represented Trinidad and Tobago in local, regional and international swimming competitions. His love for swimming led him to receive a four-year swimming scholarship from Howard University, which provided him with an opportunity to obtain a college education. In December 1995, A.D. married Natalie Rogers, also a native of Trinidad, who was a professional dancer and now a teacher and school administrator at Garth Fagan Dance in Rochester, N.Y., and a freelance choreographer. They have one daughter, Iala Kitanyea Cropper, who was born on December 2, 2004, and reside in beautiful upstate New York near Lake Ontario.

"The Niagara Power Project: An Interdisciplinary Case Study in Environment and Community" is presented by Neil Patterson Jr., (Tuscarora and a member of the Bear clan). The project is a multimedia exploration of a major relicensing endeavor at the Tuscarora Nation, where the Niagara Power Project condemned land for the construction of the Lewiston Reservoir in 1957 by order of the U.S. Supreme Court. As the operators of North America’s first major hydroelectric plants begin to apply for relicensing by the federal government, many communities have an opportunity to analyze the impact these mega-structures have had on the environment and the people. This is a look back on the road traveled and the history of the Tuscarora People to better understand the true costs of the Niagara Power Project to the surrounding environment and community. The study is informed by the environmental science, art, oral history, and the traditional knowledge of the Haudenosaunee.

Mr. Patterson was born and raised on the Tuscarora Nation. He is founder and director of the Tuscarora Nation's Environment Program and a member of the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force since 1992. Mr. Patterson manages several environmental program initiatives including the Tuscarora Nation Relicensing Program. His direct environmental interests include the application of Geographic Information Systems to environmental decision making and FERC Relicensing Issues.

He has a B.S. in Environmental Forest Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, N.Y. Mr. Patterson resides on the Tuscarora Nation near Lewiston, N.Y., where he enjoys fishing, hunting and backpacking.