Listed below are the Keynote Speakers who presented at the Great Plains Technology Conference. You may also view archived streams of each session from the conference. To view the following archived Windows Media stream, you will need to have the following Codian Video Decoder installed.
View the October 8 Opening Keynote Session: U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan and Dr. Anthony Tether.
Archived Stream: QuickTime | Windows Media
total time: 1 hour 24 minutes
View the October 9 morning Keynote Session: U.S. Senator Kent Conrad, Kyle Warnick, Microsoft with U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan & Dr. Thomas Hunter, Sandia Corporation.
Archived Stream: QuickTime | Windows Media
total time: 1 hour 26 minutes
View the October 9 afternoon ITCND Awards Presentation & Keynote Session: Jonathan Adelstein, FCC; Frederick Smith & Rob Carter of Federal Express with Senator Byron Dorgan.
Archived Stream: QuickTime | Windows Media
total time: 57 minutes
- Byron L. Dorgan
- United States Senator
Byron L. Dorgan was re-elected to a third term in the U.S. Senate in November 2004, earning nearly 70 percent of the vote. Since 1996, he has served in the Democratic Leadership as an Assistant Democratic Floor Leader. In 1998 he was named Chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. He is the first North Dakotan to serve in the Senate Democratic leadership.
-
Senator Dorgan also plays a strong leadership role in the Senate as Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. He is also a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he leads the subcommittee that funds the nation’s energy and water projects. Senator Dorgan also chairs the Energy Subcommittee within the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and he is a senior member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, where he chairs the Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism Subcommittee. Throughout his career, Senator Dorgan has worked to advance the interests of rural America. One of his top priorities has been the creation of good-paying jobs and fostering economic development in North Dakota. Top priorities have been creating good–paying jobs and greater economic opportunity in North Dakota, and working to establish strong farm policies for family farmers and ranchers. In 2002, Senator Dorgan conceived of the idea to create a Red River Valley Research Corridor, an effort to harness North Dakota’s world-class colleges and universities to bring high-tech research and development to the state. The effort strengthens not only the nation, but also expands economic growth in North Dakota by bringing high-tech federal research and training projects to North Dakota’s institutions of higher learning. A 2006 study found that, since its creation in 2002, the Red River Valley Research Corridor has generated $759 million in positive economic impact and added thousands of jobs to the regional economy. Senator Dorgan was raised in the southwestern North Dakota farming community of Regent. His family worked in the farm equipment and petroleum business and raised cattle and horses. He graduated from a high school class of nine students. He is married to Kim Dorgan and has four children: Scott, Shelly (deceased), Brendon and Haley. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Dakota and earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Denver. He later worked for a Denver–based aerospace firm. Senator Dorgan’s public service career began at age 26, when he was appointed to the office of State Tax Commissioner in North Dakota. He was the youngest constitutional officer in North Dakota’s history. He was re-elected to that office by large margins in 1972 and 1976, and was chosen one of “Ten Outstanding State Officials” in the United States by the Washington Monthly magazine.
-
[ + ] Read More
- Jonathan S. Adelstein
- Federal Communications Commission
Jonathan S. Adelstein was sworn in as a member of the Federal Communications Commission on December 3, 2002, and sworn in for a new five-year term on December 6, 2004.
Before joining the FCC, Adelstein served for fifteen years as a staff member in the United States Senate. For the last seven years, he was a senior legislative aide to United States Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), where he advised Senator Daschle on telecommunications, financial services, transportation and other key issues. Previously, he served as Professional Staff Member to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman David Pryor (D-AR), including an assignment as a special liaison to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI).
-
Prior to his service in the Senate, Adelstein held a number of academic positions, including: Teaching Fellow in the Department of History, Harvard University; Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Stanford University; and Communications Consultant to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Adelstein received a B.A. with Distinction in Political Science from Stanford University, an M.A. in History from Stanford University, studied at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society.
Adelstein was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. He now lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife Karen, son Adam and daughter Lexi.
-
[ + ] Read More
- Frederick W. Smith
- Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Corporation
Frederick W. Smith is chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation, a $35-billion global transportation, business services and logistics company.
Smith is responsible for providing strategic direction for all FedEx Corporation operating companies, including FedEx Services, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Kinko's. FedEx serves more than 220 countries and territories with operations that include 672 aircraft and over 70,000 vehicles. More than 275,000 employees and independent contractors worldwide handle more than 6.5 million shipments each business day. Since founding FedEx in 1971, Smith has been an active proponent of regulatory reform, free trade and “open skies agreements” for aviation around the world.
-
FedEx has continued to strengthen its industry leadership over the past 34 years, and has been widely acknowledged for its commitment to total quality service. FedEx Express was the first service company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990. In addition, FedEx has consistently been ranked on FORTUNE Magazine's industry lists, including “World's Most Admired Companies” (No. 4, 2006 “America's Most Admired Companies” (No. 2, 2006); No. 1 on the Delivery Industry list (2005); is in the “Hall of Fame” for claiming a spot on the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list since its inception (1998-2005) and is a FORTUNE Blue Ribbon Honoree for having appeared on five of the magazine’s exclusive trademarked lists in 2005.
Smith has served on the boards of several large public companies and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Mayo Foundation Boards. He was formerly chairman of the Board of Governors for the International Air Transport Association and the U.S. Air Transport Association. Smith is chair of the Business Roundtable’s Security Task Force, and a member of the Business Council and the CATO Institute. He served as chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council and is the current chairman of the French-American Business Council. In addition, Smith was named 2006 Person of the Year by the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, served as co-chairman of the U.S. World War II Memorial Project, and was named Chief Executive magazine’s 2004 “CEO of the Year.”
Born in 1944 in Marks, Miss., Smith attended Yale University, where he earned a B.A. in 1966. Smith served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966-1970.
-
[ + ] Read More
- Robert B. Carter
- Executive Vice President, Information Services & Chief Information Officer, FedEx Corporation
Robert B. (Rob) Carter is executive vice president of FedEx Information Services and chief information officer of FedEx Corporation. He is a member of the five-person Executive Committee, which plans and executes the corporation’s strategic business activities. Carter is responsible for setting technology direction, as well as the corporation’s key applications and technology infrastructure. FedEx applications, advanced networks and data centers provide around-the-clock and around-the-globe support for the product offerings of FedEx. Carter joined FedEx in 1993 and has nearly 30 years of systems development and implementation experience.
-
Carter was born in Taiwan. He earned his bachelor’s degree in computer and information science from the University of Florida and his master’s degree from the University of South Florida. Carter’s professional awards include: Information Week Chief of the Year Award (2000, 2001, 2005); CIO magazine's 100 Award (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006); and InfoWorld Chief Technology Officer of the Year (2000). Carter is a member of the Saks Inc. Board of Directors and the University of Florida Foundation Board of Trustees. He also serves as chairman of the Capital Campaign for the University of Tennessee Hamilton Eye Institute and as a member of the Memphis Riverfront Development Corporation and the LifeBlood Foundation.
-
[ + ] Read More
- Dr. Thomas O. Hunter
- President and Laboratories Director, Sandia Corporation
Dr. Thomas (Tom) O. Hunter is President of Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, and Director of Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia Corporation manages Sandia National Laboratories, with principal sites in Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Dr. Hunter joined Sandia in 1967 and became President in April 2005. His responsibilities include managing the Laboratories' $2.3 billion annual budget and approximately 8,700 employees.
-
Before assuming his role as Director, Dr. Hunter was the Senior Vice President for Defense Programs at the Laboratories. In that capacity, he led the Defense Programs Strategic Management Unit, including approximately 60% of the Laboratories' annual budget. His management role included oversight of research programs in microelectronics, materials science,
engineering science, computer science, and pulsed power; nuclear weapons engineering; information systems and technology; and production and manufacturing. He also had responsibility for the Laboratories' effort in advanced computing, computational engineering science, environmental testing, corporate information systems, and systems integration.
From October 1995 to March 1999, Hunter served as Vice President of Sandia’s California Laboratory. Responsibilities included managing programs in nuclear weapons R&D, nonproliferation, advanced manufacturing technology, information systems, environmental technology, and energy research. He served as site manager for Sandia’s California operations, responsible for community and government outreach. He also served as corporate leader for the development of nonproliferation, arms control, and materials management programs.
Earlier in his Sandia career, he was Director of the Energy and Environment Program Center, where he coordinated Sandia’s activities in energy development and environmental quality and emphasized international energy and environment development and supporting information systems. Hunter led Sandia and U.S. DOE laboratory programs to establish cooperative R&D programs in the former Soviet Union to support nuclear nonproliferation.
Hunter has also been Sandia's Director of Nuclear Waste Management and Transportation, Manager of the Yucca Mountain Project, and leader of the R&D Program for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. His responsibilities have included developing advanced technology for underground nuclear weapons testing, reactor safety programs, and fusion engineering.
He is a current member of the Engineering Advisory Board for the University of Florida, Council on Foreign Relations, American Nuclear Society, and the U. S. Strategic Command's Strategic Advisory Group. He has served as a member and Chair for the Board of Visitors for the Dean of the College of Engineering (University of CA at Davis), on various review groups with other DOE laboratories, guest lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on nuclear waste management, and as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of numerous technical papers and presentations.
Dr. Hunter earned a B.S.M.E. from the University of Florida, an M.S.M.E. from the University of New Mexico, an M.S.N.E. from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus by both the University of Florida and the University of Wisconsin.
-
[ + ] Read More
- Kyle Warnick
- Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Microsoft Surface Computing, Microsoft Corporation
Kyle Warnick joined Microsoft Surface Computing in July 2006 as the senior marketing communications manager. In this role, Warnick is responsible for directing and handling the entire public relations, marketing and branding communications strategies that shape, strengthen and promote Microsoft Surface™ and surface computing at Microsoft Corp.
-
Warnick is thrilled to have the chance to make history with Surface. He believes Surface and surface computing can break down the traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way the public interacts with technology.
Before coming to Microsoft, Warnick worked for T-Mobile USA Inc., where he served as a corporate spokesman and oversaw all media and analyst relations and internal communications for T-Mobile HotSpot. Before T-Mobile, Warnick founded his own public relations consultancy firm, Chapter 2, where he directed public relations efforts for a variety of technology and nonprofit clients.
Warnick previously worked for PR.com (now known as OnPR), where he managed both national and international public relations programs for AT&T Wireless and InfoSpace Mobile, the mobile division of InfoSpace. He also managed public relations for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he dedicated several years to directing statewide and countywide communications and advocacy for the NCI and developed a youth activist organization that earned national and presidential recognition.
Warnick holds a bachelor’s degree in fine art and English from Seattle Pacific University and a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix.
-
[ + ] Read More
- Dr. Anthony J. “Tony” Tether
- Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Dr. Anthony J. Tether was appointed as Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on June 18, 2001. DARPA is the principal Agency within the Department of Defense for research, development, and demonstration of concepts, devices, and systems that provide highly advanced military capabilities. As Director, Dr. Tether is responsible for management of the Agency's projects for high-payoff, innovative research and development. Until his appointment as Director, DARPA, Dr. Tether held the position of Chief Executive Officer and President of The Sequoia Group, which he founded in 1996. The Sequoia Group provided program management and strategy development services to government and industry. From 1994 to 1996, Dr. Tether served as Chief Executive Officer for Dynamics Technology Inc. From 1992 to 1994, he was Vice President of Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC) Advanced Technology Sector, and then Vice President and General Manager for Range Systems at SAIC. Prior to this, he spent six years as Vice President for Technology and Advanced Development at Ford Aerospace Corp., which was acquired by Loral Corporation during that period. He has also held positions in the Department of Defense, serving as Director of DARPA's Strategic Technology Office in 1982 through 1986, and as Director of the National Intelligence Office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1978 to 1982. Prior to entering government service, he served as Executive Vice President of Systems Control Inc. from 1969 to 1978, where he applied estimation and control theory to military and commercial problems with particular concentration on development and specification of algorithms to perform real-time resource allocation and control.
-
Dr. Tether has served on Army and Defense Science Boards and on the Office of National Drug Control Policy Research and Development Committee. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is listed in several Who's Who publications. In 1986, he was honored with both the National Intelligence Medal and the Department of Defense Civilian Meritorious Service Medal.
Dr. Tether received his Bachelor's of Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1964, and his Master of Science (1965) and Ph.D. (1969) in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
- Download Keynote PDF (5.7MB)
-
[ + ] Read More
