Biographies of the Commissioners
William R. Graham is Chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack. He was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of National Security Research Inc. (NSR), a Washington-based company that conducts technical, operational, and policy research and analysis related to US national security. Previously he served as a member of several high-level study groups, including the Department of Defense Transformation Study Group, the Defense Science Board, the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization (the Rumsfeld Commission on Space), the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (also led by Hon. Donald Rumsfeld), and the National Academies’ Board on Army Science and Technology. From 1986–89 Dr. Graham was the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy while he served concurrently as Science Advisor to President Reagan, Chairman of the Federal Joint Telecommunications Resources Board, and member of the Arms Control Experts Group. Before going to the White House, he served as the Deputy Administrator of NASA. For 11 years, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Watkins-Johnson Company.
Dr. John S. Foster, Jr. began his career at the Radio Research Laboratory of Harvard University in 1942 and then volunteered to be an advisor to the 15th Army Air Force on radar countermeasures in Italy. In 1952, Dr. Foster joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, designed nuclear weapons, became Director of that Laboratory, then in 1965 served as Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the Department of Defense until 1973. He joined TRW to work on energy programs and then served on the Board, retiring in 1988. He currently serves as a consultant to LLNL and an Advisor to STRATCOM SAG Panel. He has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, Army Scientific Advisory Panel, Ballistic Missile Defense Advisory Committee, and Advanced Research Projects Agency. From 1973 – 1990 he was a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Panel. He served as Chairman of the Defense Science Board from 1990 to 1993. He served on the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States and on the Advisory Committee to the Director of DARPA.
Mr. Earl Gjelde, P.E., is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Group International, Ltd.; Summit Energy Group, Ltd.; Summit Energy International 2000, LLC; and Summit Power NW, LLC, primary participants in the development of over 5,000 megawatts of natural gas fired electric and wind generating plants within the United States. He has also held a number of government posts, serving as President George Herbert Walker Bush’s Under (now called Deputy) Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of the Interior (1989) and as President Ronald Reagan’s Under Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of the Interior (1985–1988). While in the Reagan administration he served concurrently as Special Envoy to China (1987), Deputy Chief of Mission for the US-Japan Science and Technology Treaty (1987–1988), and Counselor for Policy to the Director of the National Critical Materials Council (1986–1988); the Counselor to the Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of Energy (1982-1985); and Deputy Administrator, Chief Operating Officer, and Power Manager of the Bonneville Power Administration (1980-1982). Prior to 1980, he was a principal officer of the Bonneville Power Administration.
Dr. Robert J. Hermann is a senior partner of Global Technology Partners, LLC, a Boston-based investment firm that focuses on technology, defense aerospace, and related businesses worldwide. In 1998, Dr. Hermann retired from United Technologies Corporation, where he was Senior Vice President, Science and Technology. Prior to joining UTC in 1982, Dr. Hermann served 20 years with the National Security Agency with assignments in research and development, operations, and NATO. In 1977, he was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Communications, Command, Control, and Intelligence. In 1979, he was named Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research, Development, and Logistics and concurrently was Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Mr. Henry (Hank) M. Kluepfel served as Vice President for Corporate Development at SAIC, where he was the company’s leading cyberspace security advisor to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). Mr. Kluepfel is widely recognized for his 30-plus years of experience in security technology research, design, tools, forensics, risk reduction, education, and awareness, and he is the author of industry’s de facto standard security base guideline for the Signaling System Number 7(SS7) networks connecting and controlling the world’s public telecommunications networks. In past affiliations with Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore), AT&T, BellSouth and Bell Labs, he led industry efforts to protect, detect, contain, and mitigate electronic and physical intrusions and led the industry’s understanding of the need to balance technical, legal, and policy-based countermeasures to the then emerging hacker threat. He has been recognized as a Certified Protection Professional by the American Society of Industrial Security and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Gen Richard L. Lawson, USAF (Ret.), served as Chairman of Energy, Environment and Security Group, Ltd., and as President and CEO of the National Mining Association. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council of the U.S.; Chairman of the Energy Policy Committee of the US Energy Association; Chairman of the United States delegation to the World Mining Congress; and Chairman of the International Committee for Coal Research. Active duty positions included serving as Military Assistant to the President; Commander, 8th Air Force; Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe; Director for Plans and Policy, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Deputy Director of Operations, Headquarters US Air Force; and Deputy Commander in Chief, US European Command.
Dr. Gordon K. Soper served as the Group Vice President of Defense Group Inc., responsible for broad direction of corporate goals relating to company support of government customers in areas of countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, chemical/biological defense and domestic preparedness, treaty verification research, nuclear arms control and development of new business areas and growth of technical staff. He has also provided senior level technical support on a range of task areas to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Chemical and Biological National Security Program of National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Counterproliferation and Chem/Bio Defense Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Previously, Dr. Soper was Principal Deputy to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs (ATSD (NCB); Director, Office of Strategic and Theater Nuclear Forces Command, Control and Communications (C3) of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I); and Associate Director for Engineering and Technology/Chief Scientist at the Defense Communications Agency.
Dr. Lowell L. Wood, Jr. is retired from a career-long position on the technical staff of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy, and an extended term as a Research Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Since his retirement a decade ago, Dr. Wood has continued part-time technical consulting in the commercial sector and serving as an External Advisor of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charity, focusing his efforts on global health and development. Dr. Wood holds the distinction of being the most inventive American in history, holding more U.S. patents on new inventions than any other person, including Thomas Edison, the previous record-holder.
Dr. Joan Woodard was Executive Vice President and Deputy Director of Sandia National Laboratories, responsible for all of Sandia’s programs, operations, staff, and facilities. She was also responsible for the laboratory’s strategic planning. Previously, Dr. Woodard was Vice President of the Energy, Information and Infrastructure Technology Division, where her responsibilities included energy-related projects in fossil energy, solar, wind, geothermal, geosciences, fusion, nuclear power safety and severe accident analysis, and medical isotope processing; environment-related programs in remediation, nuclear waste management and repository certification, and waste minimization; information technology programs in information surety, command and control systems, and distributed information systems; and programs responsible for security of the transportation of nuclear weapons and special nuclear materials, and safety of commercial aviation. Over 80 percent of the programs included industrial or academic partners, and the nature of the work ranged from basic research to prototype systems evaluation.
Dr. John S. Foster, Jr. began his career at the Radio Research Laboratory of Harvard University in 1942 and then volunteered to be an advisor to the 15th Army Air Force on radar countermeasures in Italy. In 1952, Dr. Foster joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, designed nuclear weapons, became Director of that Laboratory, then in 1965 served as Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the Department of Defense until 1973. He joined TRW to work on energy programs and then served on the Board, retiring in 1988. He currently serves as a consultant to LLNL and an Advisor to STRATCOM SAG Panel. He has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, Army Scientific Advisory Panel, Ballistic Missile Defense Advisory Committee, and Advanced Research Projects Agency. From 1973 – 1990 he was a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Panel. He served as Chairman of the Defense Science Board from 1990 to 1993. He served on the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States and on the Advisory Committee to the Director of DARPA.
Mr. Earl Gjelde, P.E., is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Group International, Ltd.; Summit Energy Group, Ltd.; Summit Energy International 2000, LLC; and Summit Power NW, LLC, primary participants in the development of over 5,000 megawatts of natural gas fired electric and wind generating plants within the United States. He has also held a number of government posts, serving as President George Herbert Walker Bush’s Under (now called Deputy) Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of the Interior (1989) and as President Ronald Reagan’s Under Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of the Interior (1985–1988). While in the Reagan administration he served concurrently as Special Envoy to China (1987), Deputy Chief of Mission for the US-Japan Science and Technology Treaty (1987–1988), and Counselor for Policy to the Director of the National Critical Materials Council (1986–1988); the Counselor to the Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of Energy (1982-1985); and Deputy Administrator, Chief Operating Officer, and Power Manager of the Bonneville Power Administration (1980-1982). Prior to 1980, he was a principal officer of the Bonneville Power Administration.
Dr. Robert J. Hermann is a senior partner of Global Technology Partners, LLC, a Boston-based investment firm that focuses on technology, defense aerospace, and related businesses worldwide. In 1998, Dr. Hermann retired from United Technologies Corporation, where he was Senior Vice President, Science and Technology. Prior to joining UTC in 1982, Dr. Hermann served 20 years with the National Security Agency with assignments in research and development, operations, and NATO. In 1977, he was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Communications, Command, Control, and Intelligence. In 1979, he was named Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research, Development, and Logistics and concurrently was Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Mr. Henry (Hank) M. Kluepfel served as Vice President for Corporate Development at SAIC, where he was the company’s leading cyberspace security advisor to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). Mr. Kluepfel is widely recognized for his 30-plus years of experience in security technology research, design, tools, forensics, risk reduction, education, and awareness, and he is the author of industry’s de facto standard security base guideline for the Signaling System Number 7(SS7) networks connecting and controlling the world’s public telecommunications networks. In past affiliations with Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore), AT&T, BellSouth and Bell Labs, he led industry efforts to protect, detect, contain, and mitigate electronic and physical intrusions and led the industry’s understanding of the need to balance technical, legal, and policy-based countermeasures to the then emerging hacker threat. He has been recognized as a Certified Protection Professional by the American Society of Industrial Security and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Gen Richard L. Lawson, USAF (Ret.), served as Chairman of Energy, Environment and Security Group, Ltd., and as President and CEO of the National Mining Association. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council of the U.S.; Chairman of the Energy Policy Committee of the US Energy Association; Chairman of the United States delegation to the World Mining Congress; and Chairman of the International Committee for Coal Research. Active duty positions included serving as Military Assistant to the President; Commander, 8th Air Force; Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe; Director for Plans and Policy, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Deputy Director of Operations, Headquarters US Air Force; and Deputy Commander in Chief, US European Command.
Dr. Gordon K. Soper served as the Group Vice President of Defense Group Inc., responsible for broad direction of corporate goals relating to company support of government customers in areas of countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, chemical/biological defense and domestic preparedness, treaty verification research, nuclear arms control and development of new business areas and growth of technical staff. He has also provided senior level technical support on a range of task areas to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Chemical and Biological National Security Program of National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Counterproliferation and Chem/Bio Defense Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Previously, Dr. Soper was Principal Deputy to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs (ATSD (NCB); Director, Office of Strategic and Theater Nuclear Forces Command, Control and Communications (C3) of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I); and Associate Director for Engineering and Technology/Chief Scientist at the Defense Communications Agency.
Dr. Lowell L. Wood, Jr. is retired from a career-long position on the technical staff of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy, and an extended term as a Research Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Since his retirement a decade ago, Dr. Wood has continued part-time technical consulting in the commercial sector and serving as an External Advisor of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charity, focusing his efforts on global health and development. Dr. Wood holds the distinction of being the most inventive American in history, holding more U.S. patents on new inventions than any other person, including Thomas Edison, the previous record-holder.
Dr. Joan Woodard was Executive Vice President and Deputy Director of Sandia National Laboratories, responsible for all of Sandia’s programs, operations, staff, and facilities. She was also responsible for the laboratory’s strategic planning. Previously, Dr. Woodard was Vice President of the Energy, Information and Infrastructure Technology Division, where her responsibilities included energy-related projects in fossil energy, solar, wind, geothermal, geosciences, fusion, nuclear power safety and severe accident analysis, and medical isotope processing; environment-related programs in remediation, nuclear waste management and repository certification, and waste minimization; information technology programs in information surety, command and control systems, and distributed information systems; and programs responsible for security of the transportation of nuclear weapons and special nuclear materials, and safety of commercial aviation. Over 80 percent of the programs included industrial or academic partners, and the nature of the work ranged from basic research to prototype systems evaluation.