Presenters

The following presenters will be speaking at the conference:


Governor Phil Bredesen

Phil Bredesen, the 48th governor of Tennessee, took office January 18, 2003, with a promise to "focus energy on real results by leaving behind predictable and stale political debates."

Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee.

During his first year in office, Bredesen brought a new level of candor, openness and accountability to state government. In one of his first acts as Governor, he opened the door to administrative budget hearings, allowing taxpayers to see for the first time the decisions that are made on how their money is spent. His first three executive orders established the toughest ethics rules in the history of Tennessee's executive branch. He managed the State through a fiscal crisis without raising taxes or cutting funding for education. Most of all, he instilled a renewed confidence that government can work on behalf of its citizens for the betterment of the entire state.

Years Two and Three brought more progress. Bredesen pushed measures to improve education, including raising teacher pay above the Southeastern average and expanding Tennessee's pre-kindergarten program as part of a statewide initiative. To recruit new industry and jobs, he worked with the General Assembly to reform Tennessee's workers' compensation system and invest in retraining programs to help laid-off employees develop new skills in the rapidly changing economy. He launched Tennessee's war on methamphetamine abuse by focusing on treatment, prevention and public awareness as well as enhanced criminal penalties and resources for law enforcement.

Before serving as Tennessee's governor, Bredesen built a reputation for effective leadership as the mayor of Nashville from 1991 to 1999, charting a course that made Music City U.S.A. one of the best places in America to live, work and raise a family. Among other accomplishments, he invested nearly $500 million to build new schools and hire new teachers. He developed a state-of-the-art library system, oversaw downtown redevelopment, expanded the city's park system and drove down the crime rate. Under his leadership, Nashville saw record economic growth by recruiting high-quality jobs and companies such as Dell Computer Corp. and HCA Inc. Bredesen also brought two professional sports teams to Nashville: the NFL's Tennessee Titans and the NHL's Nashville Predators.

Before entering public service, Bredesen was a successful healthcare entrepreneur. Between research trips to the public library, he drafted a business plan at the kitchen table of his apartment that led to the creation in 1980 of HealthAmerica Corp., a Nashville-based healthcare management company that eventually grew to more than 6,000 employees and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He sold the company in 1986.

Bredesen and his wife, First Lady Andrea Conte, are active members of the community, locally and statewide. He is a founding member of Nashville's Table, a nonprofit group that collects discarded food from local restaurants and distributes it to the city's homeless population. He also founded the Land Trust for Tennessee, a nonprofit organization that works statewide to preserve open space and traditional family farms. Conte is founder and president of You Have the Power ... Know How to Use It, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about crime and justice issues.

Bredesen was born on November 21, 1943. He grew up in rural Shortsville, N.Y., and moved to Nashville in 1975. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University. He is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, a licensed pilot and enjoys painting as a hobby. He and Conte have one son, Ben.

Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander was born in Maryville, the son of a kindergarten teacher and an elementary school principal. He is a seventh generation Tennessean.

Senator Lamar Alexander

He is the only Tennessean ever to be popularly elected both governor and United States Senator. He chairs the Senate Education and Early Childhood Development Subcommittee, the Senate Energy Subcommittee as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Caucus. He is a member of the Foreign Relations and Budget Committees.

Sen. Alexander has been U.S. Education Secretary, president of the University of Tennessee, and the Goodman professor at Harvard's School of Government. He was chairman of President Reagan's Commission on Americans Outdoors and the National Governor's Association. In private life, he helped found a company that is now the nation’s largest provider of worksite day care.

In his campaign for governor, Lamar Alexander walked 1,000 miles across Tennessee in his now famous red and black plaid shirt. Once elected, he helped Tennessee become the third largest auto producer and the first state to pay teachers more for teaching well. He started Tennessee's Governor's Schools for outstanding students.

He is a classical and country pianist and the author of seven books, including Six Months Off, the story of his family’s life in Australia after he was governor.

Lamar Alexander met Honey Buhler at a staff softball game when he worked for Sen. Howard H. Baker of Tennessee and she worked for Sen. John G. Tower of Texas. They were married in 1969 and have four children. He is an elder in Westminster Presbyterian Church.

William A. (Tinker) Kelly

William A. (Tinker) Kelly is president of Voluntary Employee Benefits Advisors (VEBA). The company provides consulting and enrollment services in the voluntary benefit field for companies, organizations and associations.

William A. (Tinker) Kelly

Kelly has spent the past 21 years advising, designing, communicating, and enrolling employer-sponsored voluntary benefits. On numerous occasions, he has been the top national producer for a variety of insurance carriers in the voluntary benefits arena.

Tinker's understanding of human resource challenges, insight to effective communication platforms, and broad knowledge of employee-oriented financial products allows him to provide his clients with a complete understanding of the options available to insurance carriers, major employers and large organizations.

Tinker's recognized expertise in voluntary benefits has resulted in VEBA's appointment as voluntary benefits advisor to a company ranked in the top 15 of the largest employers in America.

Orrin Ingram

Orrin H. Ingram is President and Chief Executive Officer of Ingram Industries Inc., a Nashville based privately held company with four operating divisions: Ingram Book Group, Ingram Barge Company, Lightning Source and Ingram Digital Venture. Orrin is also Chairman of Ingram Barge Company.

Orrin received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1982 and immediately began his career in the family business. He has held numerous positions over the years and became President and CEO of Ingram Industries in 1999.

He serves as Chairman of the Board of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Chairman of the Board of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and serves on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. He is a board member of the United States Chamber of Commerce, 2006 Chairman of the Board of Trustees of United Way of Middle Tennessee, board member of Ingram Micro, Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and numerous advisory boards.

Orrin is an avid sports enthusiast and is past Chairman of the United States Polo Association and current Chairman of the Polo Training Foundation. Orrin and his wife Lee Ann reside in Franklin, Tennessee. He has two children Orrin H. (Hank) Ingram III and Virginia.

Gordon G. Fee

Retired President
Lockheed Martin Energy Systems Inc.

Gordon G. Fee, a native of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, received his bachelor’s degree in physics from the Pennsylvania State University and his master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee.

He began his career with Union Carbide Corporation in 1956 at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Tennessee. From 1956 until 1984, Fee held a variety of technical management positions with Union Carbide. In 1984, he joined Martin Marietta as Vice President in charge of the Oak Ridge Y-12 plant. In all he served as Y-12 Plant Manager for 9 years. (1982 through 1991)

In May of 1993 he was named President of the Lockheed Martin Energy Systems organization and was appointed to the Energy Systems Board of Directors. He served in this capacity until his retirement in early 1997. During this period Energy Systems had responsibility for operating the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant and the Oak Ridge Environmental Restoration Program for the U. S. Department of Energy. The combined budget for these functions was in excess of 1.5 billion dollars.

He has received the Distinguished Alumni award from the Pennsylvania State University and in 1992 he was named an Alumni Fellow of the Eberly College of Science. In 2000 in received the Oak Ridge Muddy Boot award from the East Tennessee Economic Council for his support of economic development in Oak Ridge.

Fee has been very active in public education in Tennessee. He currently is serving as the Chairperson of the Tennessee Business Roundtable’s education task force and is co-chair of the Public School Forum of East Tennessee. From 1996 through 2000 he served as the Executive Director of Tennessee's School-to-Career initiative. He was a member of the Governor’s Council for Excellence in Higher Education. In 1998, he received the McKee Award from the national Partners in Education for his work in getting businesses to become involved with public schools.

Fee is an active community leader and currently serves on the Board of Directors of, (a) Tennessee Tomorrow, (b) The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, (c) American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation, (d) Heritage Railroad Authority and (e) Great Smoky Mountain Boy Scout Council. He is a member of Rotary International, and the University of Tennessee College of Arts & Sciences Board of Visitors.

Gordon and his wife Miriam live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; they have two grown children and three grandchildren.

Commissioner Lana Seivers

Appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen in January of 2003, Lana Seivers brings a broad perspective to her role as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education.

Seivers, a native of Clinton, has served as a teacher, principal and superintendent during her 32 years in education. Early in her career, she worked in the Oak Ridge School System where she specialized in elementary and special education and later served as principal of Linden Elementary School.

Commissioner Lana Seivers

Previous to her appointment as Commissioner, she was superintendent of Clinton City Schools. During her tenure there, she was one of two superintendents statewide to serve as a consultant for the Institute for School Leaders, a project coordinated by the state of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Seivers was appointed by Governors McWherter and Sundquist to serve on an advisory council for the education of children with disabilities. She is a past chair of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Tennessee Committee for Elementary and Middle Schools. She has served as chair of the East Tennessee Superintendents' Study Council, and treasurer of the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents.

She currently serves on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, the Tennessee Board of Regents, and on the Council of Chief State School Officers. She is a Tennessee representative for the Education Commission of the States. In addition, she is a member of the Jobs Cabinet and the Children's Cabinet convened by Gov. Bredesen.

Seivers holds a bachelor's degree in education from Middle Tennessee State University, a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Jeff Wadsworth

Dr. Jeff Wadsworth

Jeff Wadsworth became ORNL's director on August 1, 2003. An internationally recognized metallurgist, he was previously a senior executive at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, where he focused on Department of Energy science programs, technology transfer, and homeland security. Before joining Battelle in August 2002, he served as deputy director for science and technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. From 1980 to 1992, he worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company at the Palo Alto Research Laboratory. He holds B.Met. (1972), Ph.D. (1975), D.Met. (1990), and D. Eng. (honorary, 2004) degrees from Sheffield University in England. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for "distinguished contributions in developing advanced materials and superplasticity, and in determining the history and origins of Damascus and other steels, and for broad scientific leadership supporting national security." In 2004, he received this honorary doctorate in engineering from Sheffield University and was named an honorary professor of the University of Science and Technology, Beijing.

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