Members of the Board

Public Members

Douglas Anderson
Douglas Anderson, Associate AIA, of Wheaton, Illinois has been active in the work of the ADA since it first became law. He is a Partner at LCM Architects in Chicago who assists both public and private entities in complying with the ADA. As an Accessibility Project Manager at the firm, he has advised various clients, including Fortune 500 companies, on meeting the design requirements of the ADA. Anderson previously was employed at the Great Lakes Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is part of a national network of federally funded entities that provide guidance and training on the ADA. Anderson was first appointed to the Board by President Bush in 2003 and was reappointed to a second term in 2007.

John Gunnar Box
John Gunnar Box of Corona, California is founder of Colours ‘N Motion, Inc., a company that manufactures and customizes wheelchairs and wheelchair accessories. A native of Southern California, he has run the company as its president for the past 16 years. Previously, he organized and operated a family run aerospace company. Box sits on the boards of UNITY, a Corona youth organization, and the Los Amigos Research and Education Institute. He was appointed to the Board by the President in 2007.

Joseph A. Cirillo, R.A.
Joseph A. Cirillo, R.A., of Middletown, Rhode Island served as Rhode Island’s State Building Commissioner for 28 years, a position he was appointed to in 1974. As Rhode Island’s first Building Commissioner, he was instrumental in the adoption and implementation of the State Building Code system. He oversaw the Commission’s enforcement of these codes, which apply to all facilities built on state property. In 1980, Cirillo assumed a leadership role in ensuring access for people with disabilities to all state buildings through a state-wide survey and retrofit program involving over 1200 facilities. He was also responsible for the adoption of the state’s accessibility code. Cirillo began his career as a registered architect with the U.S. Navy, designing facilities around the world, and later entered private practice. He is a past president of the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. and of the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards. Cirillo received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Ronald J. Gardner
Ronald J. Gardner of Bountiful, Utah is a blind attorney and has practiced law for over 25 years. His legal work includes serving as Legal Director of Utah's Disability Law Center, Senior Trial Attorney for the Office of Chief Counsel and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah. He also served as Director of the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness in the graduate school at Louisiana Tech University and has taught Business Law as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University. Gardner received a law degree from Brigham Young University Law School and was named "Honored Alumnus of the Year" in 1999. He is President of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah.
He was named to the Board by President Bush in 2007.

James R. (“J.R.”) Harding II, Ed.D.
James R. (“J.R.”) Harding II, Ed.D., of Tallahassee, Florida, is employed by the Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation as a Partnership Specialist for the Office of the Director. Dr. Harding brings to the Board a successful history of local and state advocacy resulting in more inclusive environments and policies for persons with disabilities. He is active in a variety of organizations and causes, including the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities, the Florida Building Commission Waiver Council, the Commission for Transportation Disadvantaged, the Florida Disability Mentoring Day, the Business Leadership Council, and the Chamber of Commerce. He received a doctorate in higher education from Florida State University. Harding previously served on the Board from 2002 to 2006 and was named to a second term by President Bush in 2007.

Tricia Mason
Appointed to the Board by President Bush in 2005, Tricia Mason of Arlington, Virginia is currently pursuing a master's degree in Interior Design at Marymount University. She is a former president of Little People of America and serves as its representative to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A117 Committee. The ANSI A117 Committee maintains design standards for accessible buildings and facilities. Mason is originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming where she chaired the Mayor's Council for People with Disabilities and served on the Statewide Independent Living Council. Before leaving Wyoming, she worked for the Governor's Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Wyoming Business Leadership Network.  She holds a bachelor's degree in Textiles Merchandising and Interior Design from the University of Wyoming.

Neil K. Melick, CBO
Neil K. Melick of West Palm Beach, Florida is Director of the Construction Services Department of the City of West Palm Beach, Florida. He is a Florida Licensed Building Codes Administrator and International Certified Building Official, as well as a Florida Certified Building Contractor. Since 2003 he has served as Chair of the Florida Accessibility Advisory Council in the Department of Community Affairs whose members are appointed by the Governor. He is also a member of the Florida Building Commission’s Accessibility Technical Advisory Committee. Melick is a former president of the Building Officials Association of Palm Beach County and previously chaired the Building Code Advisory Board of Palm Beach County of which he remains a member. He also has served as vice chairman of the International Code Council (ICC) International Building Code Interpretations Committee, chaired the ICC’s Structural Action Committee, and served on the former Code Interpretations Committee of the Southern Building Code Congress International, which is now part of the ICC.

Elizabeth A. Stewart
Elizabeth A. Stewart of Winter Haven, Florida is an attorney whose practice focuses on family law. She joined the Sutton Law Firm last year after serving 20 years as the Access Board’s Deputy General Counsel. At the Board, Stewart was active in the development of accessibility guidelines for facilities, public rights-of-way, and passenger vessels under the ADA as well as standards for accessible electronic and information technology under the Rehabilitation Act. She also supervised the Board’s Compliance and Enforcement Office, served as the Board’s Ethics Officer, and was instrumental in organizing the Board’s Advisory Committee on Courthouse Accessibility. Before joining the Board in 1986, she practiced law in Bartow with a concentration in family law and civil litigation. She also worked for the Court Administrator’s office for the 10th Judicial Circuit and the State Attorney’s office. Stewart earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a law degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

John O. Woods, Jr., P.E.
John O. Woods, Jr., P.E., of Alexandria, Virginia is President of Woods - Peacock Engineering Consultants, a firm he co-founded in 1999. He has over 30 years experience in structural engineering. Active in various professional, community and civic organizations, Woods has served as president of the Consulting Engineers Council of Metropolitan Washington, president of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, and is a director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He was a member of the Commission for the Disabled in Alexandria and the Governor’s Council for the Needs of the Handicapped. He graduated from The Citadel with a degree in Civil Engineering and earned a Master of Science at Duke University. Woods served in Vietnam as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and was shot down in a rescue mission in 1967. He spent three years in rehabilitation as a result of the injuries he received.

John C. Wyvill
John C. Wyvill of Lincoln, Nebraska is Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, a position he was appointed to by the Governor in 2007. He previously served as vice president and general counsel for AMS Consulting, Inc. and as Director of the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education, a state agency that promotes and coordinates workforce training in partnership with schools and universities, business and industry, and other government agencies. In addition, he was a Commissioner of Arkansas Rehabilitation Services for six years and worked as an assistant legal counsel to the Governor. Wyvill is a former president of the Council of State Administrators for Vocational Rehabilitation, a national organization of chief administrators of public rehabilitation agencies. Before entering state government, Wyvill worked as an attorney in private practice and handled both civil and criminal cases. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from Hendrix College at Conway and a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Grace Chung Becker, Department of Justice
Grace Chung Becker is the Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. She supervises approximately 650-700 employees in ten litigating sections. Becker previously served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division and as an Associate Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Defense. She also has worked as a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, as Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, as Assistant General Counsel at the United States Sentencing Commission, and as an associate at the law firm of Williams & Connolly. She graduated from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and obtained a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

James E. Cason, Department of Interior
James E. Cason serves as Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior, a position he was appointed to in 2007. Previously, he served as the Department’s associate deputy secretary since 2001 and from 2005 to 2007 fulfilled many of the duties of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs while that position was vacant. From 1982 to 1993, he held positions in the Department‘s Minerals Management Service and its Bureau of Land Management and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before returning to the Department of the Interior in 2001, Cason was vice president of risk management for Unifrax Corporation, an international manufacturing firm specializing in energy saving products. Cason managed the corporation's health, safety and environmental quality program, property and casualty insurance program, and product liability litigation. Cason earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and graduated with honors from Pacific University in Oregon.

Michael L. Dominguez, Department of Defense
Michael L. Dominguez was appointed Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness by the President in 2005. In this capacity, he is the primary assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness providing staff advice to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for total force management as it relates to manpower; force structure; readiness; reserve component affairs; health affairs; training; and personnel policy and management, including equal opportunity, morale, welfare, recreation, and quality of life matters. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Dominguez served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs since 2001 and as Acting-Secretary of the Air Force in 2005. After graduating in 1975 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, reported to Vicenza, Italy, then worked varied assignments with the 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne) and the Southern European Task Force. In 1980, Mr. Dominguez went into private business and attended Stanford University's Graduate School of Business where he earned a Master's degree in business administration. In 1983 he joined the Office of the Secretary of Defense as an analyst for Program Analysis and Evaluation and entered the Senior Executive Service in 1991 as Director for Planning and Analytical Support.

Tyler D. Duvall, Department of Transportation
Tyler D. Duvall was appointed Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Transportation (DOT) by the President in 2006. In this position, he works closely with the Under Secretary for Policy and the Administrators of DOT’s various modal and safety administrations in the development of transportation policies. In 2002 and 2003, Duvall served as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy. Prior to joining DOT, he worked as an associate in the Business and Finance Group of Hogan & Hartson, LLP, where he represented various public and private companies in a wide range of business dealings, including mergers, acquisitions and securities filings. Duvall received a bachelor of arts with a major in economics from Washington and Lee University and a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Tracy R. Justesen, Department of Education
Tracy R. Justesen was appointed Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services by the President in November 2007. In this capacity he serves as the Secretary of Education’s principal adviser on special education, vocational rehabilitation, and disability and rehabilitation research and oversees a wide range of federal programs in these areas. Justesen previously served as Deputy Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the Department of Education and was an attorney-advisor in the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division for seven years. While at the Department of Justice, he also served as a technical adviser to the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, Associate Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and as the U.S. delegate-adviser to the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Justesen earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Southern Utah University, a master's degree in special education from Utah State University, a J.D. degree from Drake University Law School, and an LL.M. degree in international law from George Washington University.

Kim Kendrick, Department of Housing and Urban Development
Kim Kendrick serves as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a position she was appointed to by the President. In this capacity, she administers federal fair housing laws and establishes national policies to ensure that all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice. Previously, she served as a Senior Counselor to the Secretary of HUD. Before joining HUD, Kendrick was the General Counsel for Covenant House Washington, an international non-profit organization committed to helping and safeguarding homeless, runaway and at-risk youth. She also was a Regional Administrator for the District of Columbia Housing Authority. Kendrick received a bachelor of arts in Sociology from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh Law School.

Neil Romano, Department of Labor
Neil Romano was appointed Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor in 2008. He previously served as director of communications for the White House Office of Drug Abuse Policy. In that role, he worked on campaigns such as “Just Say No” and “America Responds to AIDS.” He also was a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities and served on the board of directors of the United Cerebral Palsy of Central Maryland. Additionally, he has advised the Association for People in Supported Employment and the U.S. Business Leadership Network on promoting employment of people with disabilities. He founded Romano & Associates Inc., which produced public awareness programs, and America’s Strength, an organization that worked with industry in hiring individuals with disabilities. Romano received a bachelor’s degree from New York University and pursued graduate studies at Brown University.

Tom Samra, United States Postal Service
Tom Samra was named United States Postal Service Vice President, Facilities, in November 2005. In this role, he is responsible for one of the largest civilian construction programs in the U.S. and oversees all Postal Service properties, including 8,000 owned and 26,000 leased facilities. Samra manages a nationwide staff of professionals, comprised of architects, engineers, environmental, property management, and real estate specialists. His organization is responsible for acquiring and leasing all properties and buildings, for managing the design and construction programs for all new postal buildings, and for renovating and/or repairing current postal space. Prior to joining the Postal Service, Samra served with the American Red Cross as vice president of real estate development and material management. He has 30 years experience in project development and facilities management both domestically and internationally. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Detroit Institute of Technology in 1975.

James C. Stansel, Department of Health and Human Services
James C. Stansel is Acting General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As HHS General Counsel, Stansel serves as chief advisor to the Secretary on all legal matters concerning the department. He oversees a staff of 400 attorneys providing legal services and advice to other officials and agencies throughout HHS. Before joining HHS, Stansel was a partner in the health care and food and drug groups at the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP.  He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University and a law degree from Yale School of law, where he was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.  After graduating law school, he clerked for the Honorable Stephen H. Anderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. 

Otto J. Wolff, Department of Commerce
Otto J. Wolff was named Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce by the President in 2001. In this capacity, he oversees the Commerce Department's $5.6 billion budget and its facilities worldwide and is responsible for a broad range of administrative functions, including strategic planning, financial management, budgeting, procurement, financial assistance, security, human resources, civil rights, small business utilization, and personal and real property management. Previously Wolff served as staff of the Committee on House Administration where he was responsible for overseeing the implementation of wide-ranging reforms. Prior to that, he served as Assistant to the Secretary of Commerce and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration. He is a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor of science degree in finance.