Public Members |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Edward H. Gee
Edward H. Gee of Stone Mountain, Georgia is president of the ISES Corporation, a facilities engineering and management support firm that he founded in 1987. He has almost 35 years of experience providing capital planning and budgeting services to corporate, institutional, and government clients. Through his company, Gee has pioneered and developed a range of management services and tools, including facility condition analyses, operations and maintenance programming, asset management studies, life cycle modeling, and accessibility surveys, among others.
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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.
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Phillip D. Jenkins
Phillip D. Jenkins of Austin, Texas is a senior software engineer in IBM’s Research Division who has over 27 years of experience with the company. He has been active in the development of innovations to enhance the accessibility of IBM technologies, products, and services through IBM’s Human Ability and Accessibility Center. He represented IBM on Access Board advisory committees involved in drafting and more recently updating access standards for electronic and information technologies issued under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
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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.
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Nancy Starnes
Nancy Starnes of Arlington, Virginia serves as Senior Vice President of the National Organization on Disability which is dedicated to expanding the participation and contributions of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. She directs the organization’s efforts to close the participation gaps between those with and without disabilities in the nation’s towns, cities and counties. Starnes has been active in disability rights advocacy for over 30 years and has served on numerous organization and consumer boards and coalitions.
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Elizabeth A. Stewart
Elizabeth A. Stewart of Winter Haven, Florida is an attorney whose practice focuses on family law. She joined the McKinley and Blend Law Firm, P.A. 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.
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Gary L. Talbot
Gary L. Talbot of Foxboro, Massachusetts is Assistant General Manager for System-Wide Accessibility with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). MBTA operates one of the largest mass transit systems in the U.S. that includes a vast network of bus and rail lines, including rapid bus transportation, and rapid rail, light rail, and commuter rail service. Before joining MBTA in 2007, Talbot served as a Senior Engineer with Walt Disney World Ride and Show Engineering in Lake Buena Vista, Florida where he oversaw design and development of ride and attraction accessibility enhancements. He previously managed the General Motors Mobility Center in Warren, Michigan. Talbot currently chairs the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Adaptive Devices Standards Committee (ADSC), which has responsibility for developing technical standards for adaptive devices used in personal use vehicles by persons with disabilities. Talbot, who holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, is active in various trade and civic organizations. He was appointed to the Board by President Bush in 2004 and was reappointed to a second term in 2007.
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Hans A. Van Winkle
Hans A. Van Winkle of Lumberton, New Jersey is President of the Project Management Group at Hill International, Inc., a leading construction management firm, and has over 35 years of experience in engineering, operations, construction and project management. Before joining Hill, he was director of the Construction Industry Institute, a non-profit consortium at the University of Texas at Austin, and served for more than 30 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where he rose to become Deputy Commander.
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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.
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Federal Members
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Barnaby L. Brasseux,
General Services Administration
Barnaby (Barney) L. Brasseux was named Deputy Administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration in September, 2008. As Deputy Administrator, Brasseux works closely with members of the GSA senior leadership team to provide leadership to GSA employees, devise policy and provide services to other federal agencies. Before becoming Deputy Administrator, Brasseux served as Deputy Commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) and briefly held the role of Acting FAS Commissioner. Brasseux has served GSA since 1993 in a continuing progression of senior leadership positions, including Assistant Commissioner for Travel, Motor Vehicle, and Card Services and Assistant Commissioner for Vehicle Acquisition and Leasing Services. Brasseux began his career in 1971 with Braniff International Airlines where he spent 11 years holding several management positions in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, Texas. He joined the federal government in 1982 as Assistant to the Director of the White House Travel Office where he served until moving to GSA. Brasseux received a Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive in 2007.
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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.
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John U. Sepúlveda, Department of Veterans Affairs
John U. Sepúlveda was named the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration for the Department of Veterans Affairs by the President in 2009. In this capacity, Sepúlveda serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Department on human resources management, labor-management relations, diversity programs and equal employment opportunity, and employee health and safety. Prior to his appointment, Sepúlveda served on a special panel advising the Director of National Intelligence and various intelligence agencies on human capital and diversity policy issues. He also worked as a senior executive in the housing finance industry. During the Clinton Administration, Sepúlveda led various initiatives to promote greater diversity throughout the U.S. Government as Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management and also worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Earlier in his career, Sepúlveda held various local and state executive and appointed positions in Connecticut and taught political science at Hunter College and Yale University. A native of New York City, he holds two Master's degrees from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College.
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John Trasviña, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
John Trasviña was appointed Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by President Obama in 2009. In this capacity, he administers federal fair housing laws and establishes national policies to ensure that all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice. Previously, Trasviña served as President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) where he led litigation and public policy in the areas of civil rights, immigration, education and related issues. Trasviña also taught immigration law at Stanford Law School and served as Director of the Discrimination Research Center in Berkeley. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Mr. Trasviña Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. As Special Counsel, a position he held until 2001, he led the only federal government office devoted solely to immigrant workplace. He earlier served as General Counsel and Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. A native of San Francisco, California, Trasviña is a graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School.
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Nominations and Senate confirmation pending for the following:
Assistant Secretary for Administration, Department of Commerce
Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Department of Defense
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education
General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services
Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, Department of Interior
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of Justice
Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor
Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Department of Transportation
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