Candace Gibson, PhD, CHIM
Director, Center for Collaborative Command and Leadership
Assistant Dean, BMSUE, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry,
Western University

Dr. Gibson’s biomedical research career encompassed studies in neurochemistry, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders, and studies of nutrition and behavior. An MA degree in journalism at the University of Western Ontario (1993) and certification in Health Information Management (2008) led to a secondary career in health communications and health information. As a member of the Expert Advisory Group to the Information Technology Council of Canada, Gibson co-authored critical reports on e-health and HI/HIM human resources in Canada. She is also the author of over 70 highly influential publications in neuroscience and health information management. Presently, Gibson serves as the Past Chair of CHIMA’s Board of Directors and a distinguished faculty member in Western’s Department of Pathology and as Assistant Dean, Basic Medical Sciences at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. As the pioneer in the implementation of the Teams of Leaders concept in Canada, Gibson also directs the work of the Canadian branch of the Center for Collaborative Command and Leadership (formerly the Center for Collaborative Leadership in Healthcare).

Dag von Lubitz, PhD, MD (Sc)
Scientific Director, Center for Collaborative Command and Leadership
Adjunct Research Professor, Central Michigan University

Professor Dag von Lubitz, PhD, MD (Sc.), a generalist and conceptualist who, prior to his affiliation with business and industry as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Scientist at MedSMART, Inc., had a distinguished academic career at the leading universities and governmental research institutions of Europe and the US. Author of over 220 peer reviewed papers, book chapters, and books with subjects spanning brain disorders, medical training, information and knowledge management, leadership, and national security, von Lubitz is also the recipient of the Smithsonian Institution Award, the French International Laval Prize, and several other national and international honours for scientific achievement. As an avid mondialist, von Lubitz focuses his current activities on fostering collaboration and cooperation based on the integration of people and technology within the worldwide setting of the civil society, its business, politics, and healthcare. True to these interests, von Lubitz currently serves as the scientific director of Center for Collaborative Command and Leadership (formerly the Center for Collaborative Leadership in Healthcare) at Central Michigan University.

Steven D. Berkshire, EdD, MHA, SPHR, FACHE
Director, Doctor of Health Administration Program
Central Michigan University

Dr. Berkshire joined the faculty at Central Michigan University in the capacity of Professor and Director of the Doctor of Health Administration Program in July 2008 after serving as the Dean of Graduate Programs and Professor of Management in the College for Professional Studies at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. Prior to Regis University he served as Associate Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Management at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, Alaska. Prior to joining the academic world full time Dr. Berkshire was a health care executive and consultant for 25+ years in several capacities. During his hospital career, Dr. Berkshire managed shared services, led public policy initiatives, and represented the health care industry as a lobbyist at the local, state and national levels. His consulting practice includes work with organizations on management and leadership programs, human resource issues, and organizational development and change management.

Ed Beakley, BEng (L), MEng (Air)

A 1968 NROTC graduate from Vanderbilt University and of the Naval Post Graduate School, followed by the Flight Research Incorporated Test Pilot and Flight Test Engineer Course. A retired Naval Aviator and test pilot with 170 combat missions and over 3000 hours in 20 different military aircraft, at the end of his naval career Beakley served as Test Director and Lead Project Test Pilot for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile Program in the Flight Test Division of the Pacific Missile Test Center, Point Mugu. A widely recognized expert in homeland security and national defense, Beakley worked subsequently as an Anti-Terrorism Specialist in support of Navy Anti-Terrorism Force Protection efforts, and Lead Officer for operations design, planning, control, and analysis for exercises focused on counter-terrorism, force protection, homeland security and homeland defense for the Center for Asymmetric Warfare. Currently a senior engineering officer at GBL Systems in Camarillo California, he works with the development of Live-Virtual-Constructive simulation for homeland security exercises, and also serves as the Terrorism Liaison Officer with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Terrorism Working Group. His contribution to aviation, naval affairs and issues of national security are recognized through his membership of the International Test and Evaluation Association, Naval Institute, the Association of Naval Aviation, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and the Board for Certification in Homeland Security. In addition to his professional duties, Beakley is the founder and director of the internationally recognized Project White Horse 084640, the first of its kind web-based analytical think-tank focused on decision making in severe crises.

Lieutenant General Frederic (Rick) Brown, PhD, USA (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Frederic J. Brown retired from the United States Army in 1989 after 32 years of service in various command and staff assignments. Serving in both Cavalry and Infantry units in Vietnam, he has commanded army units at virtually every level in the U. S., Germany and Vietnam. He has served in the Office of the Army Chief of Staff; Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Council Staff and as interim Deputy Chief of Staff to the President. Graduating from West Point as a Distinguished Cadet, Rick attended the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, as an Olmsted Scholar receiving both Licence and Doctorate degrees. Rick has published broadly: four books, various articles and seven papers on national security issues. From 2003 to 2006 he served as the Army Senior Mentor establishing the Battle Command Knowledge System, the leading Knowledge Management effort in the Department of Defense. From 2006 to 2009 he was the Senior Mentor for Commander US EUCOM creating then fielding Teams of Leaders (ToL). He has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1973, Who’s Who in America since 1983 and Who’s Who in the World since 2006. In 2010, he was designated a Distinguished Graduate of West Point.

LGEN Paul K. Carlton, MD, USAF (Ret.)

Lt. General Paul K. Carlton, Jr., retired from the US Air Force as its Surgeon General in 2002. Dr. Carlton serves as Director to the Office of Innovations and Preparedness for The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center. He joined the Texas A&M Faculty in November of 2002. As the Surgeon General of the Air Force, he served as a functional manager of the U.S. Air Force Medical Service. He had authority to commit resources worldwide for the Air Force Medical Service, to make decisions affecting the delivery of medical services and to develop plans, programs and procedures to support peacetime and wartime medical service missions. Dr. Carlton is a fellow and former Air Force governor of the American College of Surgeons. He was named a consultant in general surgery to the Air Force surgeon general in 1981.He conceptualized and implemented the first Air Force rapid- response surgical team in Europe – the flying ambulance surgical trauma team. During Operation Desert Storm, he commanded the 1702nd Air Refueling Wing Contingency Hospital, completing 32 combat support missions and 140 combat flying hours in the C-21, C-130, KC- 10 and KC-135. He has published extensively in the medical literature. He is an 11,000 case surgeon who continues to “wash his hands” whenever he can .His vision for medical care in the combat zone led directly to our current best survival in the history of warfare.

Jessica J. Gardon Rose, PA, M.Ed.
Program Development
Business Liaison Officer, CCCL

Ms. Gardon-Rose has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, overseeing operations and activities to align strategies, goals and objectives in small to large health organizations in the public and private sector. She is a hands-on administrator and project manager with a record of success in clinical services management, clinical-community integration, and population health, leading operations and program development, and building and guiding collaborative, interdisciplinary teams within diverse organizations to improve the delivery of healthcare and preventive services. Gardon Rose has been Program Development and Business Liaison Officer at the Center for Collaborative Command and Leadership since January 2018, involved in health system improvement initiatives and expanding the scope of CCCL services.

Ms. Gardon-Rose earned her master’s degree in clinical and community health from Wayne State University (Detroit) while pursuing a graduate certificate in aging from WSU’s Institute of Gerontology, and studies on continuous quality improvement (CQI) methodologies through The W. Edwards Deming Institute. Her undergraduate studies include a professional medical sciences degree as a Physician Assistant (PA) from Touro College in New York and a BA in biology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

LTC Bradley Hilton, US Army

Bradley Hilton has been actively involved with Knowledge Management (KM) for the past 10 years.  He was involved with the Army's initial development of the KM field, including the integration of KM doctrine, communities of practice, and the development of KM officers and supporting education systems.  He was also an integral part of a Teams of Leaders initiative at the European Command Headquarters in Germany, which focused on rapidly building and effectively employing cross-boundary and culturally diverse teams highly competent in learning and adapting.  Brad’s current research interests include developing a broader understanding on the impacts of trust and culture in enabling knowledge flow and learning particularly in non-traditional environments such as disaster response or virtual environments that bridge time and space.

Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, USA (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré retired from the United States Army on February 29, 2008. His distinguished military career spanned 37 years of active service culminating with his appointment as the Commanding General, First Army. General Honoré served in a variety of command and staff positions which focused on defense support to civil authorities and homeland defense. Prior to his command of Joint Task Force-Katrina where he led the Department of Defense response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, General Honoré supported the planning and response for Hurricanes Floyd in 1999; Lilli and Isidore in 2002; Isabel in 2003; and Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in 2004. General Honoré also planned and supported the United States military response to the devastating flooding which swept Venezuela in 1999 and Mozambique in 2000. As Vice Director for Operations, he led the Defense Department’s planning and preparation for the anticipated Y2K Millennium anomaly. As Commander of SJFHQ-HLS under NORTHCOM direction, he planned and oversaw the military response to the Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy and the DC Sniper shootings. General Honoré is the recipient of many of the highest military service awards. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resources from Troy State University and several Honorary Doctoral Degrees from leading national universities. In addition to serving as a contributor to CNN, General Honoré became well known nationally and internationally for his work on developing the culture of preparedness, a topic on which he both lectures and consults.

Patrick K. Horgan, HBA, CMA
VP Business Operations, IBM Canada

Pat Horgan has built a diversified career at IBM holding a wide variety of leadership positions in sales, strategy, development, operations and finance. While starting his career in Canada, Pat has held many Global leadership roles in a variety of functions. In his present role, Pat is the leader of business operations for IBM Canada including CIO, Supply Chain, Real Estate, Procurement, Corporate Citizenship and Government Programs. In addition, he provides leadership to the SoftWare Lab organization and the Microelectronic Manufacturing Plant in Bromont Quebec. Both of these organizations are the largest of their kind in Canada, holding world mandates in SW development and microelectronics. Pat participates on many Boards, including being named Vice Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business, the Ontario Brain Institute, CivicAction, iCanada, Western’s CSTAR and the University of Waterloo Environmental Science. He leads IBM Canada’s citizenship efforts involving many charitable organizations and is the Executive Sponsor of the IBM Aboriginal Network Group. Pat has been recognized with many awards including IBM Golden Circle, Hundred Percent Clubs and Leadership Excellence. Pat has an HBA from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario and holds a Certified Management Accounting designation.

Mary Kushion
Health Officer, Central Michigan District Health Department (retired)

Mary Kushion has been in public health since 1988 and has been the health officer for the Central Michigan District Health Department since 1993. She has a master of science in administration degree from Central Michigan University and a bachelorof arts degree from Alma College.

Ms Kushion serves on the Michigan Public Health Institute’s board of directors. She has served as president of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health and is a recipient of the Roy R. Manty Award for distinguished service in support of Michigan’s local public health departments. In May 2010, under Ms. Kushion’s leadership, the Together We Can Health Improvement Council was formed to address the findings in the University of Wisconsin’s annual County Health Rankings and to create a community health improvement plan for the six counties within her health department’s jurisdiction.

Ms. Kushion is a member of the national Public Health Accreditation Board’s Standards Development Workgroup. She also served on the Research and Evaluation Workgroup for the CDC’s and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Exploring Accreditation Project. She is the chairperson of the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Accreditation Preparation and Quality Improvement Team.

She has just recently retired as health officer (September 2013) and continues to work towards the improvement of health of Michiganders through her work as a health consultant.

LTC Michael (Mike) Prevou, PhD, USA (Ret)
President, Strategic Knowledge Solutions

Dr. Mike Prevou retired from the U.S. Army in 2005 after 24 years of service in various command and joint staff assignments. He has operational experience in Afghanistan, Macedonia, and Bosnia, and has taught at the Armor School, Army Command and General Staff College and the School for Command Preparation. He has been involved in developing the current Leader Development training strategy and the implementation strategies for the Army Learning Concept for 2015. Dr. Prevou specializes in tacit knowledge transfer and learning solutions that improve learning and performance outcomes. His recent work focuses on individual, team, and organizational learning strategies, in both formal and informal learning environments, required to develop expertise and decision-making skills. He has conducted Teams of Leaders workshops for a Joint Combatant Command, US Army Service Component Command, a Brigade Combat Team, Universities, a Fortune 500 company and rural healthcare organizations seeking to improve cross boundary teaming. He holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Kansas; a Master’s degree in Organizational Behavior from Golden Gate University, California; a Master’s in Military Arts and Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Tennessee. He is an Adjunct Professor at California State University, Northridge and at the Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, where he teaches a graduate program in Knowledge Management and Interagency teaming. Dr. Prevou has published numerous articles in the field of adult education, knowledge transfer, knowledge management and expertise development methods. He is currently President and a Principal Consultant at Strategic Knowledge Solutions.

Gerard H. Seijts, PhD
Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Richard Ivey School of Business
Executive Director, Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership

Dr. Gerard Seijts is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University. He is also the Executive Director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership. The purpose of the Institute is to make an impact on the practice of business leadership and the development of the next generation of leaders. Gerard’s research activities cover a wide range of topics including leadership, organizational change, teams, and motivation and performance management. His research has been published in top-tier journals. Gerard teaches in Undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA programs. He is involved in executive education for organizations including but not limited to Maple Leaf Foods, KPMG and JD Irving. He has also worked with local government on issues such as leadership and change. His most recent book “Leadership on trial: A manifesto for leadership development” focused on the leadership lessons from the 2008 – 2009 financial crisis.

Anne Snowdon, RN, BScN, MSc, PhD
Chair, International Centre for Health Innovation
Richard Ivey School of Business

Dr. Anne Snowdon is Chair of the International Centre for Health Innovation at the Richard Ivey School of Business, building health system leadership capacity to support and drive adoption of technologies, systems and processes that our health systems need in order to be sustainable and an Adjunct Faculty member at Ivey. She is also a Professor at the Odette School of Business and is cross-appointed to the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Windsor. Snowdon holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of Western Ontario, a Master of Science from McGill University and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan. She is a Fulbright Scholar and was awarded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship for her research on parenting during childhood hospitalization. She is also the Theme Coordinator for Automotive Health and Safety for Canada’s automotive research program, AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, and has commercialized innovative new safety seat products for occupants in vehicles as a result of this research program. In addition to her expertise in health system leadership and innovation, Dr. Snowdon’s research also looks at the role of engaged consumers as agents of change and reform to health systems.