return to main event page
Distinguished Keynote Speakers | Featured Plenary Speakers
Aug. 9-13, 2009 |
Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Virginia
Distinguished Keynote Speakers
William Craig Fugate | Russ Decker, CEM | David Maxwell
William Craig Fugate
W. Craig Fugate began serving in the position of Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May 2009.
Prior to coming to FEMA, Mr. Fugate served as Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). In that role since 2001, he managed 138 full-time staff and a budget of $745 million. His agency coordinated disaster response, recovery, preparedness and mitigation efforts with each of the state's 67 counties and local governments.
Mr. Fugate began his emergency management career as a volunteer firefighter, Emergency Paramedic, and finally as a Lieutenant with the Alachua County Fire Rescue. Eventually, he moved from exclusive fire rescue operations to serving as the Emergency Manager for Alachua County in Gainesville, Florida. He spent a decade in that role until May 1997 when he was appointed Bureau Chief for Preparedness and Response for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM).
Within FDEM, Mr. Fugate's role as Chief of the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) kept him busy during 1998. That year, the SERT team was active for more than 200 days as a result of numerous floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and Hurricane Georges.
In September 2003, again under Mr. Fugate's stewardship, the Florida Emergency Management Program became the first statewide emergency management program in the nation to receive full accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP).
During his years at FDEM, Mr. Fugate served as the State Coordinating Officer in Florida for 11 Presidentially-declared disasters and the management of $4.5 billion in federal disaster assistance.
In 2004, Mr. Fugate managed the largest federal disaster response in Florida history as four major hurricanes impacted the state in quick succession (Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jean). In 2005, Florida was again impacted by major disasters when three more hurricanes made landfall in the state (Dennis, Katrina and Wilma). The impact from Hurricane Katrina was felt more strongly in the Gulf Coast states to the west but under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact or EMAC, Florida launched the largest mutual aid response in its history in support of those states.
In recent years, Florida avoided major hurricane impact although Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 historically made landfall to the state four different times. Mr. Fugate has spent this time focusing FDEM on preparedness and planning for the future.
Russ Decker, MS, CEM
Russ Decker is Director of the Allen County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management. He began as a volunteer with the agency in 1990, and has served as Director since 1998. As Director he oversees the agency’s $4.1M budget, including a regional HAZMAT Team and Bomb Squad. Mr. Decker currently serves as National President for the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), the nation's largest emergency management professional association.
In June of 2007, Mr. Decker was appointed to the 35-member National Advisory Council (NAC) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where he now Chairs the Standing Committee on the National Incident Management System or NIMS. He also was a senior Steering Committee member responsible for the creation of the new National Response Framework that was released in January of 2008.
Mr. Decker has testified before the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives on the topic of community preparedness. In January, he met with the President Obama Transition Team to discuss the future of FEMA. He is the co-author of Homeland Security: Handbook for Citizens and Public Officials (McFarland & Co., 2006) and will have his first full book published later this year, Breaking News: An Emergency Responder’s Guide to the Media.
Mr. Decker received the prestigious Clayton R. Christopher Award in 2006, recognizing him as the nation’s leading local emergency manager. He received the Excellence in Public Service Award from the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council in 2005. He served as President of the Emergency Management Association of Ohio (2002-2003). He is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Tiffin University and a part-time faculty member at Ohio Northern University where he teaches Environmental Law. Mr. Decker holds a Master of Science degree from Tiffin University, with undergraduate studies from The Ohio State University and the University of Northwestern Ohio. He completed FEMA’s Professional Development Series in 2001.
David Maxwell
Director of the Arkansas Department of
Emergency Management (ADEM) and State Homeland Security Advisor
David Maxwell was appointed on June 30, 2006 as Director of the Arkansas Department of
Emergency Management (ADEM) and State Homeland Security Advisor. He served as ADEM’s
Deputy Director from March 2002 until this appointment. He has 30 years of service with the
agency.
As Director, Maxwell chairs the Arkansas Homeland Security Executive Committee and serves on
the Arkansas Terrorism Task Force, Arkansas Governor’s Earthquake Advisory Council, Arkansas
Fire Protection Board, State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), Arkansas Wireless
Information Network (AWIN) Steering Committee, Arkansas Tech Emergency Administration and
Management Citizens Advisory Council, and Pine Bluff Arsenal Citizen Advisory Commission. In
September 2008, David was elected to a one year term as 2009 Vice President of the National
Emergency Managers Association (NEMA) and will go on to serve as President in 2010. After his
term as president he will serve as an advisor to the next president.
David also serves as Vice Chair
on the Board of Directors of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC).
In 1978, he began his career in emergency management working in temporary housing for the State
after major flooding in Little Rock, Arkansas, and was promoted to Planning Specialist in 1980.
Later he advanced to ADEM’s Plans and Operations Division Manager. In that capacity, he
ensured the State Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and local jurisdictional plans were maintained
and in compliance with state and federal guidelines. Mr. Maxwell led the division in its mission of
coordinating state response and recovery operations, collaborating with federal and local
governments, and volunteer agencies with disaster response or recovery responsibilities. David
Maxwell served as the designated State Coordinating Officer for seven federally declared disasters
and one federally declared emergency.
David Maxwell has a Master’s Degree in Sociology from Henderson State University in
Arkadelphia, Arkansas with a Bachelor’s Degree from Arkansas Tech University. David and his
wife Lauren reside in Conway, Arkansas.
Featured Plenary Speakers
Amanda Ripley | Bruce Lockwood | Richard J. Hatchett, MD
Amanda Ripley
Amanda Ripley is the author of The Unthinkable, the first mass-market book to explain how the brain works in disasters. Ms. Ripley’s work is unusual and compelling. She doesn’t just explain what happens in disasters; she extensively investigates why people do what they do, and how we can do better, combining science with storytelling.
As a longtime contributor at TIME Magazine, Ms. Ripley has traveled the world studying disasters, natural and man made. She chronicled Hurricanes Katrina and Rita from New Orleans, helping TIME win two National Magazine Awards. She covered 9/11 from Manhattan, the sniper attacks in and around Washington, DC, and from Paris, the catastrophic 2003 European heat wave which killed an estimated 50,000 people. Ms. Ripley has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Newswomen's Club of New York and the Washington Monthly, among others, and she is a two-time Livingston Award finalist.
Richard J. Hatchett, MD
Richard J. Hatchett, MD, is Director for Medical Preparedness Policy on the White House National Security Staff where he is working on a wide array of issues relating to the 2009-H1N1 response. In 2005-6, he served as Director for Biodefense Policy on the White House Homeland Security Council and was a principal author of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan. In this capacity, he helped set policy and devise strategies to mitigate the consequences of a pandemic and promote pandemic preparedness.
Dr. Hatchett is also Associate Director for Radiation Countermeasures Research and Emergency Preparedness at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, overseeing a program that develops drugs and devices to prevent or mitigate the effects of radiation exposure.
Dr. Hatchett previously served as Senior Medical Adviser in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, where he worked on a wide range of biodefense issues, including the delivery of mass prophylaxis to urban populations, the development of disease containment strategies, and the role of modeling in the formulation of public health policy.
Dr. Hatchett completed his undergraduate and medical educations at Vanderbilt University, an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center, and a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Duke University Medical Center.
Bruce Lockwood, CEM 
Bruce Lockwood is a member of the National Commission on Children and Disasters and a Certified Emergency Manager® with 25 of years experience in emergency management, emergency medical services and public safety. As a result of Mr. Lockwood’s extensive expertise in public safety and emergency planning specific to the unique needs of children, he was nominated by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to join the National Commission on Children and Disasters in 2008. The Commission consists of 10 members and is charged with conducting a comprehensive study to examine and assess the needs of children in preparation for, response to and recovery from all hazards, including major disasters and emergencies.
Mr. Lockwood is currently the public health emergency response coordinator for the Bristol-Burlington Health District in Connecticut, the president of the International Association of Emergency Managers USA Council (IAEM-USA) Region 1, and serves on the IAEM Government Affairs Committee. He has held many key positions, such as: Canton Schools All Hazard Planning Chair (1999-2007); member of the Governor’s Prevention Partnership School Safety Portal Committee; member of the Child Safety and Crisis Response, State of Connecticut, Daycare and Child Care Subcommittee; member of the State of Connecticut Public Health Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee; and founder and president of the Connecticut Emergency Management Association.
return to main event page
|
