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Dr. Kenneth Button is Director of the Transportation Policy, Operations and Logistics Center. He is Professor of Transportation at George Mason University's School of Public Policy, where he teaches transportation economics, transportation logistics, international transportation, and managerial economics.

Dr. Button is a prolific author whose books include Handbook of Transport Systems and Traffic Control, The Future of International Air Transport Policy, and Transport and Public Policy, and he has written more than 200 scholarly articles on economic and transportation topics. He edits Transportation Research: Transportation and Environment. Dr. Button has served as Special Advisor to the House of Commons Transport Committee and as a full time advisor to the OECD. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Loughborough University, the United Kingdom.

Peggy Finarelli's career with NASA and other USG agencies focused on strategy development and negotiations in the fields of domestic space policy and international relations in science and technology. At NASA (1981-2000), she rose to the position of Associate Administrator for Policy Coordination and International Relations. She was responsible for developing the international partnerships in the International Space Station (ISS) program, and led the US team conducting the international negotiations that resulted in the agreements governing NASA's cooperation with Europe, Japan, and Canada. These agreements provide the legal, policy and programmatic foundation for the multi-billion dollar ISS. As the International Space University's Vice President for North American Operations (2000-2006), she was responsible for strategic partnerships and business development in the United States for the Strasbourg, France-based international university. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS and Distinction in Chemistry. She also has a Master of Science degree in Physical Chemistry from Drexel University, Philadelphia.

Ms. Finarelli received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal in 1985, the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 1988, NASA's Group Achievement Award in 1989 and 1994, the Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award in 1989, and NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal in 1991. She was elected to the International Academy of Astronautics in 2003. In 2004, she was awarded the International Cooperation Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and was elected as a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society. In 2005, she was elected an Associate Fellow of the AIAA.

Mr. McDougall specializes in commercialization, performance management and government reform. He is President of mbs ottawa inc, a Canadian consulting firm, and a former Director General with the Government of Canada.

Mr. McDougall recently completed a major international research study, "Air Traffic Control Commercialization Policy: Has It Been Effective?" with the cooperation of George Mason University, the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and the McGill Institute of Air & Space Law, and with the full participation of eleven air navigation service providers including the Federal Aviation Administration. While in the Canadian government, he managed the commercialization of Canada's air traffic control system, and designed the governance structure for NAV CANADA, the first privatized air navigation service provider in the world. At the Royal Canadian Mounted Police he introduced modern Business Intelligence performance reporting techniques and at Treasury Board Secretariat he was responsible for introducing a government-wide management reform program.

Mr. McDougall holds an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics (1983) and a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto (1971). He is a professional engineer.

Ian Pryke retired from the European Space Agency at the end of September 2003. He is currently a Senior Fellow/Assistant Professor at the Center for Aerospace Policy Research in the School of Public Policy of George Mason University and also operates as an independent consultant.

He joined the European Space Research Organisation [later ESA] in 1969 working in the areas of data processing and satellite communications. In 1976 he transferred to the Agency's Earth Observation Programme Office where he was involved in the formulation of ESA's Remote Sensing programme. In August 1979 he moved to the ESA Washington Office, where he was engaged in liaison work with both government and industry in the United States and Canada, taking over as Head of the Office in November 1983.

He holds a B.Sc. Degree in Physics from the University of London and a M.Sc. Degree in Space Electronics and Communications from the University of Kent.

He has been involved with the International Space University since its founding. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from September 1988 to September 1990, was created an Associate Founder in April 1995, and has been a member of the Board of Trustees from May 1997 until the present. He currently Chairs the Strategic Planning Committee.

Mr. Pryke is a Fellow of the AAS [Current Vice President Public Policy], a Fellow of the AIAA, a Member of the IAA, and a Fellow of the BIS. He is the recipient of an AAS President's Recognition Award, the AIAA International Cooperation Award, the NASA Public Service Medal, and an Aviation Week and Space Technology 2002 Laurels Award.

 

Center for Aerospace Policy Research
School of Public Policy — George Mason University — Fairfax, Virginia