Joe Theismann
Annual Board and Membership Meeting with Keynote Joe Theismann
Joe Theismann is an entrepreneur and the former star quarterback for the Washington Redskins. Most recently, he spent the last 2 decades working for ESPN and the NFL Network as an NFL analyst.
Joe graduated in 1971 from the University of Notre Dame, where he received All-American honors in both Football and Academics. That same year, he was runner up to Jim Plunket for the Heisman Trophy balloting. Joe chose to begin his career with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins and Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins.
A 12-year NFL veteran, Joe played in 163 consecutive games from 1974-1985 for the Washington Redskins and holds Redskin records for passing yardage (25,206), completions (2,044) and attempts (3,602). He was a twotime Pro Bowl selection and Pro Bowl MVP leading the Washington Redskins to a 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl 17.
Joe was selected as the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1982 for his community service and dedication to the health and welfare of children. In 1983, he won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, leading the Redskins to a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Joe Theismann’s career ended abruptly in 1985 after sustaining a badly broken leg during a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants on national television. In 2003, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and in 2013 received the Walter Camp Football Foundation “Distinguished American” Award.
With every chapter of his life, Mr. Theismann evolved from athlete to the ultimate businessman. An Emmy award winning analyst, entrepreneur and athlete, he utilizes his gifts, talent and high energy to share his strategies for handling unforeseen change. Joe’s book “How to Be A Champion Everyday” was released in June of 2020.
Rich Thau
Engagious
President
General Session with Rich Thau: Which Way Will Swing Voters Swing
Rich Thau's company is the industry leader in scientifically testing and refining the effectiveness of business and issue-advocacy content, moment-to-moment. The firm helps its clients become more successful by applying the power of behavioral science and social psychology to dial test focus groups.
Thau is also the moderator of the high-profile Swing Voter Project, which Engagious conducts in partnership with Axios. Each month, Thau moderates focus groups with “Trump-Biden” swing voters to probe on attitudes towards policies debated in Washington. Axios covers the focus groups first, and then Thau regularly comments on CNN and Sirius XM’s POTUS channel.
Using dial testing, Thau has spearheaded groundbreaking research in public policy, financial communications, TV shows and movie trailers, insurance, trial consulting, and infomercials. His firm’s clients include a host of major trade associations, advocacy groups, and large corporations.
Thau’s recommendations have shaped the national debates over Social Security, climate change, prescription drug pricing, and tax reform. His firm’s policy messaging projects have focused on clean energy, housing affordability, immigration, trade, financial services, foreign policy, government spending, healthcare, the Jones Act, labor/management issues, and franchising.
He is a 1987 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Haverford College, where he received a B.A. in History (with honors). Raised in Roslyn, NY, Thau lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife, Nicole Tell, Esq., and their son Ezra.
Halil Ceylan Ph.D
Iowa State University
Director of the PROSPER Research Group
Engineering & Technical Committee
Dr. Halil Ceylan (pronounced as Ha-leel Jay-LAAN) is an endowed professor and the Director of the PROSPER Research Group at Iowa State University, and his research interests include all aspects of pavements and granular material. With a career spanning over two decades, he has led more than 135 research projects worth over $25 million. His expertise includes pavement material characterization, performance evaluation of paved and unpaved roads, intelligent data mining, the impact of heavy loads on road infrastructure systems, sustainable and resilient transportation infrastructure systems, and innovative airfield pavement engineering. Dr. Ceylan has published extensively, with over 420 peer-reviewed publications, including books, journal articles, and conference proceedings. He has delivered over 450 technical presentations, including keynote lectures at prestigious conferences. As a mentor, he has guided over 80 graduate students and research staff. Dr. Ceylan has also held leadership roles in professional associations and served on numerous committees and editorial boards. Dr. Ceylan is the recipient of over 25 prestigious awards and honors.
Brad Haggard
Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (KRM)
Job Developer
Breakout Session: Global Skills, Local Jobs: Refugee Integration for Workforce Development
McKenna Kaufman
Nashville International Center for Empowerment (N.I.C.E.)
Employer Engagement Coordinator
Breakout Session: Global Skills, Local Jobs: Refugee Integration for Workforce Development
McKenna grew up near Phoenix, Arizona before moving to Nashville in 2015. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in international affairs and journalism from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where she was a reporter for Georgia Public Broadcasting. In 2022, she became involved with NICE as a Development Intern, producing digital content for public relations initiatives. McKenna most recently worked as a Project Assistant for an international development NGO providing humanitarian aid to Black communities displaced from Ukraine. As the Employer Engagement Coordinator at NICE, she builds partnerships with local employers and helps prepare refugees and immigrants to enter the Nashville workforce.
Brett Legner
Mayer Brown LLP
Counsel
Environmental Subcommittee Meeting
Brett Legner is counsel in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and a member of the Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation practice. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, he spent 18 years as an appellate litigator with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, including more than four years as Illinois Deputy Solicitor General.
Brett has presented oral argument in more than 90 appeals. He has argued before the US Supreme Court, has argued more than a dozen cases before both the Illinois Supreme Court and United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and has argued in every district of the Appellate Court of Illinois. He has authored over 250 appellate briefs, including merits and amicus briefs filed with the US Supreme Court, and numerous briefs filed in the Illinois Supreme Court, US Courts of Appeals, and state appellate courts. He received the Supreme Court Best Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General on multiple occasions. At the trial court level, he has briefed and argued dispositive motions and motions seeking interlocutory injunctive relief in federal district courts as well as Illinois circuit courts.
Brett has substantial experience litigating a wide variety of federal and state constitutional matters, including First Amendment, Second Amendment, contracts clause, and takings issues; environmental matters, including federal and state regulatory questions involving land use, remediation, and pollution control; administrative challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act and analogous state administrative regimes; federal and state election law issues; labor and employment matters, including collective bargaining, Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Age Discrimination in Employment Act cases; mass torts; class actions; antitrust actions; and public utility cases. While with the Illinois Attorney General’s office, he briefed and argued many of the most complex, high-profile, and sensitive lawsuits on behalf of the State.
Brett is also an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he teaches courses on appellate advocacy and pre-trial litigation and has taught state constitutional law classes. He has written articles on US Supreme Court matters, Illinois constitutional law, and federal law, and has presented continuing legal education courses on topics including constitutional law, administrative law, defending federal court lawsuits, and the US Supreme Court.
Ronn Lehmann
Safety & Health Subcommittee
As a Speaker, Consultant, Writer, and Facilitator, Ronn has worked with organizations of all sizes in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. His focus is helping organizations and individuals acquire the mindsets, skill sets, and tool sets necessary for success.
Through it all, he's been a student of the Human Factors in success and applies what he's learned to helping organizations and individuals to achieve their goals.
Ronn has had over 45 years of experience in the learning business: 10 years at Wilson Learning Corporation as Senior Writer and Designer, and 35 years as an Independent Consultant, serving a wide variety of clients, industries, and applications.
He speaks to many organizations and associations on the topics of Safety, Quality, Organizational Culture, Leadership, Fear, and Dealing with Change, as well as consulting on those same topics.
He's also been a visiting instructor in Entrepreneurship at Century College, and have contributed to several books, including:
• Even Eagles Need a Push David McNally
• Playing to Win Larry & Hersch Wilson
• Making the Grass Greener on Your Side Ken Melrose
• Fire Yourself! Reignite Your Career and Live Your Life with Intention John Rusciano & Lisa Brezonik
Ronn was named Vendor of the Year by QuickChek Food Stores in both 2003 & 2018.
He is a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota, and make my home in Golden Valley, MN.
Sarah Lonn
Inspiritus
Associate Director of Refugee Services
Breakout Session: Global Skills, Local Jobs: Refugee Integration for Workforce Development
Sarah is originally from Columbus, Ohio. She received her Bachelor's from Sarah Lawrence College. She then worked as a Program Manager at a supported living agency for adults with developmental disabilities, before returning to school at Vanderbilt University where she received a Master's in Education in the Community Development and Action program.
Deb Mishra Ph.D., P.E., M. ASCE
Oklahoma State University
Associate Professor
Engineering & Technical Committee
Dr. Debakanta (Deb) Mishra is an Associate Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Oklahoma State University, where he teaches courses in the areas of geotechnical engineering, pavement engineering, and railroad engineering. He joined OSU in August 2019 after spending 5 years as an Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Boise State University. Prior to that he completed his Ph.D. and post-doctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Deb has research interests in the generic areas of Infrastructure Materials, Pavement Engineering, Railroad Engineering, and Transportation Geotechnics. His research has encompassed the following topics: (1) Performance Monitoring of Transportation Infrastructure through Advanced Instrumentation; (2) Design and Development of Advanced Laboratory Equipment for Infrastructure material characterization; (3) Numerical and Analytical Modeling of Transportation (Pavement and Railroad) Infrastructure; and (4) Sustainability Quantification in Pavement and Railroad Engineering through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). He serves as an active member of several TRB and ASCE committees and served as the chair of the TRB Unbound Granular Material Sub-Committee since from 2016 till. 2022. Since January 2023 he has taken over as the Committee Research Coordinator for TRB’s Aggregates Committee (AKM80). Deb serves as an Associate Editor for ASCE’s Journal of Materials and serves on the Editorial Board for Transportation Geotechnics and the International Journal of Pavement Engineering.
John Richards
Air Control Techniques, P.C.
President
Environmental Subcommittee Meeting
John has worked in the air pollution control field for fifty years. He continues to enjoy field work involving the diagnostic testing and performance optimization of air pollution control equipment and ventilation systems. He has a strong interest in the development of new and modified stack testing methods and ambient sampling procedures, especially ambient sampling for respirable crystalline silica, He has helped develop some innovative procedures for the accurate measurement of fugitive PM10 and PM2.5 emissions. He is continuing research on possible applications of photochemical systems to destroy toxic, persistent organic compounds such as dioxin-furans.
John is a graduate of Penn State University and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Ed Rottmann
Chroma Energy Group
CEO
Breakout Session: Harnessing Solar Power: Opportunities for the Aggregates Industry
Ed Rottmann founded Chroma Energy Group in 2023 to apply his extensive experience in strategic planning and operations, business development and customer satisfaction to the energy industry.
Before founding Chroma, Ed served as the Chief Operating Officer for Stowers Machinery – one of the top five Caterpillar distributors in North America. During his tenure, the company achieved 43% market share, which is #2 in North America, and three consecutive Caterpillar gold-level awards for operational excellence.
Ed earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Kentucky and his master’s in business administration at Vanderbilt University. He serves as board president for the historic Tennessee Theatre and a board member of Men of Valor and the Tennessee Road Builders Association. Ed has lived in Knoxville, TN for 11 years and has been married to his wife, Lisa, for 12. They have three kids together; Natalie (10), Gabe (8), and Owen (5).
Kevin Thomas
Davey Resource Group, Inc.
Principal Consultant
Environmental Subcommittee Meeting
Kevin Thomas, a Principal Consultant at Davey Resource Group, has over 25 years of experience in Waters of the US (WOTUS) jurisdictional determinations, permitting, and mitigation plan development for the mining industry. His expertise includes being a Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS), a Licensed Soil Scientist (LSS) in multiple states, and a Certified Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS). Kevin’s early work on WOTUS was with Mountaintop Removal (MTR) Coal Mining, where Judge Haden’s ruling halted all MTR and Valley Fills in 1999-2000. He has since served as the Vice Chair of the Soil Science Society of America, on the Council of Soil Examiners, and as a former Adjunct Professor in the Sustainable Development Department at Appalachian State University.
Kevin builds and leads multi-disciplinary teams at Davey Resource Group to perform natural resource assessments, impacts, and design of full Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) or Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) plans for natural resource projects that include Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance (section 404 permitting with the US Army Corps of Engineers [USACE]) and CWA Section 401 state water quality permitting. Additionally, his focus is on designing and permitting habitat enhancements for federal and state-listed special-status species.
Kevin comes from a family with a farming and textile background and lives by the motto, "If you can't grow it, you have to mine it!"
Matthew Turvin
Bridge Refugee Services
Employment Specialist
Breakout Session: Global Skills, Local Jobs: Refugee Integration for Workforce Development
Matthew has been living in East Tennessee for 20 years after moving from New England. He comes to Bridge with a background in non-profit and faith based ministries. After graduating from Lee University in 2014, Matthew and his wife Kristen, spent a year overseas partnering with non-profits in 13 countries. While in Greece, Matthew served refugees in a UNHCR transition site on the island of Lesvos. Matthew now lives in Knoxville with his wife and one year old daughter, Ellianna. As the Employment Specialist at Bridge, Matthew is excited to help empower refugees as they settle into their new home in East Tennessee.