Keynote Speakers

Ellen S. Baker, M.D., M.P.H.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
8:30am Opening Plenary Session

Dr. Baker is a NASA Lead Astronaut for Medical Issues at Johnson Space Center. Trained in internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Dr. Baker joined NASA as a medical officer in 1981. Initially serving NASA as a physician in the Flight Medicine Clinic, she became an astronaut in June 1985, where she supported the Space Shuttle program and Space Station development. A veteran of three space flights, Dr. Baker has logged over 686 hours in space. Her space flight experience includes STS-34 Atlantis (October 18-23, 1989), which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. During the mission, the crew successfully deployed the Galileo to explore Jupiter, operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone, conducted several medical experiments, and numerous scientific experiments. Dr. Baker was also part of STS-50 Columbia (June 25-July 9, 1992), which launched and landed at the Kennedy Space Center. STS-50 was the first flight of the United States Microgravity Laboratory and the first Extended Duration Orbiter flight. Over a two-week period, the crew conducted scientific experiments involving crystal growth, fluid physics, fluid dynamics, biological science, and combustion science. Most recently, Dr. Baker flew with STS-71 Atlantis (June 27-July 7, 1995), which launched from the Kennedy Space Center with a seven-member crew and returned there with an eight-member crew. STS-71 was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir, and involved an exchange of crews. The Atlantis Space Shuttle was modified to carry a docking system compatible with the Russian Mir Space Station. It also carried a Spacelab module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections.

Steve H. Murdock
Thursday, April 27, 2006
12:30pm Networking Luncheon

Steve H. Murdock holds the Lutcher Brown Distinguished Chair in Management Science and Statistics at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He is also the official State Demographer of Texas. He was appointed to this position by Governor Rick Perry and is the first person to occupy this position. He is also Director of the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research and the Texas State Data Center at The University of Texas at San Antonio.

He holds a Ph.D. in Demography and Sociology from the University of Kentucky and is the author of 11 books and more than 150 articles and technical reports on the implications of current and future demographic and socioeconomic change. Among his publications is The New Texas Challenge: Population Change and the Future of Texas.

He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. These include the Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Research from Texas A&M University, the Excellence in Research Award from the Rural Sociological Society, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. He was named one of the fifty most influential Texans by Texas Business in 1997 and as one of the 25 most influential persons in Texas by Texas Monthly in 2005. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Eta Epsilon national honor societies.

Cheryl L. Keenan
Friday, April 28, 2006
8:30am Opening Plenary Session

Cheryl L. Keenan is the Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Division of Adult Education and Literacy in the Office of Vocational and Adult Education. In her role as the national director, she oversees the office which funds almost $600 million in state and local grant programs to enable adults to become literate and complete high school so they can succeed as workers, parents and citizens. She is responsible for overseeing the Adult Education National Programs Account, including resources to assist further development of the field of adult education. Prior to her appointment to the U.S. Department of Education in June of 2002, she served as the State Director Adult Education in Pennsylvania, where she established the first state family literacy program and the first statewide summer reading program requiring partnerships between family literacy programs and public libraries. Ms Keenan holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in the field of education, has performed field-work in the area of special education, and served on numerous committees to advance the education of children and adults.

For more information please contact General Session/Speaker Chairperson Mary E. Harris.