Speakers
General Session Presentation Lecture:
The Games of Life
Scott P. Stevens, Ph.D.
Professor
Computer Information Systems and Management Science
James Madison University
Scott Stevens is Professor of Computer Information Systems and Management Science at James Madison University. He was the 1999 recipient of JMU’s distinguished teacher award, was selected as the outstanding graduate teacher in JMU’s MBA program in 2001, was chosen as the distinguished teacher of the College of Business in 2009, and has five times been named outstanding teacher by the students of JMU’s undergraduate business program. His teaching interests include statistics, operations research, physics, calculus and game theory. His research has lead to publications in European Journal of Operations Research, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Political Research Quarterly, Omega: The International Journal of Management Science, Neural Computing and Applications, INFORMS Transactions on Education, and Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, and in a number of conference proceedings. His 24-part game theory video series, Games People Play, was released by the Teaching Company in 2008.
George W. Jeffers Memorial Lecture:
Plants You’ve Met But Never Knew
Michael H. Renfroe, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biology
James Madison University
Michael H. Renfroe is a professor of biology at James Madison University, where he has taught for twenty-four years. His academic degrees include a B.S. from North Carolina State University, an M.S. from The Ohio State University, a M.Phil. from Yale University, and a Ph.D. from Yale University. He also is a teacher in the Valley Ridge Regional Governor’s School, and has taught in numerous Master Gardner Programs. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Flora of Virginia Project. He has been active in the Virginia Academy of Science for over twenty years and has served in a variety of offices in the Botany Section and in the Academy. He is currently the Vice President of the Virginia Academy of Science.
Dr. Renfroe conducts research on conservation and propagation of rare and endangered plant species. He has published research on tissue culture propagation of the Virginia round-leaf birch (Betula uber), and an African violet (Saintpaulia rupicola) from Kenya that is one of the ten most critically-endangered plant species in the world. In addition, Dr. Renfroe conducts research on antioxidants in foods and beverages from plants. He teaches courses in economic botany, general biology, and a biology course for science educators.
In the 2010 Jeffers Lecture Dr. Renfroe will explore some of the plants that are used in many commercial products, but of which most of us are unaware. He will reveal plants used in food
Sydney S. Negus Memorial Lecture
Managing Risk in US. Ports and Waterways
Jason R. W. Merrick, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Statistical Sciences and Operations Research
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Merrick earned his PhD from George Washington University in 1998. He teaches courses in decision analysis, risk analysis and simulation. His research is primarily in the area of decision analysis, risk assessment, and Bayesian statistics. He has worked on projects ranging from assessing maritime oil transportation and ferry system safety, the environmental health of watersheds and optimal replacement policies for rail tracks and machine tools and received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Coast Guard, the American Bureau of Shipping, British Petroleum, and Booz Allen Hamilton, amongst others. He is an associate editor for the journals Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation, Decision Analysis, and Operations Research.
