Melissa J. Mills, M.B.A., M.T.S.
MELISSA J. MILLS, M.B.A., M.T.S., Melissa is a researcher, facilitator, and teacher with thirty years experience in academic administration at Harvard University and Duke University, including such positions as Assistant Provost, Associate Dean for Information Science and Technology, and Special Assistant to the Dean for Long-Range Planning. Her research brings together knowledge from across the disciplines, blending economics, science, and human values into a narrative that provides common ground and autonomy for individuals and groups. She uses the tools of systems thinking and mindfulness to focus individuals and organizations on practices that promote communities of trust and innovation. She graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in history. She earned an MBA from the Fuqua School at Duke University, and a master of theological studies at the Duke University Divinity School.
She is a member of the Rotary Club of Durham, NC, USA, and served as chair of the District 7710 Ethics Committee from 2012-2015. She is currently Secretary of the Board of the Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group. She is also a member of the Society for Organizational Learning.
Joyce Pardon, M.A.T.
JOYCE PARDON, M.A.T., has devoted her career to Science Education with an emphasis on mastery learning, experiential and experimental education, and individualized instruction. She holds an M.A.T. in Science Education from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a B.A. in Neurosciences from Cornell University. She began her career in research neuroscience for The DuPont Company, but shifted her focus from theoretical models of learning to hands on facilitation of learning in local schools. She has written state standards and standardized tests for both Math and Science, grades 3-12, worked in curriculum design for textbook publishing, and created a continuing education curriculum for adult learners. She is currently facilitating multigenerational learning at a private school in Durham, NC. Joyce homeschooled her son (now a tenured Princeton professor) as well as offered small innovative classes for gifted students in three private schools. She worked with computerized learning for math and reading literacy at the middle school level in a local charter school. Joyce currently runs a speaker series in childhood development as education consultant for Camelot Academy. She is especially interested in motivating innovation and creativity through school curriculum; and is interested in bringing her experience in schools to promote science literacy which she feels is a critical need in today’s world.
Bruce Wieland
BRUCE WIELAND is retired president and founder of BTI Targetry, LLC (formerly Bruce Technologies), a company conducting R&D, manufacturing, sales and installation of high performance retrofit cyclotron target systems for GE, Siemens, IBA, Cyclopharma, and other PET cyclotron distribution centers and universities in the US and Europe. BTI Targetry has sold approximately100 systems from 2008 to present with annual sales on the order of $1 million. Bruce has held faculty appointments at Duke University (Radiology) and North Carolina State University (Nuclear Engineering). Bruce and his wife Glenda became vegan cooking and eating enthusiasts through experiencing the benefits. Bruce is eager to support projects that make the same experience available to others in the community.