Professor of International Policy and Practice, University of Michigan Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky, a retired Career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service, is Professor of International Policy and Practice at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He is Senior Fellow of the School's International Policy Center and a member of the University of Michigan's Substance Abuse Research Center (UMSARC) and a Faculty Associate of the University's Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) and of the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in the fall of 2006, Ambassador Levitsky taught for eight years as Professor of Practice in Public Administration and International Relations at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Maxwell School's Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs. He has also taught as a Professorial Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In 2003 Ambassador Levitsky was elected by a vote of the United Nations Economic and Social Council to a seat on the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent body of experts headquartered in Vienna and responsible for monitoring and promoting standards of drug control established by international treaties. He served on the INCB until 2012. During his 35-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Ambassador Levitsky was Ambassador to Brazil from 1994-98 and before that held such senior positions as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, Executive Secretary of the State Department, Ambassador to Bulgaria, Deputy Director of the Voice of America, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights. Ambassador Levitsky also served as Director of the State Department's Office of UN Political Affairs and as Officer-in-Charge of U.S.-Soviet Bilateral Relations. Earlier in his career he was political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and a Consul at U.S. Consulates in Belem, Brazil and Frankfurt, Germany. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Iowa.
Scientific Director of the Kidscan Childrens Cancer Research Charity, University of Salford I am currently the scientific director of the children's cancer research charity Kidscan, and a senior lecturer in biomedicine at the University of Salford. I teach biomedical science students on a IBMS accredited degree course and a biochemistry course that is accredited by the Society of Biology. My research interests include cancer treatment, drug design and discovery, ECM biology, polysaccharide structural studies, technical development in glycomics and control of angiogenesis for the treatment of cancer. I also have considerable experience in clinical research, including taking part in radiotherapy and photodynamic therapy clinics and clinical trials. My current research interests include the development of complex polysaccharides as cancer therapeutic agents and the discovery of new antibiotics.
Lecturer Zoo Animal Biology, Nottingham Trent University Dr Ward's research interests are linked to human-animal interactions and animal husbandry and management techniques to investigate impacts and improve captive welfare and reintroduction of species. Previous work has investigated the impacts of stockmanship on the behaviour and welfare of zoo species and the impacts on behaviour, welfare and production of different management techniques during lambing on a commercial sheep farm. Trustee of The Sumatran Tiger Trust an international charity working to protect the Sumatran Tiger and its habitat. Secretary of the South Lakes Red Squirrel Group working to preserve the UK red squirrel population and encourage local support and populations of the red squirrel in the south lakes area.
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan Benjamin Kuipers joined the University of Michigan in January 2009 as Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Prior to that, he held an endowed Professorship in Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College, and his Ph.D. from MIT. He investigates the representation of commonsense and expert knowledge, with particular emphasis on the effective use of incomplete knowledge. His research accomplishments include developing the TOUR model of spatial knowledge in the cognitive map, the QSIM algorithm for qualitative simulation, the Algernon system for knowledge representation, and the Spatial Semantic Hierarchy model of knowledge for robot exploration and mapping. He has served as Department Chair at UT Austin, and is a Fellow of AAAI, IEEE, and AAAS.
Professor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne Professor David Grayden is Deputy Head (Academic) of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Melbourne. His main research interests are in understanding how the brain processes information and how best to present information to the brain using medical bionics, such as the bionic ear and bionic eye. He is also conducting research in epileptic seizure prediction and electrical stimulation to prevent or stop epileptic seizures.
