Ralph Begleiter

Rosenberg Professor of Communications and Distinguished Journalist in Residence, University of Delaware

Ralph Begleiter brings more than 30 years of broadcast journalism experience to the University of Delaware, where he teaches communication, journalism, and political science. During two decades as CNN’s “world affairs correspondent,” Begleiter was the network’s most widely-traveled reporter. He has visited some 95 countries on 6 continents. He continues to travel, with university students to Cuba, South America and Antarctica, and conducting media workshops in several countries under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State. At CNN during the 1980’s and 1990’s, he covered U.S. diplomacy, interviewed countless world leaders, hosted a global public affairs show, and co-anchored CNN’s prestigious “International Hour.” In 1998, Begleiter wrote and anchored a 24-part series on the Cold War. He covered many historic events at the end of the 20th century, including virtually every high-level Soviet/Russian-American meeting; the Persian Gulf Crisis in 1990-91; the Dayton Bosnia Accords; Middle East Peace efforts; and many UN and NATO summit meetings. In recent years he has hosted the Foreign Policy Association’s annual “Great Decisions” television discussion series, aired on Public Broadcasting System stations. He has received numerous press awards including, in 1994, the Weintal Prize from Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service, one of diplomatic reporting’s highest honors. At the University of Delaware, Professor Begleiter teaches classes on politics, the media, and presidential elections, and organizes the annual Global Agendas class and lecture series.

John Byrne

Director and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware

John Byrne serves as the Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. He has been a contributing author to the United Nations sponsored International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1992. In that capacity, Dr. Byrne shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly to former Vice-President Al Gore and the IPCC for promoting understanding of climate change issues. Byrne is co-founder and co-executive director of the Joint Institute for a Sustainable Energy and Environmental Future. He is also a founding member of and served as first research chair of the International Solar Cities Initiative – a pioneering program to assist cities around the world in planning for a sustainable future. He presently co-chairs the Sustainable Energy Utility Task Force, established by the Delaware General Assembly, and is the architect for this innovative concept for the promotion of energy efficiency, conservation, and distributed renewable energy generation. Dr. Byrne has served on the US National Council for Science and the Environment and advised the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice, coordinated by the EPA. He created the first graduate degrees in the United States in the combined area of energy and environmental policy, and a recent external review conducted by a committee of internationally respected scholars rated the CEEP graduate program among the three best in the field. Dr. Byrne is editor of the annual book series, Energy and Environmental Policy, published by transaction books. He has published 17 books and authored more than 150 research articles on a wide range of subjects, including environmental and energy policy, economics, political economy, and risk.

Dominic DiToro

Edward C. Davis Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware

Dominic M. DiToro is the Edward C. Davis Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineers in February, 2005. His other awards include the Institute of Scientific Information Highly Cited Researcher, 2003 and The Founders Award of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1997. Dr. DiToro has specialized in the development and application of mathematical and statistical models to stream, lake, estuarine and coastal water and sediment quality problems. He has published over one hundred technical papers, as well as Sediment Flux Modeling, published by J. Wiley & Sons. He has participated as Expert Consultant, Principal Investigator and Project Manager on numerous water quality studies for industry, research foundations and governmental agencies. Recently, his work has focused on the development of water and sediment quality criteria for the EPA, sediment flux models for nutrients and metals, and integrated hydrodynamic, sediment transport and water quality models. Dr. DiToro received his B.E.E. in electrical engineering with honors from Manhattan College in 1963, his M.A. in electrical engineering from Princeton University in 1965 and his Ph.D. in Civil and Geological Engineering from Princeton in 1967. He joined the faculty of Manhattan College and became the Donald J. O’Connor Professor of Environmental Engineering in 1999. In 2003, he joined the faculty at the University of Delaware. Dr. DiToro also served as a Senior Research Consulting Engineer at Hydroscience, Inc. from 1969-1980 and was a founding partner of the successor firm HydroQual, Inc, a consulting firm that specializes in water quality modeling, where he was Principal Consultant from 1980 to 2004.

The Honorable Russell Peterson

Former Governor of the State of Delaware

Russell Peterson arrived in Delaware, as many do, as a recruit of the DuPont Corporation to work as a research chemist at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, DE. During over 26 years of service to the corporation, Peterson held prominent jobs in research, manufacturing and sales, and finally in corporate management launching new business ventures. Working as a citizen activist during this period, he led community projects involving prison reform and rehabilitation of poor neighborhoods. In 1968 he ran for and was elected Governor of the State of Delaware. During Governor Peterson’s years in office he came into national prominence as an environmentalist. He battled oil companies and lobbied heavily to protect Delaware’s coastline from heavy industry. As chairman of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, he was involved in implementing the National Environmental Policy Act. During his tenure he did much to promote the understanding that we can have both a healthy environment and a healthy economy. He served as President of the National Audubon Society from 1979-1985 and was founding chairman of the Global Tomorrow Coalition, an affiliation of 115 organizations concerned with population, resources, and the environment. He also was director of the Population Crisis Committee, the Alliance to Save Energy, the World Wildlife Fund-USA, and the Environmental Law Institute. With Ted Turner, he founded and served as Vice Chairman and President of the Better World Society and Vice-President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Peterson has published widely on environmental issues and served as a member of Pace University’s Environmental Law Center.

Michael Meloy

Partner, Manko, Gold, Katcher, and Fox

Michael M. Meloy is a partner at Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP, a law firm concentrating in environmental and land use law. Mr. Meloy brings both a legal and engineering background to bear in representing clients in connection with a broad spectrum of environmental litigation, regulatory and transactional issues. He has been actively involved in numerous redevelopment and remediation projects across the world, the development and implementation of waste management programs in Pennsylvania, environmental auditing of facilities and operations, and the development of comprehensive water planning legislation for Pennsylvania. He has also handled matters involving health and safety issues arising under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Mr. Meloy is a member of the Delaware Basin Regional Water Resources Committee. He serves on the Pennsylvania Cleanup Standards Scientific Advisory Board’s Safe Fill Committee and the Environmental Affairs Committee for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. He is also the chair of the Pennsylvania Chamber’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee and serves as a member on the Pennsylvania Chamber’s Water Task Force. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has chaired the Agricultural Law Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and is a member of the Environment, Energy and Resources Section of the American Bar Association, the Environmental, Mineral and Natural Resources Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Environmental Law Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Mr. Meloy earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Delaware in 1980. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1983 after graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School.

The Honorable Thomas Carper

United States Senator

Tom Carper serves as a U.S. Senator for the State of Delaware. After serving as a naval flight officer in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and later as a P-3 aircraft mission commander, Tom Carper returned to Delaware in 1973 where he earned his M.B.A. at the University of Delaware. His career in public service began in 1976 when he was elected to the first of three terms as Delaware's state treasurer. In 1982, he was elected to represent Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives. After serving five terms as a U.S. congressman, Tom Carper became the 78th governor of Delaware in 1993 and served two terms in that role. During his second term as governor, Tom Carper was selected by his colleagues to serve as vice-chairman, then as chairman of the National Governors' Association (NGA). After serving as chairman, he directed the NGA's "Center for Best Practices", which focused on developing and implementing innovative solutions to policy challenges faced by governors across the nation. From 1994-1998, he served as a member of Amtrak's board of directors. On Jan. 3, 2001, Tom Carper became Delaware's junior senator. With his re-election to the U.S. Senate on November 7, 2006, he retained his record as the winningest politician in Delaware's history, having been elected to state-wide public office a record 12 times. For the 110th Congress, beginning in January of 2007, Senator Carper gained a seat on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He retained his assignments and seniority on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Environment & Public Works Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as the Special Committee on Aging. He also serves as chairman of three subcommittees: Homeland Security's Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security Subcommittee, Banking's Economic Policy Subcommittee, and EPW's Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee.