Plenary I
Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Time: 8:00 – 9:55am
Location: VBCC – L1 Ballroom 2/3
Speaker 1: Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator
Senator Tim Kaine was elected to the Senate in 2012 and serves on the Armed Services; Budget; Foreign Relations; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committees. Tim has made boosting job opportunities for everyone a top priority. As co-chair of the bipartisan Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, Tim focuses on expanding access to job-training programs to ensure that students of all ages are prepared with the skills they need for the jobs of the modern economy. Tim has also led successful efforts in the Senate to reduce unemployment for military families and veterans.
As a Senator from one of the states most closely connected to the military and the father of a Marine, Tim is focused on crafting smart defense strategy and reducing the risk of unnecessary war.
He works to ensure that the military has the resources it needs to keep the country safe and that service members and veterans receive the benefits and care they have earned. He has also been the leading voice against Presidents starting wars without a vote by Congress. Tim believes that health care is a right, not something reserved just for those who can afford it, and has consistently pushed for reforms to expand access to quality care. This includes legislation to give Americans more options for affordable health insurance and to combat the opioid abuse epidemic. Tim grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop in Kansas City. His parents taught him the value of hard work and showed him how small businesses and technical skills strengthen this country every day.
After graduating from the University of Missouri, he started his public service career by running a technical school founded by Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. He trained teenagers to become carpenters and welders, equipping them with skills to lift up themselves and their communities. He was first elected to office in 1994, serving as a city councilmember and then Mayor of Richmond. He became Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2002 and was inaugurated as Virginia’s 70th Governor in 2006. He is married to Anne Holton, who served as Virginia Secretary of Education from 2014 until 2016 and as the Interim President of George Mason University from 2019 until 2020; she now teaches education policy at GMU. They both revel in the adventures of their three grown children and live in the same Northside Richmond neighborhood where they moved as newlyweds more than 30 years ago.
Speaker 2: Dr. John Broderick, Former President Old Dominion University
John R. Broderick, former president of Old Dominion University, was an active participant and supporter of the original Oceans Conference when it was launched in 2012 in Virginia Beach, so, it is only natural for him to serve as one of the honorary chairs in 2022.
President Broderick is credited with establishing the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding, which was formalized by former Governor Terry McAuliffe and adopted by both the Virginia House and Senate in 2015. The initiative was done in partnership with College of William and Mary and the Virginia Institute for Marine Sciences. Faculty and students at all three institutions are now involved in a variety of research projects aimed at creating greater understanding of possible solutions for both communities and individuals.
ODU’s commitment to this issue actually began in 2010 when President Broderick launched the Center for the Study of Sea Level Rise at the institution, elevating Old Dominion to the top tier nationally in addressing a significant environmental problem in Hampton Roads and beyond.
Named one of Virginia’s top 500 business leaders by Virginia Business in 2020, the Connecticut native was a longtime proponent of increasing ODU’s presence in STEM-H disciplines and research. For several years, university recorded the second-largest percentage of STEM-H degrees awarded in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
During his 13-year tenure as its leader, Old Dominion received more than $1.2 billion in new resources from public and private sources. This includes facilities valued at more than $100 million – constructed or underway – for Chemistry, Engineering and Health Sciences. In 2018, ODU launched an expansion of health science offerings at its Virginia Beach Higher Education Center, with an increase in nursing classes and the creation of a center focused on telehealth.
In his final year, ODU received funding from the Virginia General Assembly and Sentara Health Care to establish a joint School of Public Health with Norfolk State University and Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Other centers that opened at ODU during his presidency include the Centers for Global Health, Social Mobility and Cybersecurity as well the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Virginia Institute for Spaceflight and Autonomy. President Broderick was a member of the state board for the Wallops Island flight facility for eight years.
Governor Ralph Northam appointed Mr. Broderick to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia when he stepped down as President in 2021. He also served on statewide committees appointed by both Governors McDonnell and McAuliffe.
He is a former chair of the Council of Presidents for public institutions in Virginia as well boards with Conference USA, the Colonial Athletic Conference and the Southeastern Universities Research Association. He also held leadership positions in the NCAA for a number of years.
Broderick and his wife, Kate, were honored by students for their commitment to inclusion and student success with the naming of the Broderick Dining Commons in 2016. Mr. Broderick has been honored by the Urban League of Hampton Roads, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. He was twice listed in the top five for the Inside Business Power list for Hampton Roads.
Speaker 3: Dr. Tom Drake, Head of Ocean Battlespace and Expeditionary Access Department Office of Naval Research
Dr. Tom Drake heads the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ocean Battlespace and Expeditionary Access Department—one of six science and technology (S&T) departments at ONR. The Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department is responsible for Navy and Marine Corps S&T in ocean and meteorological science, undersea warfare, mine warfare, space technology and marine mammals. It comprises two divisions and 14 programs spanning sensing systems and geophysical processes and prediction. The department has also built and cares for six oceanographic research vessels. Drake is currently the U.S. national representative for the Maritime Systems Group of The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP), coordinating technology among the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Since 2013, Drake has served as the director of ONR’s Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Research Division. He is responsible for planning, execution and management of integrated basic research, applied research and advanced technology development of ONR S&T programs in physical oceanography, marine meteorology, ocean acoustics, Arctic and global prediction, littoral geosciences and optics, marine mammals and biology, and the space environment. The Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Research Division provides advanced, high-resolution environmental observations and prediction capabilities in support of anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and naval special warfare missions.
Drake entered the Senior Executive Service in 2013. He joined the Federal Civilian Service in 2003 as program officer for the Coastal Dynamics program at ONR, directing work in nearshore processes, sediment transport and wave dynamics. In 2006, he also assumed direction of the Marine Geosciences program, directing marine geophysics and geology research, in addition to elements of the ONR Sea Mine Burial program.
Prior to joining the Federal Civilian Service, Drake was a tenured professor at North Carolina State University, conducting research and teaching courses in terrestrial and coastal surficial processes from 1995 to 2003. From 1990 to 1995, he was a research oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, and studied nearshore and riverine sediment transport.
Drake holds a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of numerous articles in technical journals and conference proceedings.
Speaker 4: Dr. Carol Anne Clayson, Associate Director for Research Strategies & Senior Scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
Dr. Carol Anne Clayson is the Associate Director for Research Strategies and a Senior Scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Her current areas of research include understanding the air-sea boundary layers and impacts on weather, climate, and energy sectors and the development of satellite and in situ sensors to observe these processes. She has served on numerous national and international science panels, including service as the co-chair of the Climate Panel for the recent NASA Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space. She has served on the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate and has been a lead reviewer of the US Climate Change Science Programme products.
Dr. Clayson is the recipient of many awards including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President W. Clinton. She has also authored or co-authored over 65 journal articles and two books on air-sea boundary layers and numerical ocean modeling. Dr. Clayson has spoken frequently on public-private partnerships and policy issues, including at the Economist’s World Ocean Summit, CERAweek, and Fortune 500 Executive Teams. She has authored papers regarding the role of science and the ocean with relationship to climate policy, including a recent G7 publication, and has briefed U.S. Congressional staff on the ocean-climate connection and climate risk assessment.
She holds a BS in physics from Brigham Young University, and MS and PhD degrees in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado.