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Raised in Wyoming and a graduate of Rock Springs High School, Shane Reeves serves as the 29th President of the University of Wyoming. Prior to his appointment as President, he retired from the Army as a Brigadier General, most recently serving as the 15th Dean of the Academic Board at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he led the Academy's academic enterprise and served as its chief academic officer. He oversaw more than 800 faculty and staff across 13 departments, managed a budget of approximately $80 million, and guided a curriculum spanning 36 majors and 14 minors. A respected leader, educator, and legal scholar, he has built a career defined by service, innovation, and a deep commitment to developing leaders of character. His experience speaks directly to the work of a public university: teaching and mentoring undergraduates, developing faculty, growing research and partnerships, and aligning academic programs with the needs of students and the state they serve.

A 1996 graduate of West Point, he began his Army career as an Armor officer in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, leading soldiers at the platoon and troop levels. Selected for the Army's Funded Legal Education Program, he earned his J.D. from the College of William & Mary, graduating in the top ten percent of his class and serving on Law Review, before completing an LL.M. in Military Law at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. As a Judge Advocate, he served as Chief of Legal Assistance at Fort Riley, Brigade Judge Advocate in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division, Senior Trial Counsel with the 1st Infantry Division, and Deputy Legal Advisor at Joint Special Operations Command. His service was recognized with the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.

He has spent more than a decade shaping legal and strategic thinking at West Point. As Head of the Department of Law, he founded the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare, now a global hub for scholarship on the law of armed conflict, and co-founded Articles of War, an influential platform for national security practitioners and scholars. He also taught constitutional, military, international, and operational law; mentored students and faculty; and directed core academic programs. That record earned him an appointment as a Professor at the United States Military Academy, a permanent chair confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and West Point named him Professor Emeritus of Law upon his retirement.

As Dean, he led the Academy through its most significant academic modernization in more than thirty years, strengthening interdisciplinary learning and intellectual agility. He established the West Point Press, the Academy's first publishing arm in its 224-year history and, in partnership with the Association of Graduates, helped secure an $18 million endowment to support scholarly work. He also founded the West Point Werx Innovation Hub and laid the groundwork for a large-scale Technology Integration Complex. These efforts advanced faculty research and scholarship. Externally funded work and partnerships across the Department of Defense, industry, and academia also grew during his tenure. The Hub now provides a focal point for applied scholarship and experimentation, enabling cadets and faculty to engage directly with real-world problems facing the Army and the nation.

Altogether, his leadership has helped secure more than $135 million in donor support and fueled major facility upgrades exceeding $1 billion. A prolific writer with over 35 publications, his scholarship has appeared in the Harvard National Security Journal, Harvard International Review, Texas Law Review, Marquette Law Review, and other leading journals. His commentary has been featured in Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, and War on the Rocks. He served as Managing Editor of the Oxford University Press Lieber Studies series and has edited foundational texts on U.S. military operations and the law.

A sought-after speaker and moderator, he has presented to the Federal Judges Association, Columbia Law School, UC Berkeley, the World Governments Summit in Dubai, AUSA, SXSW, and audiences around the world. Through his podcast, Inside West Point: Ideas That Impact, and a series of fireside chats, he elevated the intellectual capital of the academy's scholars and brought in prominent leaders to spark learning. Guests included Chief Justice John Roberts, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, technology entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

He is admitted to practice before the Virginia State Bar, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has earned honors including the Order of St. George (Bronze Medallion) and NATO's Serge Lazareff Prize.

Before relocating to Laramie in 2026, he and his wife, Kimberly, called West Point home for 15 years. They have three children.

Sophie Woods, MS, LCAT, MT-BC, is a music psychotherapist and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. Through her work in private practice, she serves clients all across New York State. Sophie is committed to helping her clients optimize their mental health and overall well-being and prides herself on being an active therapist. She has experience working in inpatient and outpatient psychiatry, as well as early intervention. Sophie engages in creative arts therapy advocacy work, frequently speaks to college students about the exciting potential of careers in creative arts therapy, and is currently working toward a PhD in clinical psychology. Sophie lives in the New York Metropolitan Area with her husband, psychotherapist and author Jamey Hecht, their dog, Bonnie, and their cat, Teddy.

Mr. Fred George grew up in Albany County, graduating from Laramie High School. He had many great teachers and coaches in Albany County. Mr. George married his high school sweetheart and just celebrated their 32nd anniversary this summer. Mr. George began his career in education in 1993 at Fort Hall Elementary School in Blackfoot, Idaho, where he taught fourth and fifth grades. He later taught and coached at Mountain View Middle School in Blackfoot. In 1998,

Mr. George moved to Douglas, Wyoming, where he began serving as an assistant principal and athletic director at Douglas Middle School. He later became the school's principal and served at Douglas Middle School for 14 years. Mr. George then served for 10 years at Central High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as both assistant principal and principal.

For the past five years, Mr. George has served as the principal of Laramie High School in Wyoming.

Charles Hulme is Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Oxford. Dr. Charles has broad research interests in reading, language and memory processes and their development and is an expert on randomized controlled trials in Education. He has published widely and is in the top 2% for citations of all researchers in the field of Education. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Oslo (2014) and is a member of Academia Europea and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2017.

Andy Roszak, JD, MPA, EMT-Paramedic, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Childhood Preparedness (ICP), where he equips early childhood professionals and child-centered organizations nationwide with practical emergency preparedness training, tools, and resilience strategies.

He is also the Founder of Head Start East, a nonprofit organization founded in 2025 to provide high-quality professional development, technical assistance, and events for the early childhood education field. Since 2018, Andy has supported the Region II Head Start Association in advancing preparedness, health, safety, and environmental health initiatives across New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That work will conclude this year after a strong and impactful run.

A trusted advisor to leading organizations including Sesame Street in Communities and the U.S. Marine Corps, Andy has delivered training to early childhood professionals in all 50 states and 35 Native American Tribal Nations. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Community and Environmental Health at Old Dominion University.

Andy is the author of the award-winning Preparing for the Unexpected book series, developed specifically for early childhood professionals: Preschool Preparedness for an Active Shooter, winner of the 2020 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Award in two categories; Preschool Preparedness for an Emergency; and Recovering and Reopening after a Disaster.

With more than twenty years of experience in emergency preparedness across local, regional, state, federal, and nonprofit levels, Andy's previous roles include Senior Director of Emergency Preparedness at Child Care Aware of America, Senior Preparedness Advisor for Super Bowl XLVI, Senior Public Health Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Senior Director of Environmental Health, Pandemic Preparedness, and Catastrophic Response at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), where he worked closely with the CDC and 3,100 local health departments to strengthen community preparedness for pandemics, disasters, and public health emergencies.

Andy began his career in the Chicago area as a firefighter, paramedic, and certified hazardous materials technician. He holds a Juris Doctor and Master of Public Administration from Southern Illinois University, a bachelor's degree in Fire Science Management, and is a graduate of Harvard University's Early Education Leadership Program. He is admitted to practice law in Illinois, the District of Columbia, and before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Andy is the proud father of two young daughters and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family.

Professor Santa J. Ono is a senior academic leader and internationally recognized scientist whose career centers on leading globally connected research universities and large-scale innovation institutions, with a focus on institutional transformation, research expansion, technology-driven innovation, sustainability, and public engagement.

He serves as President of the Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford and Global President of the Ellison Institutes, advancing discovery in health, food security, clean energy, climate, and artificial intelligence. He is developing a major new research campus at Oxford Science Park—more than 2.3 million square feet of laboratory space—and overseeing the recruitment of up to 7,000 scientists, engineers, and clinicians. He directs platforms in AI, robotics, generative biology, and clinical research, and leads education initiatives including the Ellison Scholars Programme and doctoral programs conferred by Oxford University. At Oxford he is Professor of Ophthalmology & Immunology and a Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College.

Previously, as President of the University of Michigan, he built a $1.2 billion AI research ecosystem, surpassed $2 billion in annual research expenditures, expanded access through the Go Blue Guarantee and Wolverine Pathways, and helped raise $4.3 billion toward a $6 billion campaign. As President of the University of British Columbia, he led major research expansion and sustainability leadership—UBC rose to the top rank in North America for impact on the UN Sustainable Development Goals—and helped establish the $2 billion Digital Technology Supercluster. Earlier, he served as President of the University of Cincinnati and in senior roles at Emory University.

He has published 170 papers, served on numerous editorial boards, consulted for leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and advised national science panels in the U.S. and Canada. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Jani Kozlowski, MA is a passionate early childhood professional with a disability, a child of a parent with a disability, and a mother of a son with a disability. This collection of unique perspectives frames her work as an author, presenter, research investigator and consultant. Jani provides professional development and technical assistance for state leaders, educators and other practitioners. She currently leads initiatives focused on early childhood inclusion at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Jani is the author of Every Child Can Fly: An Early Childhood Educator's Guide to Inclusion and companion guide for families, Empowering Your Child to Fly: A Families' Guide to Early Childhood Inclusion. Jani has been an early childhood inclusion advocate for over thirty years.

Website: https://www.everychildcanfly.com

Newsletter: https://everychildcanfly.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janikozlowski/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janikozlowskiconsulting

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janikozlowski/

Brian Boyd, Ph.D., is the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor in Education and Director of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A special educator by training, Dr. Boyd's research focuses on the development and implementation of evidence-based practices that bridge school, home, and community contexts. His scholarship also includes a significant focus on the development of rigorous outcome measures for autistic children, ensuring that progress can be accurately captured across diverse settings. Dr. Boyd's recent work addresses critical gaps in equity, specifically examining risk and cultural resilience for Black autistic children and their families. He currently serves as President of the International Society for Autism Research. His research program has been continuously funded by federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). He also serves on multiple scientific advisory boards dedicated to improving outcomes for historically underserved and under-researched communities.

Dr. Peter Moss is an Emeritus Professor at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London. His research and writing interests cover early childhood education, education and democracy, and the relationship between employment, care and gender. Much of his work has been cross-national, especially covering Europe and the Anglosphere. He is co-founder of the International Network on Leave Policies and (with Gunilla Dahlberg) was the initial editor for the Contesting Early Childhood book series. He has published widely, his most recent books being Early Childhood in the Anglosphere: Systemic failings and transformative possibilities (with Linda Mitchell; 2024, UCL Press) and Care Leaves and Care Time for All: Towards caring democracies, economies and worlds (with Andrea Doucet; April 2026, Policy Press).

Erin Klauk is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming and Co-Director of the UW Science Initiative Roadshow and Community Engagement Program. With a background in the earth sciences and geoscience education, Erin is passionate about connecting people of all ages with Earth science through hands-on, place-based learning. Before joining the university, she spent nearly two decades as a high school Earth science teacher, developing engaging, NGSS-aligned lessons and mentoring students in scientific thinking. Erin's career in education began as a Yellowstone National Park ranger, where she first discovered the power of sharing science through storytelling and exploration. Outside of work, she enjoys skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Dr. Jessica (Jessie) Marcolini is the Director of the Science and Math Teacher Center (SMTC) within the College of Education at the University of Wyoming. The SMTC is devoted to excellence in preK-20 science and mathematics teaching and learning and facilitates professional development that supports educators in Wyoming and across the United States. Jessie earned her Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Florida Gulf Coast University where she investigated the impacts of K-12 STEM professional development on teachers' sense of self efficacy. Her major research and teaching interest include STEM Education, Faculty/Teacher Professional Development, Sustainability, and Environmental Education.

Dr. Karagh Brummond is the Co-Director of the UW Top-Tier Science Initiative's Roadshow & Community Engagement Program and an Assistant Instructional Professor in the Honors College at the University of Wyoming. She holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Wyoming and currently teaches Neuroscience and Law. In her engagement role, Karagh helps to lead statewide STEM engagement efforts, partnering with K-12 schools and communities to deliver hands-on STEM learning throughout the state of Wyoming.