Dr. Craig R. Barrett was born in San Francisco, California and received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science from Stanford University, serving on the faculty of Stanford after graduation. Dr. Barrett was a Fulbright Fellow at Danish Technical University in Denmark and a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Physical Laboratory in England. In 1974 Dr. Barrett joined Intel Corporation. He was elected to Intel Corporation’s Board of Directors in 1992, became Intel’s fourth president in 1997, chief executive officer in 1998, and chairman of the board in 2005, a post held until he retired in May 2009.

Dr. Barrett is a leading advocate for improving education in the U.S. and the world, and is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards globally. He chairs BASIS Charter Schools, Inc., Change The Equation, STAND for Children Arizona, Dossia, Smithsonian Gem and Mineral Collectors and the National Forest Foundation; co-chairs the Skolkovo Foundation Council and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Advisory Board; vice chairs Science Foundation Arizona; serves on the Boards of Achieve, K12, Society for Science and the Public, Carnegie Institution for Science, the Arizona Commerce Authority, Tallwave, Impele and Geothermic Solution. Dr. Barrett served as Chairman of the National Academy of Engineering and the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development. He co-chaired the Business Coalition for Student Achievement and the National Innovation Initiative Leadership Council, and served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the U.S. Council for International Business and the Clinton Global Initiative Education Advisory Board. Dr. Barrett serves on numerous other boards, policy and government panels and committees.

William “Bill” Harris has more than 35 years of diverse, progressively advanced national and international experience building and leading major government and university institutions, strategically developing research and educational enterprises to benefit society, managing large budgets for maximum results, and hiring entrepreneurial personnel and teachers-scholars. He is a Director of Innovation Advisory Partners.

Bill began his professional career as the Director of Physical Chemistry at NSF, moving into the role of Assistant to the Director, and finally as the Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. In the early 2000’s, Bill was named VP for Research and Professor of Chemistry at the University of South Carolina. Later, he served five years as the Founding Director General at the Science Foundation Ireland. For the last thirteen years, Bill has served as the President and CEO of Science Foundation Arizona.

Liz earned her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Riverside. She holds a Juris Doctorate and a Bachelor of Civil Law from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert School of Law.

As the Alliance’s CSO, Liz Smith manages the organization’s long-term strategic political, policy, and project activity. Liz has extensive experience in advocacy, research, and project management developed over a 15-year career in public policy and governmental affairs. Liz honed her skills as the Senior Vice President for Economic Competitiveness at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, where she oversaw the organization’s activities in policy areas stemming from public education and workforce development to transportation and small business services. She came to BRAC after 5 years as the Research Director for SCI, a Baton Rouge marketing research company, where she ran public opinion polls, electoral focus groups, and jury research.

Liz was the founding Louisiana-based BASIS Baton Rouge board member and served as Secretary of the BBR board for several years. She is closing out terms as a board member for the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, and as a Louisiana Senate President appointee to the state’s Early Childhood Care and Education Commission. She has also previously served on the board of directors for Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni, the Up Alliance, Volunteers in Public Schools, LA Workforce Development Board 21, and the Baton Rouge Family and Youth Services Center.

In 2016, Liz was named one of the Baton Rouge Business Report’s Forty under 40. She is a member of the 2014 class of Leadership Baton Rouge. She has received awards from the Louisiana STEM Expo and the Louisiana Association of Business Educators for driving business support of public schools. Liz is also an Education Attainment Fellow of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.

Liz earned her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Riverside. She holds a Juris Doctorate and a Bachelor of Civil Law from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert School of Law.

A long-time BASIS parent, and frequent contributor to the south Texas philanthropic community, Dr. Joelle Choucair earned a Master’s in Optometry, and Optical Sciences from the University of Orsay—Paris Sud, and a Doctor of Optometry from the New England College of Optometry.

Dr. Choucair practices optometry, and devotes significant time in her professional life to managing her husband’s cardiology practice.

Dr. Choucair has a wealth of previous Board, and committee experience: She is currently a Board member for Teens Give Back, a non-profit, volunteering organization in San Antonio.

She also serves as the president of the Coastal Heart Foundation, an organization she, and her husband founded for the purposes of supporting community health in south Texas.

Dr. Choucair also serves on the Board of Ball for All, a nonprofit founded by her children with the goal of using team sports to bridge socio-economic divides in the community.

Harvey Vigneault received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.

From his first job as a nuclear systems engineer designing nuclear power plants, Mr. Vigneault’s 45 year career in the energy business grew through increasing responsibilities. His experience includes oil and gas, petroleum production and refining, petrochemicals, LNG, Gas-to Liquids, pipelines and power.

Mr. Vigneault spent more than 30 years with Brown & Root and its successor, KBR. He served as Executive Vice President at Worldwide Operations for the Energy & Chemicals Group of Shaw Inc. for 5 years. Upon its acquisition of his business unit, Mr. Vigneault became Chief Operating Officer – Onshore for Technip USA and was promoted to Vice President – Onshore & Offshore in 2017, and retired from TechnipFMC in March 2018.

Mr. Vigneault has served on the Board of Directors for M.W. Kellogg Ltd. and Brown & Root Condor. He also served on numerous executive steering committees for joint ventures to engineer and construct major energy facilities worldwide. Mr. Vigneault has also been a member of the Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, an organization dedicated to providing volunteer-based school programs that foster work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literary skills.

Kayvee Kondapalli was born in Hyderabad, India. He immigrated to the United States in 1999 to pursue Master’s degree at Louisiana State university. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer at Greater Texas Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas. Kayvee served on San Antonio Cyber Security Council, Cast Tech high school (SAISD) industry advisory council, Junior Achievement of Louisiana and Baton Rouge Area Chamber.

He holds a dual Master’s degree in Computer Science and Library and Information Science from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kakatiya University in Warangal, India. Kayvee played cricket for his college and enjoys public speaking, participating in technology panels, working out, playing golf, tennis, ping pong, badminton, adventure sports and reading books.

Glenn Hamer is the President and CEO of the Texas Association of Business (TAB). As a torchbearer for the business community, Glenn Hamer has a proven track record for success in the public policy arena. He came to TAB after 14 years as CEO of the Arizona Chamber — where he led major tax, education, legal, and healthcare victories. Glenn is a highly regarded international issues expert and has joined governors, mayors, and the U.S. Chamber on trade missions to China, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom. At TAB, Glenn has made it his mission to meet with more chambers than anyone else on the planet. He connects businesses, small and large, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to protect Texas’ pro-business climate. Glenn is a graduate of Cornell University and Arizona State University’s College of Law.

Bruce Gnade received his BA in Chemistry from St. Louis University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1982. He is Professor Emeritus at UT Dallas and Chief Scientist at Mustang Optics.  He was the Executive Director of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership in the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU from 2017-2022, the Vice President for Research and the Distinguished Chair in Microelectronics at UT Dallas from 2006-2016, and a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1996-1999.  At Texas Instruments he led several research and technology groups from 1982-1996.  His current research interests focus on electronics for harsh environments and using optical techniques to solve problems.  He is a Fellow of APS, IEEE, and National Academy of Inventors, and was Chair of the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities from 2021-2023.  He was awarded the IEEE J.J. Ebers award in 2021.  He has authored or co-authored > 200 refereed journal papers, 79 U.S. and 55 foreign patents.