2006 Tech Awards Judges
Equality
Mark Aschheim, Chair
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering
Santa Clara University
Mark Aschheim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Santa Clara University. Previously, he was on the faculty of the University of Illinois, after receiving his doctoral, masters, and bachelor's degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995, 1992, and 1986, respectively. He works in the area of earthquake-resistant structural engineering. His research has produced improved techniques for the design of earthquake-resistant structures and improved structural systems for resisting earthquake actions. Mark has reported on damage in past earthquakes in the US and abroad, and works to improve the practice of structural engineering through activities with the Applied Technology Council by participating on building code committees of the Building Seismic Safety Council and the American Concrete Institute. He also is a registered professional engineer in California.
Lester F. Goodchild, Ph.D.
Director, Higher Education Program and
Professor of Education
Dr. Goodchild is Dean of the School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries and Professor of Education. The School offers master’s degrees and professional certification in education, counseling, health and human services, and pastoral ministry.
Prior to coming to Santa Clara, Dr. Goodchild was Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Professor of Higher Education. He also served as Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Education at the University of Denver; Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Iowa State University; and Director of Suburban Campuses at DePaul University in Chicago. In addition, Dr. Goodchild has been a visiting professor or scholar at Penn State University, Boston College, and the University of California, Berkeley. His specialty is the study of higher education, with emphasis on its history, public policy, administration, and professional ethics. He has co-edited four books, and his other 43 refereed articles, book chapters, book reviews, and professional publications focus on the history of American higher education, education and higher education as fields of study, and Catholic higher education. Dr. Goodchild has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; a M.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University; a M.Div. from St. Meinrad School of Theology in southern Indiana; and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His Ph.D. dissertation explored the rise of American Catholic universities and their respective Catholic characters from 1842 to 1980 in a comparative study of the University of Notre Dame, Loyola University Chicago, and DePaul University.Paul Meissner
CEO
Santur Corporation
Paul is an industry veteran with over 18 years of leadership experience in optics and semiconductors. He joins Santur from Coherent, where he most recently served as the EVP of Global Business Operations. Prior to that, Paul held several executive management and technology leadership positions at KLA-Tencor and Applied Materials. In addition, he advises entrepreneurs through the Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University, and through the Digital Visions Program at Stanford University. Paul holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in materials science and engineering, and he obtained both his masters and doctorate degrees in materials science and engineering from Stanford University.
Emile McAnany
Professor, Communications Department
Santa Clara University
Before coming to Santa Clara in 1997, Dr. McAnany was Ben F. Love Professor at the University of Texas at Austin where he taught for seventeen years. Prior to that he taught in the Communication Department at Stanford University from 1972-78 where he earned his Ph.D. in Communication in 1971. At Santa Clara University, Dr. McAnany teaches: International Communication (Globalization, International Television and Media, International News, Cultural Export and Trade Regimes); Mass Communication (Mass Communication Theory, Media Audiences and Introduction to Mass Communication); and Methodology (Qualitative Methodology). He has focused his research on the social and cultural impacts of various communication technologies in Third World countries, especially Latin America. Recent publications include Mass Media and Free Trade: NAFTA and the Cultural Industries (University of Texas Press, 1996) and a number of articles in communication journals in the U.S. and Latin America. Since 1995 he has been involved with colleagues in Austin and Brazil on a multiyear research project on the social impact of television on fertility transitions. He also continues work on the expansion of cultural industries internationally and cultural consequences for global audiences.
Vern Norviel
Member of the Firm
Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati
Vern Norviel is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads the patents and innovation counseling practice. Vern has more than two decades of experience in formulating successful strategies for life science companies and the development of their IP programs. He represents a wide variety of companies, as well as venture capital firms, in areas such as therapeutics, diagnostics, nanotechnology, genomics, proteomics, and personalized medicine.
Before joining the firm in 2003, Vern was the general counsel and corporate secretary of Perlegen Sciences, Inc., a start-up biotechnology company that scans the entire human genome for important therapeutic and diagnostic products. Previously, as senior vice president and general counsel, he was an early employee of Affymetrix, the biotechnology company that pioneered and developed DNA chip technology. He also had been a partner at Townsend and Townsend and Crew in Palo Alto.
During his career, Vern has authored or prosecuted more than 15 patents that have been litigated in the United States and abroad, and has overseen intellectual property lawsuits throughout the world.
John Woldrich
Former COO
Fair, Issac & Co.
Fair, Isaac & Company is a case study in how to succeed against very long odds. The company pioneered the use of statistical evaluation systems to improve upon and radically change the way decisions were made for individuals by the Financial Services industry. Persuading companies to change methods that had been in use for centuries wasn't easy or accomplished quickly, but the result has been to have faster, fairer, and more abundant services in credit cards, personal loans, and insurance policies available today. John Woldrich was a key player in helping to grow Fair, Isaac from a very small, local company in the early 1970's to a leading international company today, with offices in Europe, Asia, and South America. Over a 28-year career with the company, John developed systems, served customers, created and managed operating units, and negotiated strategic alliances. As COO, he managed all of the companies operating units, including the credit, insurance, direct mail, and international business units, as well as a number of strategic alliances that he helped forge over the years. He was a member of Fair, Isaac's Board of Directors, as well as several subsidiary and joint venture companies. Now retired, John is still active as a director on the boards of InfoCentricity and Sunny Hills Children's Garden. He has an Electrical Engineering degree from Santa Clara University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
