Jack Ford and Blake Berson will present Forward Progress: The Integration of SEC Football, a CBS Sports documentary about Nate Northington, the first African-American football player in the Southeastern Conference, and the impact his arrival in 1967 had on the University of Kentucky, the SEC, and the sports and cultural landscape in the United States. The one-hour documentary aired during African-American History Month on February 16, 2015. Jack Ford served as executive producer and Blake Berson as producer.

Blake Berson

An award winning shooter, editor and producer, Blake Berson has worked for CBS Sports Network for almost a decade. Born and raised in the Philadelphia, PA area, his work has taken him all over the world, from Italy to Nicaragua and conducted interviews with some of sports biggest stars.

Mr. Berson developed much of his journalistic background at Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a degree in Print Journalism with distinction and was one of the first graduates from the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. At Penn State, Mr. Berson helped begin the school’s first student run weekly sports television show. It still exists today, but now as a credited class in the school of Communications. Mr. Berson also helped Penn State’s athletics website gopsusports.com create it’s first video content, as he shot, edited and produced highlights and feature content.

While in school, Mr. Berson also accepted internships with Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia, NFL Films and ESPN.

After graduating from Penn State in the fall of 2005, Mr. Berson immediately went to work in Bristol, CT at ESPN Classic as a production assistant, working on long form projects. Shortly thereafter, he was offered an opportunity to move to New York City and begin a career with CSTV (College Sports Television) as a senior production assistant. CSTV was bought by CBS and eventually became CBS Sports Network. Over the last decade, Mr. Berson has moved through the ranks to become a senior feature producer at the age of 30.

While at CBS Sports Network, Mr. Berson and has shot, edited and produced features on a variety of sports and topics, but mainly focuses on college football and college basketball content. He has also produced several ‘all-access’ documentaries, which have aired on both CBS and CBS Sports Network. His work includes production on ‘One2One,’ CBS Sports’ ‘Confidential’ series and his first historical documentary, ‘Forward Progress.’

Since coming to CBS Sports Network, Mr. Berson has won several awards, including First Place and ‘Best in Show’ at the 2014 National Headliner Award, 2012 SVG College Sports Media Awards ‘Special Feature’ winner and four Cine Golden Eagle Awards. Also, in 2014 Mr. Berson was given the ‘Emerging Professional’ Award from the Penn State College of Communications for a graduate within the last ten years and based on career achievements and community service.

Mr. Berson resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his wife, Alison.

Jack Ford

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist, documentary producer, prominent trial attorney, author, and teacher, Jack Ford has had a unique and remarkably successful career. Raised by a single parent, his journey has taken him from a small town in New Jersey to Yale University, where he was a scholarship student and three-year starter on the varsity football team, to the Fordham University School of Law, where he helped finance his legal education with winnings from three appearances on the television quiz show “Jeopardy!”, to courtrooms and classrooms throughout the country, and, ultimately, to the upper echelons of television journalism.

Currently a CBS News Correspondent for “60 Minutes Sports” and the co-host of “Metro Focus” on PBS (WNET-New York), he is also the Co-Founder and Chief Anchor of the American Education Network. Mr. Ford began his television news career in 1984 with WCBS-TV in New York. In 1991, he was an original anchor at the launch of Court TV. He also appeared in Fred Friendly’s award-winning PBS Media and Society broadcasts, serving as Moderator for “That Delicate Balance II: The Bill of Rights.”

In 1994, Mr. Ford joined NBC News as Chief Legal Correspondent, reporting on major legal stories for NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and Dateline. In addition, he was the co-anchor for the Weekend Today Show and a substitute anchor for Nightly News and Meet the Press. Mr. Ford joined ABC News in 1999 as an Anchor/Correspondent for Good Morning America, 20/20, and World News Tonight. He also hosted the ESPN show, The Sports Reporters II, from 2002-2003. During 2003-2004, he hosted a nationally syndicated morning show for CBS TV/King World before returning to Court TV in 2005 as the Host of “Courtside.” From 2009-2014 he served as the CBS News Legal Analyst. He has also provided college football game commentary for ESPN and the Yes Network.

Following law school, Mr. Ford spent three years as a prosecutor in New Jersey before entering private practice. He became a prominent trial attorney, successfully handling such high profile cases as the Northeast’s first death penalty trial, one of the nation’s first corporate homicide cases, and the Wall Street insider trading scandal of the late 1980s. During his legal career, he also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Fordham University School of Law. He is currently a Visiting Lecturer at Yale University, New York University, and the University of Virginia and speaks frequently at colleges and law schools across the country. He is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, “The Osiris Alliance” and “The Walls of Jericho.”

Mr. Ford’s television journalism work has been recognized with a number of honors, including two Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, three National Cable Television Awards, a National Headliner Award, and the March of Dimes FDR Award. In 1997, he received an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, which is presented to former outstanding college athletes who have achieved distinction in their professional lives. In 1998, Mr. Ford was honored with a “National Father of the Year Award,” and in 2009, he was a recipient of Yale University’s highest athletic honor, the “George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award.”

Mr. Ford has been awarded five honorary degrees, recognizing his professional accomplishments and his extensive public service work. He has served as spokesperson, host and/or board member for a number of charitable causes and organizations, including the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, the N.J. Special Olympics, the Jimmy V Foundation, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, the Ivy League Football Association, the NCAA Honors Committee, the NCAA Division 1 Committee on Infractions, Meridian Health System, Monmouth University, and Yale University.

Mr. Ford resides in Spring Lake, N.J. with his wife, Dorothy. They have two children, Dr. Ashley Ford Haggerty and Colin Ford.

Art Marcelynas will discuss electricity energy choices and policies, including:

• Choosing an Electric Supplier – Options for electricity supply choice
•  Understanding your electric bill
• Impact of mandated “clean” energy requirements – CT’s “Renewable Portfolio Standards” or RPS
• Other renewable energy options, and
• Rate impact of energy-related policies

Art Marcelynas has nearly thirty years of regulatory experience with Connecticut’s Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC), the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy, and the DPUC’s successor agency, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

Early in his career, Art focused on private water company ratemaking and regulatory policy. In 1993, his duties shifted to oversight of Connecticut’s investor-owned electric utilities, The Connecticut Light and Power Company and The United Illuminating Company, with emphasis on sales forecasting, rates, and rate design. Art was a leader in implementing retail choice and other energy related initiatives in Connecticut, and expanded his portfolio of duties to include senior staff positions in conservation and load management programs and budgets, energy policy implementation and ongoing development of the retail electric supply market.

In 2005, Art established the retail electric supply “rate board” that provides residential and smaller business customers real-time access to supplier rates and offers, and expanded that resource to accommodate a growing market, new product offers and other ongoing changes.

He has led teams as a subject matter expert in numerous supplier-related regulatory dockets and industry working groups. His current duties include working with PURA Commissioners to implement recent supplier-related legislation, including Connecticut Public Act 14 75. Art actively participates in regulatory proceedings impacting the Connecticut retail electric supplier market, advising Commissioners on a variety of energy policy issues.

Contact information:

Art Marcelynas
PURA
Ten Franklin Square
New Britain, CT 06051
P: 860.827.2887
E: Arthur.Marcelynas@ct.gov

Karen Abbott is the New York Times bestselling author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War. The book tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything—their homes, their families, and their very lives—during the Civil War.

Seventeen-year-old Belle Boyd, an avowed rebel with a dangerous temper, shot a Union soldier in her home and became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her considerable charms to seduce men on both sides.

Emma Edmonds disguised herself as a man to enlist as a Union private named “Frank Thompson,” witnessing the bloodiest battles of the war and infiltrating enemy lines, all the while fearing that her past would catch up with her.

The beautiful widow Rose O’Neal Greenhow engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians, used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals, and sailed abroad to lobby for the Confederacy, a journey that cost her more than she ever imagined.

Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring—even placing a former slave inside the Confederate White House—right under the noses of increasingly suspicious rebel detectives.

Dr. Baker directs the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Public Policy & Education at Fordham University. He is also a Distinguished Professor of management at IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain, and President Emeritus of WNET-Thirteen, New York’s public television station.
During his 21 year tenure as president of WNET in New York, America’s flagship public broadcaster, Baker led the effort to raise over one billion dollars for the station. As a commercial broadcaster, Baker helped start many cable networks, introduced both Oprah Winfrey and Charlie Rose as talk show hosts, and oversaw the launch of the Discovery Channel and the Disney Channel. He was president of Westinghouse Television and Chairman of Group W Satellite Communication.

He is the recipient of seven Emmy Awards, two Columbia Dupont Journalism Awards, and is the executive producer of the theatrical film and PBS documentary, The Face: Jesus in Art. He is co-author of the book Leading with Kindness (American Management Association, 2008) and hosts the series of the same name on public television. Baker is also the co-author of Every Leader is an Artist (McGraw-Hill, 2012), and Down the Tube: An Insider’s Account of the Failure of American Television (Basic Books, 1998).

He holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and nine honorary doctorates from universities in America and Europe. His interests include astronomy, horology, and polar science, and he is believed to be the eighth person in history to have stood on both the North and South Poles.

GRAND CENTRAL STATION, spared from demolition, is now restored to its original beauty. This 1913 Beaux Arts masterpiece remains one of New York’s most famous landmarks.

Art Gottlieb is a local historian on subjects of political and military history. He was formerly a professional curator of naval history and the Technical Director of Exhibits at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. In these roles, Mr. Gottlieb worked regularly with veterans of all services towards the creation of exhibits accurately illustrating the history of 20th century warfare.

From 1989 through 1997, Mr. Gottlieb coordinated with all branches of the armed services and National Guard towards the preservation of historic ships, aircraft and armor from around the world, and has facilitated the recovery of scores of artifacts from warships slated for demolition from reserve fleets.

For the past 10 years Mr. Gottlieb has refocused his professional efforts towards reaching out and addressing the growing needs of aging veterans and their families. In addition to maintaining a private practice as a Counselor and Certified Senior Advisor in Norwalk, CT, he is a field instructor for Sacred Heart University. Mr. Gottlieb offers Pro Bono counseling services to soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Gottlieb served as an Auxiliary Officer of the United States Coast Guard for 17 years and for 4 years was Commander of Flotilla 7-2, Division 1 (Southern Region), Sector Long Island Sound North.

Pierre McGuire is NBC Sports Group’s NHL ‘Inside the Glass’ analyst, alongside the broadcast team of play-by-play voice Mike “Doc” Emrick and analyst Eddie Olczyk. In 2013 McGuire won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Reporter. Previously, he was the game analyst for TSN Canada’s national NHL broadcasts. In addition to his NHL work, McGuire has covered men and women’s hockey at the past three Winter Olympics, as well as NBCSN’s coverage of college hockey. Recognized as one of the NHL’s most passionate and knowledgeable analysts, McGuire has received multiple Best Game Analyst Gemini awards, and he has been selected eight times by Hockey News as one of the game’s 100 most influential people. Prior to his radio and television career, McGuire coached at several colleges, was hired as a scout by the Pittsburgh Penguins and was part of that organization’s back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, and served as head coach of the Hartford Whalers.

At the DMA Pierre will speak about recent developments and dynamics in the NHL as a league; the prospects of various teams, particularly the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders; and other perspectives about hockey in general that he feels will be of interest. He looks forward to a robust Q+A.

Francis Thomas “Fay” Vincent, Jr. (born May 29, 1938) is a former entertainment lawyer and sports executive who served as the eighth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992.

After graduating from law school, Vincent was a partner in the law firm of Caplin & Drysdale. He also served as Associate Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Vincent was the chairman of Columbia Pictures and the vice chairman of Coca-Cola beginning in March 1982. In April 1986, he was promoted to the position of Executive Vice President of the Coca-Cola Company, which placed him in charge over all of the company’s entertainment activities.

Philip Vitiello, well-known Connecticut Civil War historian, will speak about Joshua Chamberlain, Medal of Honor winner for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Philip, Program Director of the Civil War Round Table of South Central Connecticut, is both historian and re-enactor.

He majored in law enforcement administration at New Haven University and currently works as a marketing director.

Joshua Chamberlain was a soldier, a statesman and a scholar. Philip’s slide presentation reviews his journey from Bowdoin College professor to the Brevet Major General of US volunteers. In 1862 he joined the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment,  and led it in its epic stand against the Confederate attack on Little Round Top at Gettysburg, earning the Medal of Honor.

Chamberlain later became governor of Maine, and President of Bowdoin College.

For societies to thrive, citizens need to have safe and secure environments to send their children to school, to walk to a market, and to thrive economically. They need to have confidence in the institutions mandated to ensure their safety and security. Policing is a partnership with the citizenry. This is the basis of community policing.

Canada, like many countries in the world, has adopted the community policing style for decades. It is part of our brand. We also recognize that while we “police locally” we need to “think globally”. Canada has been deploying serving law enforcement officers to United Nations Peacekeeping Missions for over 25 years now. Our first mission was to Namibia in 1989. Today, more than ever, there is an increasing recognition of the role policing plays in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and as a path to building capacity for long-term peace.

Chief Superintendent Fleury will speak to the role of Canada’s contribution to International Policing efforts.

Chief Superintendent Fleury was born and raised in Québec City, Québec, Canada. After completing a college degree in social sciences, she attended Simon Fraser University where she graduated with a Bachelors degree in criminology.

She joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1981. After completing her training in Regina, Saskatchewan, she was posted to Surrey, British Columbia, where she performed general policing duties and completed a Master’s degree in criminology.

She spent a number of years working in British Columbia and at the RCMP Headquarters in Ottawa where she performed a variety of policing roles in operational, operational support and administration. This included working in the Marine Drug Interdiction Unit in Vancouver, work as an undercover operator, as well as other assignments in the field of human resources in Ottawa. She was promoted to the rank of Corporal in 1992 and to Sergeant in 1997. After studying Spanish for four years, she was assigned a liaison position at the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles from 1995 to 1999. Following this international assignment, she returned to Vancouver to work in the Internal Investigations Unit and promoted to the rank of Inspector in 2002.

In 2004, she transferred to Montreal to work as an assistant to the Criminal Operations Officer. Her duties included oversight of the undercover program, the source witness protection program as well as the Aboriginal liaison program.

In 2005, she was promoted to Superintendent and became the Officer in Charge of Protective Services Branch in Montreal, which oversees the protection of all diplomatic missions in the Province of Quebec as well as visiting dignitaries. This position also served as the program manager for the Canadian Air Carrier Program resources assigned to the province of Québec.

In 2007, she was transferred to Québec City and assumed the role of Eastern District Officer. Her role included oversight of seven detachments as well as a number of federal program resources. In June 2007, she completed the Executive Development in Policing Program offered at the Canadian Police College.

In 2009, she was promoted to Chief Superintendent as Director General of the RCMP’s International Policing program, at the RCMP Headquarters in Ottawa. She oversaw the International Peace Operations Branch, the International Operations Branch, the Interpol National Central Bureau, the International Travel and Visits Branch, as well as the International Affairs and Policy Development Branch. In 2010, she was assigned the role of Silver Commander at Whistler, British Columbia during the Winter Olympic Games.

In 2012, she completed the United Nations Senior Mission Leaders Course. She was transferred to New York in 2013 and is currently the senior police adviser at Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations as well as the International Vice-President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. She is a recipient of the RCMP Long Service Medal, and both the Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals.

Here are Bob’s fascinating presentation slides.

Download PowerPoint Presentation

Click here to download the entire PowerPoint presentation

 

 

 

Join us at our last Member Meeting on June 3 and enjoy our own DMA Senior Songsters, a bunch of stout-hearted senior men who enjoy performing a selection of Barbershop Harmony, Broadway, and Spiritual songs.

Guests are welcome so bring your wife, significant other, or other guests with you.

This Songsters’ performance marks the end of the 2014 — 2015 program year for the DMA.

 

Dr. Bob Masterson earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at MIT.

Bob will discuss the basics of reactive physics and nuclear power engineering, and offer an up-to-date approach to the newest nuclear reactor designs and computer applications.

To review the slides of the presentation, click here.