Mary Ann Allison, (www.allisongroup.com) chairman and chief cybernetics officer of The Allison Group, is an author, lecturer, and consultant on improving organizational effectiveness. She has over 25 years of practical business experience as a vice president at Citibank and as president of an Internet software start-up company. In addition to her book, The Complexity Advantage: How the Science of Complexity Can Help Your Performance, she has published Managing Up, Managing Down, a practical guide for middle managers.

Carol Bessette, Licensed Professional Tour Guide, works as both classroom instructor and tour guide. A retired Air Force intelligence officer and instructor at the Defense Intelligence College, she has developed her own special niche—spy tours and programs. She can cover with equal skill the Cold War or the Civil War, and her broad interest in history stimulates excellent classroom discussions.

Larry Bopp, retired history and English teacher, brings his love of history to life as a reenactor, author, and instructor. He serves as president of the Ship’s Company Living History Group (www.shipscompany.org), which produces programs aboard the USS Constellation. Larry also serves on the USS Constellation Museum board of directors. He is the author of Sailor Life Aboard the USS Constellation, Lessons from Lewis & Clark, and USS Constellation.

Connie Clowers, (www.ulyssesgrant.net), historian, has portrayed First Ladies Mary Todd Lincoln and Julia Grant for the past 16 years. She has presented over 800 educational programs across the U.S. States in schools, public events, theaters and television. Connie is a retired master seamstress, who researches and produces historically accurate garments. She currently works for the American Museum of Military History (Irvine, California and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) as Co-Director of Educational Programs, 1776-1876.

Larry Clowers, (www.ulyssesgrant.net), historian, brings Ulysses Grant alive through performance across the United States. Larry has appeared as Ulysses Grant in television, films, theaters, schools, and public events for over 16 years. Larry is a graduate of Franklin Pierce College and retired from both the U.S. Air Force Reserve and SBC. Currently Larry serves as the Director of American Military Studies for the American Museum of Military History and has offices in both Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Irvine, California.

The Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, Missouri (www.LewisandClark.net) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rediscovering the legacy of Lewis and Clark. As official reenactors in the national 2003-2006 Lewis & Clark bicentennial commemoration, the Discovery Expedition members retraced the entire waterway portion of the original 1803-1806 expedition east of the Rockies. In cooperation with other reenactment groups and Native Americans, members also reenacted the journey across the Rockies and down the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, MO.)

Charles Herbek, founder of Historical Drama, brings alive the Civil War through battlefield tours, classroom instruction, and performances as Walt Whitman, Union Captain Henry Livermore Abbott and Confederate Captain W. Willis Blackford. A graduate of the University of Virginia and a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S Army, Charlie has taught leadership and military history at the University of Richmond and currently works for Computer Sciences Corporation in a management support role to the U.S. Army’s Automated Air Load Planning System.

James C. Humes, author of 26 books, has been a lawyer, legislator, diplomat, actor, platform speaker, and Presidential speechwriter. He is the Ryals Professor of Language and Leadership at the University of Southern Colorado. His hero is Winston Churchill, whom he met in 1953, and Humes delivers a series of leadership programs based on Churchill’s presentation skills—“Sir Winston Method: Language of Leadership,” “Power Talk,” “Communications Face Lift,” “Standing Ovation,” as well as “Please Don’t Go to Gettysburg, Abe!”

Peter Kastor, is an Associate Professor in the Department of History, with a joint appointment as assistant director of American Culture Studies at Washington University, St. Louis. His expertise is in the New Republic, the frontier, American expansion in the early 19th century, the Louisiana Purchase, and Lewis and Clark, about whom he has lectured extensively. In his 2004 book, The Nation's Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America, Kastor argues that the process of resolving what would become of the Louisiana Purchase transformed the way people conceived of what it meant to be American. It established the meaning of nationhood, reconfigured relationships between the federal government and far-flung territories, and changed how people throughout North America would see themselves in relation to larger communities.

Cynthia Pace, (www.leadershipguru.com) a former community college CEO, has over 20 years senior level experience in higher education. She offers her expertise in executive coaching, strategic planning, team development, and policy-procedure development. She has developed an exciting new history-based program, “Having Our Way-Our Say: A Historical Dialogue Empowering Women,” featuring black women leaders throughout history.

Dr. Arthur Pitz is an award-winning history professor. His passion for history and his innovative teaching style have, in the words of his students, “made history come alive” for over thirty-five years. He views history as stories, and, like Abraham Lincoln, he tells them in thought-provoking ways. His administrative experience enables him to combine insights into historical events and personalities with present-day leadership lessons. Since 2001, Dr. Pitz, along with his wife Suzanne, has taught in twelve nations, primarily in the former Soviet bloc.

Suzanne Pitz has taught college and university courses, designed and presented business and professional training programs, facilitated the development of online courses, taught public speaking at universities in the former Soviet Bloc, and presented workshops throughout Central Europe. She is an experienced facilitator and a frequent co-presenter with her husband, Art. She is currently Executive Director of a non-profit corporation that supports educators in the nation of Macedonia.

Stephen Recker, (www.VirtualGettysburg.com) entrepreneur, musician, programmer, and producer, is the owner of Another Software Miracle, LLC. His 2002 Civil War program, Virtual Gettysburg, ranked Stephen among Audio/Video Multimedia Producer Magazine’s Top 100 Producers. Stephen recently moved from California to live near the Civil War battlefields he loves, in order to produce additional interactive tours. In the works are programs on Antietam and Little Bighorn.

Thurman (Skip) Roberts has more than 20 years in the U.S. Army in worldwide systems management and military intelligence, and has managed software projects for Boeing, RCA, and ATTI/QSOFT, among others. A Civil War historian, he served as Director of the Civil War Roundtable of Alexandria, Friends of Fort Ward, and Friends of Fairfax Station Museum. Both instructor and tour guide, he runs programs on Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville.

James Strock, (www.jamesstrock.com) public speaker and commentator, is the author of Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership and Reagan on Leadership. His San Francisco-based company provides management consulting, leadership development, communications, and conflict resolution services. From 1991 to 1997, he served as California’s first Secretary for Environmental Protection, then moved to the federal level as Assistant Administrator for Enforcement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.