Giving to Florida Tech

Daniel & Therese Bednarik

Dan and Terri live in Highland Maryland, between Washington DC and Baltimore.  They have been married 33 years and have two children, Sophia (30 years) and Joseph (24 years).  Sophia is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), in Baltimore and works for Maryland Photography Inc. (MPI) and her photographic events business, SoBed Creative Media.  Joseph is a senior at Florida Tech in Marine Biology and currently looking towards graduate school.

Dan holds a PhD in biochemistry from Temple University School of Medicine.  His experience spans 30 years in the fields of infectious disease and heart disease and has authored multiple publications and book chapters on these subjects.  He was one of several seminal scientists that co-discovered the pathogenesis of HIV and its role in AIDS at the Johns Hopkins University Oncology Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer institute at Harvard University.  Dan has cofounded two companies focused on the biotechnology of heart disease (Artesian Therapeutics, Inc.) and cancer immunotherapy (NexImmune, Inc.) where he currently works.  Following along in his footsteps is Joseph Bednarik whose love for science of marine animals has brought him to FIT.

Terri has worked in the field of Special Education for the past 37 years and graduated from Lock Haven University with a Bachelor of Science in Special Education.  She spent several years of study for severe and profoundly disabled students at the Johns Hopkins University.  After holding positions in multiple school systems, Terri currently works as a Teacher Specialist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland.  She has a passion for children, dogs, football, and music and works tirelessly to help people in need.

Jim Blackford BS'85 and Stephanie Blackford reside in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Jim serves as the Chair of the Parent Leadership Council. He earned his BS in Aviation Management/Flight Technology from Florida Tech in 1985 and currently works for United Airlines as a 787 Captain.

Stephanie attended the University of Michigan and is helping their younger daughter, Maddy, prepare for college. 

Their daughter, Molly Blackford is a senior in Aeronautical Science. 
 

Dr. Brian Boggs and Dr. Olga Emgushov are the proud parents of Indigo Boggs, an Astrobiology Major in the FIT Class of 2024 bound for Mars. Brian graduated from Tulane University School of Medicine after attaining a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Virginia. Olga received her medical doctorate and Master of Public Health from the University of Hawaii and her bachelor’s in biochemistry from Temple University.  Brian and Olga met in residency in New Orleans. Brian worked at the US Navy Hospital Guam emergency department and Olga worked at the Guam Department of Health.  As Brian had always wanted to go to Space Camp and Olga insisted on a home unburdened by snow in an area with surfable waves, they moved with their three children to the Space Coast and watched the last 22 shuttle launches. Brian started at Health First in the emergency department in 2005 and is now the Vice President for Medical Affairs for Health First Community Hospitals and the Vice President of Case Management Health First Hospital Division. Olga worked as the Brevard County Health Department Director of Epidemiology and Public Health Preparedness and had her own private medical practice in Cocoa Beach.  She now works at NASA as the Occupational Health Physician for the Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer.

Anthony and Lisa’s son William is an Information Systems Management Major and the Tournament and Facilities Manager of the E-sports program at the University.

Anthony and Lisa are married for over 25 years and after spending 50 years in New York, moved their family of 6 to Florida in 2019, and reside in Celebration, Florida.

Anthony is a turnaround business executive and consultant for the past 5 years.  He was a Controller, CFO, Business Executive, and Auditor over his career.  He majored in Accounting, was a graduate of Pace University, started his career with KPMG, and worked with Fortune 500 companies and a number of Technology early-stage Companies. His primary job now is assisting business owners with revenue of $5 million to $400 million optimize operating, financial, sales, and finance functions in their business. He founded and chaired a youth organization that provided $30,000 in scholarship funds and sent 200 youth athletes to national competitions over 5 years and assisted a number of foundation boards and fundraising committees in the Greater New York area optimize and enhance the profitability and management of special events and functions.  He is a huge sports fan, avid golfer, and a former head football coach.

Lisa has worked in the food service management and operations industry for the past 10 years.  She is a huge Disney Fan. She spent the first 8 years of her career in banking and finance and then transitioned to medical billing and management.  She has over 20 years of experience as an officer and president in PTAs/PTOs at 7 different schools and chaired or ran many fundraising and special events.

Kay Lynn and Forrest Brumbaugh are the proud parents of Jackson Brumbaugh, a business major in the FIT Class of 2024 and a member of the Men’s Lacrosse Team. Kay Lynn is a native Texan with her undergraduate degree in Honors Business and Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. Forrest grew up in Southern Indiana and graduated from the University of Evansville with a degree in Political Science. Forrest and Kay Lynn met at the University of Virginia School of Law where they both obtained their law degrees. After over twenty-eight years in private law practice, Forrest recently retired from the partnership of the international law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright. Forrest is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Evansville. Kay Lynn in the Head of Litigation, Group Legal for the London Stock Exchange Group. Forrest and Kay Lynn also have an older son who is a senior business major at Austin College in Sherman, Texas.

The Air Force brought Josh & Eileen to the Space Coast in 2012, and upon his retirement from active duty in 2018 they made it their home. Josh spent 23 years in the Air Force- earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master’s Degree in Space Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology along the way. He now works as a Launch Integration Engineer at Cape Canaveral. He also is the Girls Varsity Basketball Coach at Viera High School. Both Josh & Eileen volunteer their time with East Coast United Basketball- a local non-profit youth travel basketball organization that focuses on helping children earn college scholarships through basketball – Josh as a coach and Eileen as the organization’s secretary. 

Eileen has 20 years volunteering in military spouse and parent-teacher organizations. She served in a variety of roles and assumed a vast number of responsibilities including: a Key Spouse (mentor, resource, and support to other military spouses), President of PTO, Fall Festival chairperson, and Team Mom to name a few. From coordinating meal plans for families in need to publishing a cookbook for a military spouse group, Eileen has found her experiences very rewarding.  

Eileen grew up in Buffalo, NY and considers herself a chicken wing aficionado. Josh grew up in the countryside south of Rochester, NY. Over the years, military assignments took them to many exciting locations. Utah and Italy were among their favorite places lived, and now, they are happy to call Viera in Brevard County home. 

Their daughter is a meteorology major at Florida Tech, while their youngest is still in high school.  

Bert is a native of Louisiana growing up in Baker, LA. Bert received a BS in Finance, insurance specialization, from LA Tech and spent 30 years after graduation being a freelance videographer working with Federal, State and local governments and police departments. Bert was very active with the Chamber of Commerces, Rotary Club and Louisiana Municipal Association. Bert was very active in getting Federal aid to Senegal, West Africa by sending LA products over paid by a Federal program. Today Bert travels with his daughter Alyssa who is the youngest astronaut in training at 19 years old and being trained to go to Mars.

Eileen A. Chin is an active member of the Board of Directors of LASCO Financial Services Limited, LASCO Distributors Limited and Portia Simpson Miller Foundation (PMS). Born in Havana City, Cuba, Dr. Chin holds a post graduate degree in medicine from the Havana University School of Medicine.   She specialized and taught histology from 1993 to 1998 at the Girón School of Medicine, and migrated to Jamaica in 1998.

Eileen joined the LASCO Group of Companies in 1999 serving in several positions including marketing, product and label development and international business development for Central and South American markets.

She was appointed General Manager of LASCO Foods (Successors) Limited in 2008 and served as Managing Director of LASCO Manufacturing Ltd. from 2010 to 2015 where she was responsible for the planning and implementation of the US $30 million expansion of the manufacturing facilities.

Eileen holds an MBA in Global Management and has received knowledge and skills development training in Advanced Negotiation, Risk Management and Lean Six Sigma.

Joseph has had a successful career in the pharmaceutical, medical devices, and food industry at Fortune Global 500 Companies. He has worked for Alcon Laboratories, Novartis, and Abbott and currently is Senior Manager, Microbiology at BD, one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world. BD works on advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. 

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Young Deepak thoroughly grounded into his vernacular roots as an Extempore Speaker, a remarkable Sports Man as University Blue of University Foot Ball Team Member, and a Science Genius took a plunge into his career flaunting his versatile personality and armed with distinguishing Mechanical Engineering Degree and his meritorious first position at a Science Competition held by KSCST @ Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with his Engineering final year project “ The Computer Aided Design N Drafting of Hydraulic Cylinder” in the year 1991.

The MOOG Inc. USA taking note of his project that shined at Science Competition held by KSCST @ Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore recruited him in their MNC that pioneered the technology SERVOCONTROLS. He achieved Excellency in the technology and served in every of their facility spread across the Globe. 

He joined hands with his younger brother Mr. Dinesh Dhadoti and together they endeavored on their entrepreneurial journey from their home garage under the banner,  SERVOCONTROLS. Soon they achieved close contacts with all major business enterprises in the field of Aerospace, Steel, Plastics, Powergen, Mobile Hydraulics, Construction Equipments and etc. SERVOCONTROLS with two state of art facilities in home town Belagavi and a work force of 300+ as well attracted international clients of repute like IAI, RAFAEL, Collins Aerospace, HYDRAFORCE Inc and other giants like GE, Cummins, TATAs, HCL….. 

SERVOCONTROLS takes pride in being a designated Vendor of ISRO in all its world famous missions like MANGALYAAN, CHANDRAYAAN and now having received work orders for GAGANYAAN. 

SERVOCONTROLS also has come up with an innovative and advanced DESKTOP SATELLITE SIMULATION KIT. The kit is aimed at educating students at school and under-graduation levels in building, working and controlling satellites and also space grade satellites to be launched in LEO.

Jyoti his wife as a resourceful Sr. Admin Officer and all along continues to be a dependable colleague.  His elder son Ankur is a freshman at FIT pursuing his software engineering. His younger son Ankit is a Grade XII student.

Rosie Wells-Fawkes is a real estate professional and has worked several years in the insurance and legal fields. She is an active member in her parish church, St. Christopher's Anglican Church and for many years has been a "School Mom" at Lyford Cay International School. Her hobbies include travelling, meeting interesting people, baking and cooking.

Sr. Vice President, Engineering & Technology

Ocean Engineering, B.S. '94
Alpha Phi Omega, College Players

Derek is responsible for the technology team, research and development efforts, advisory services, and global ship systems for the American Bureau of Shippping. ABS’s mission is to promote the security of life, property and the natural environment through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities. It is the second largest class society with a classed fleet of nearly 12,000 commercial vessels and offshore facilities. ABS Rules form the basis for assessing the design and construction of new vessels and the integrity of existing vessels and marine structures.

Nanette Lopes has an MBA from Florida Atlantic University (1989) and a B.S. in Accounting from Florida State University (1988).

Nanette obtained her CPA license and worked for Ernst & Young directly out of school focusing on audits of healthcare entities. She joined a client, Cleveland Clinic of Florida, as their Director of Finance in 1994.

Nanette became a stay at home mom in 1999 when their first son was born.

During the time she was raising their two boys, Nanette offered her time to volunteer for both sons’ classrooms each week during elementary school. When the boys joined sports, she became very active with their sports teams through their high school years.

Nanette also volunteered for 3 years as the Baseball Board Secretary.

She went back to work for a local accounting firm in 2013 and now works remotely for an accounting firm located outside of Washington DC.

Their son Brian, attends Florida Tech and is studying Mechanical Engineering while playing baseball for the university.

Spring weekends are now spent traveling to watch both sons play college baseball.

Rick and Gina have lived in Rockledge, Florida since 1992 where they have raised three sons.

Gina moved to Florida in 1990 from Baltimore, Maryland to work at Kennedy Space Center.  She earned her BS in Environmental Management from Rollins College.  She is still working at Kennedy Space Center as an Environmental Manager and is on the Merritt Island Wildlife Association Board for the Refuge. 

Rick grew up in Merritt Island, Florida and has been working at Kennedy Space Center since 1988. He graduated with a BS in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.  He is a past board member of the Citizens Recreation Advisory Board for the city of Rockledge. 

Their youngest son Brett is a junior earning his BS in Ocean Engineering while playing baseball for Florida Tech.  He is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a small group leader in the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.

Rick and Gina split their free time between watching their two younger sons play baseball and visiting with their grandchildren. 

Bryan Pommer BS ’85 and Tatiana Pommer live in Miami, FL

Bryan earned his BS in Ocean Engineering from Florida Tech in 1985.  After graduation Bryan served in the US Navy as a Nuclear Propulsion Submarine Officer, and then transitioned his career to financial services.  He is currently an executive at Bayview Asset Management.

Tatiana earned her BA in Interior Design from Kent State University. She has raised two current Panthers, and has her youngest graduating from high school this year.

Their son, Conor, and daughter, Isabella, are sophomores in Computer Science.

Andy White is the Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board at Trilliant, a Network Communication Solutions Company.

He graduated from Bath University, UK in 1981, studying electrical and electronic engineering, specializing in power electronics. He joined GE’s Network Communications Division as an engineer for Europe, Africa, Middle East Operations based in London. He lived and worked in the UK, Congo, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia where he was responsible for major infrastructure and communications projects.

After moving to the United States in 1986, he worked for GE Power Systems & GE Energy. In 1992, he moved to Korea, Singapore and then in Hong Kong as the senior executive for GE Energy, Asia Pacific.

White returned to the U.S. in 1997 as senior executive for several of GE’s businesses. He was named a GE Corporate Officer, CEO at GE Nuclear Energy in 2002, subsequently CEO of GE Energy Ventures before joining Trilliant in 2009.

He has served on 10 boards, 3 active today, also on 2 college advisory committees.

Andy and Barbara are members of the Parent Leadership Counsel at Florida Tech, where their son Michaels studies Ocean Engineering.  

Andy White is the Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board at Trilliant, a Network Communication Solutions Company.

He graduated from Bath University, UK in 1981, studying electrical and electronic engineering, specializing in power electronics. He joined GE’s Network Communications Division as an engineer for Europe, Africa, Middle East Operations based in London. He lived and worked in the UK, Congo, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia where he was responsible for major infrastructure and communications projects.

After moving to the United States in 1986, he worked for GE Power Systems & GE Energy. In 1992, he moved to Korea, Singapore and then in Hong Kong as the senior executive for GE Energy, Asia Pacific.

White returned to the U.S. in 1997 as senior executive for several of GE’s businesses. He was named a GE Corporate Officer, CEO at GE Nuclear Energy in 2002, subsequently CEO of GE Energy Ventures before joining Trilliant in 2009.

He has served on 10 boards, 3 active today, also on 2 college advisory committees.

Barbara White has a MBA from Babson College and a BS in Education from Framingham State College. Barbara taught school in Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, MA before pursuing her MBA at Babson.  She spent most of her career working for Arthur D Little Consulting (ADL). Barbara was named Vice President in 1997. At ADL she held various positions including Regional Controller for North America and Regional Controller for the Asia Pacific Region. Barbara lived and worked in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. She also traveled extensively across Asia for work and pleasure. After leaving ADL due to a family relocation, Barbara worked for Ernst & Young in Atlanta as Financial Director of the consulting division’s Coca Cola account.

Barbara stopped working in 2003 to raise triplet boys. Barbara was very involved in the boy’s schools as “room mom” for many years.  She was also team mom and leader of the booster club (501c3) for the high school wrestling team where she organized fundraisers, coordinated parents, and managed finances.  Additionally, Barbara was the Treasurer for the Special Education PTA and leader of the PTA Transition group at the high school. Transition group works on post-12th grade continuum plans for students with special needs.

Barbara and her husband, Andy, spend most of their time in Lexington Massachusetts and Wrightsville Beach, NC. 

Their son Michaels studies Ocean Engineering at Florida Tech