Dr. Sue Eskridge
Dr. Sue Eskridge is from Norfolk, VA where she received her B.S.and M.S. from Old Dominion University. She began her teaching career began in Chesapeake, VA, as part of an innovative team committed to individualizing education. Although she also served as a supervisor and administrator in Chesapeake, the success and joy of that first teaching experience shaped her commitment to helping teachers find ways to lead each child to successful learning. Sue earned her Doctorate at the University of Virginia in 1989. Her studies at UVa were focused on Curriculum and Instruction with major emphases in the areas of Educational Computing, Gifted Education and Qualitative Research and Evaluation. After moving to California to teach at the University of the Pacific, Sue worked extensively with teachers and students to develop their ability to use technology effectively in the local schools. She involved local teachers and students in the Pacific E-camp, a summer program for middle - high school students using the Thinkquest model, which taught students to work in teams building relevant multimedia Websites for other K-12 students.
Dr. Eskridge's commitment to community service began in Norfolk, where she founded a theater company and academy, The Hurrah Players, whose first production was a benefit for the King’s Daughters Children’s Hospital that funded the first child-sized ventilator the hospital owned. The Hurrah Players celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2008. Continuing her active commitment to community service in California, she served on the Stockton Arts Commission, worked with the local community theater and managed the Children’s Stage at the Stockton Asparagus Festival. At Pacific, she created the Dewey Chambers Children’s Library, the Saturday Enrichment Program for pre-school children and the Theater Arts Project (TAP) and Pacific E-camp for middle and high school students. TAP included classes in music, dance, acting and art, culminating each year in an original musical play for the community. Tap won numerous local and regional theater awards. In 2006, after the devastating hurricane, Dr. Eskridge and her Children's Literature class at Pacific founded the Katrina Book Project in which teachers across the country led their K-12 students in writing and illustrating books for children in New Orleans. More than 2,000 books were distributed to the Katrina victims. She recently retired from the University of the Pacific after teaching for 20 years in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at the Benerd School of Education.
Dr. Terence W. Rogers
Dr. Terence W. Rogers is a senior executive with 30 years experience managing software projects and businesses. He holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University in Theory of Elementary Particle Physics and a B.A. from Cambridge University, England in Natural Sciences (1st Class Honors). Between 1970 and 1990 he held key positions at IBM such as Director of CUA Development, Director of Strategic Products, Group Director of Development, Systems Manager of the VM Operating System, and Executive Assistant to Communications Group Executive, C Michael Armstrong.
Between 1990 and 2000 he served as CEO of an Internet start up, Executive Vice President of Hyperion Software, Vice President of Lotus Notes and the Spreadsheet Division at Lotus, and Project Director of the Abilene Network of Internet2, responsible for defining the network, creating the business plan, the daily operations of the network and planning its future. From 2000 to the 2004, he was President and CEO of Advanced Network and Services, known for its development of the NSF Internet backbone, the engineering of Internet2, the National TeleImmersion Initiative and ThinkQuest.
Dr. Rogers retired in 2004 and is currently engaged in writing a book about the future of the public school system.
Dr. Amela Sadagic
Dr. Amela Sadagic works as a Research Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, Modeling Virtual Environments and Simulations Institute, Monterey, CA. Dr. Sadagic has been leading research efforts on several projects sponsored by the ONR, NMSO and DTO.
In the past Dr. Sadagic worked as a Director of Programs at the Advanced Network and Services where she designed and lead innovative national and regional K-12 projects that promoted and used emerging digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning. She regularly publishes academic papers and serves as a reviewer of works submitted to professional conferences and other publications.
Her expertise and research interests cover several areas: computer graphics and virtual environments, coupling of emerging technologies with systems for training and learning, human factors and presence in VR, game-based systems, novel training approaches and methodologies, multiuser collaborative environments and diffusion of innovation.
Dr. Sadagic holds the degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Sarajevo, and PhD degree in Computer Science from the University College London, UK.