Jim Jeffries

Welcome address by the 2018 IEEE President

Biography:

Jim Jefferies retired from AT&T and Lucent Technologies following 33 years in engineering and executive positions including fiber optic cable development and manufacturing, quality assurance, and supply chain management.  He managed the engineering teams that delivered the first commercial fiber optic cables for AT&T.  He served as logistics vice president, responsible for worldwide supply chain and export planning.  He has led teams in major technology transfers, transitions of information technology, and organizational change.  He has also worked in the entrepreneurial sector as Chief Operating Officer for USBuild.com in San Francisco, CA, USA. 

Jim served two separate terms on the IEEE Board of Directors, as well as the 2015 IEEE-USA President.  As President of IEEE-USA, Jim supported the expanded focus on public visibility, young professionals, and humanitarian outreach.

He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nebraska and an MS in Engineering Science from Clarkson University.  He attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business as a Sloan Fellow and earned an MS in Management.

Jim is a member of the IEEE Eta Kappa Nu honorary society and a licensed professional engineer (Emeritus).

Dr. Giordano

Biography:

Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry, and Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC.  Dr. Giordano is also Executive Director of the Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies (C-PET), a Washington DC-based think tank focusing upon novel developments in science and engineering on the global stage; and is Visiting Professor at the Coburg University of Applied Sciences, Coburg, Germany. 

He has served as a Research Fellow of the European Union Human Brain Project, and as a consultant in brain science and neurotechnology to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He was Senior Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment Group of the Joint Staff, Pentagon; an appointed member of the Neuroethics, Legal and Social Issues Advisory Panel of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); an appointed member of the US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Council for Human Research Protection, and a consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.   

Prof. Giordano is the author of over 270 publications, 7 books, and 15 governmental whitepapers on brain science and ethics. He was awarded a PhD in biological psychology from the City University of NY, was NIEHS post-doctoral fellow in neurotoxicology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University, and completed post-graduate training in ethics and health policy at the Neiswanger Institute of Loyola University, IL.  

In recognition of his ongoing work and achievements, he has been elected to the European Academy of Science and Arts (EC) and the Dana Alliance of Brain Initiatives (DABI); is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK); and has been named a Distinguished Lecturer of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).