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Opening Plenary Speakers
- Phil Wirdzek, President and Executive
Director, I2SL
- President Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah,
President of the Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco
- Richard Kidd IV, Program Manager, Federal
Energy Management Program, U.S. Department of Energy
- Luis A. Luna, Assistant Administrator
Office of Administration and Resources Management, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
- Dr. Marcia McNutt, President
and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Closing Plenary Speakers
Speaker Biographies
Phil Wirdzek,
President and Executive Director, I2SL
 A
career employee of 27 years with EPA, Mr.Wirdzek began laying the
foundation of the Labs21 program in the early 1990s, working as
the national energy and pollution prevention coordinator for EPA's
own laboratories. In 2004, Mr. Wirdzek formed I2SL, a
501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation with a mission to promote the education
and exchange of design, engineering, and operational practices for
high-performance facilities.
President Rachid Benmokhtar
Benabdellah, President of the Al Akhawayn University in
Ifrane, Morocco
 Rachid
Benmokhtar Benabdellah is president of Al Akhawayn University, Morocco,
a position to which he was appointed by Late King Hassan II in June
1998. Benmokhtar started his career with IBM France in 1967. In
1973 he co-founded the first Moroccan consulting company for computer
science and management. In 1978, he founded a Moroccan subsidiary
of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He served as Moroccan Minister of Education
from February 1995 to March 1998. Benmokhtar is a member of the
Hassan II Academy of Science and Techniques, Chairman of the Scientific
Committee in Charge of the Human Development of the 50th anniversary
of Moroccan independence. He is a member of the committee of experts
on Public Administration of the United Nations and President of
the Moroccan Foundation for Nature and Mankind.
Richard Kidd IV,
Program Manager, Federal Energy Management Program, U.S. Department
of Energy
 Richard
Kidd joined FEMP in July 2008, bringing with him a diverse set of
management, leadership, and diplomatic skills gained through work
experience in over 70 countries and service in a variety of public
and international organizations. After receiving a Masters Degree
in Public and Private Management from Yale University, Richard joined
the United Nations in 1993 and served in a variety of international
assignments. He twice served as the UN World Food Programme's senior
most representative within a country, and played a key leadership
role in the supply chain re-engineering efforts at two UN organizations.
Returning to the United States in 1999, Richard led a unique consortium
of non-governmental organizations in a pioneering effort to conduct
comprehensive socio-economic surveys of the impact of dangerous
munitions and weapons in post-conflict countries. Following the
events of 9/11, he was recruited by the U.S. Department of State's
Bureau of Political Military Affairs. In 2003 he assumed the duties
of Office Director in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.
As office director he twice served as Head of Delegation to two
major UN multilateral negotiations and managed a program budget
in excess of $126 million with activities in more than 30 countries.
In June 2007, he was selected to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for Political Military Affairs (acting) where he oversaw
the functions of four separate offices the activities of which included
treaty negotiations, operational coordination with the Department
of Defense, and post-conflict response. Additionally he was Bureau's
senior executive responsible for business administration and budget
activities. During this entire period Richard remained current on
developments in the field of alternative energy, renewable energy
and energy security, collaborating, where appropriate, with organizations
active in these areas.
Luis A. Luna, Assistant
Administrator
Office of Administration and Resources Management, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
 Luis A. Luna is the Assistant
Administrator responsible for Administration and Resources Management
at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He serves as the Agency's
chief human capital officer, chief acquisition officer, chief environmental
officer, and chief energy and transportation management officer.
He is responsible for overseeing 17,000 employees, 10 million square
feet of office and laboratory space, $4 billion a year in grants,
and $1.2 billion in annual purchases of goods and services. Luis
was nominated for the post by President George W. Bush and unanimously
confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Prior to joining EPA, Luis was head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Office of Community Development in its Rural Development program.
He also served for 10 years as executive director of the Greater
Salisbury Committee, a nonprofit organization that acts as a catalyst
for community improvement on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Luis
worked for 11 years on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant and
counsel for members of both the Senate and House of Representatives.
During the Reagan Administration, he served as a policy advisor
at the Consumer Product Safety Commission and as an attorney-advisor
in the Department of Justice. Luis has a bachelor's degree from
the University of Maryland, College Park and a law degree from Georgetown
University.
Closing Plenary Speakers
Joe Phillips,
Phillips Collaborative, LLC
 Joe
Phillips is president of Phillips Collaborative, LLC. He serves
the science and technology community through the design and management
of mission-critical facilities, integrating infrastructure with
operations. Joe has worked in management and project delivery for
leading architectural
and engineering design firms on projects worldwide for 20 years
and has been a scientist and operations manager for the prior 15.
He started Phillips Collaborative, a specialized
professional services firm, in 2004 to more directly and accurately
represent the unique demands of research and operations in complex
capital facility planning and management.
Julie Higginbotham,
Laboratory Design Newsletter
 Julie
S. Higginbotham has been editor of Laboratory Design newsletter,
an Advantage Business Media (ABM) publication, since 1997. She is
a graduate of Southern Illinois University and has been a business
journalist for more than two decades, with a concentration on architecture/engineering/construction
topics. Before joining ABM, Julie was managing editor of School
and College Planning and Management magazine. She is the recipient
of multiple awards for journalism, including the prestigious Jesse
H. Neal Award, known as the "Pulitzer Prize of the business
media."
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