John M. Paxton Jr. – Executive Chair of Military and Defense
General Paxton distinguished 40-year career in the United States Marine Corps, culminated in his role as the 33rd Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, a position he held from 2012 until his retirement in 2016. Throughout his career, General Paxton earned numerous awards and decorations, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit.
General Paxton graduated from Cornell University and was commissioned as a Marine officer in 1974. His service included a wide range of command and staff assignments, at every level, from platoon to division, including serving as the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division and Commander of Marine Corps Forces of the Pacific. He was also deeply involved in joint and multinational operations, holding significant positions such as the Director of Operations (J-3) for the Joint Staff, where he was responsible for overseeing global operations and crisis response.
Professor Mike Campbell – Chairman of the Executive Advisory Board for Laser and Nuclear Technologies
Michael Campbell, Ph.D. is an internationally known expert in Inertial Fusion, High Energy Density Physics, high power lasers and their applications and advanced energy technologies including Generation IV nuclear fission reactors and biofuels. He has won numerous awards including Department of Energy’s E. O. Lawrence Award, the American Nuclear Society’s Edward Teller Award, the American Physical Society’s John Dawson Award, the Department of Energy’s Excellence in Weapons Research Award, and the Leadership Award of Fusion Power Associates. He has received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Rochester.
He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Optica (formerly OSA). He has published over 250 articles in scientific journals and holds 3 patents. Dr. Campbell has worked in various scientific and leadership positions at both federal laboratories and the private sector including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he was the originator of the National Ignition Facility, General Atomics, Logos Technologies, and Sandia National Laboratory. He has received his degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and the University of Western Sydney. He is presently an adjunct Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno and a Professor in Residence at the University of California-San Diego.
Professor David Neil Ruzic, – Chairman of the Executive Advisory Board for Plasma and Nuclear Technologies
David N. Ruzic is an Abel Bliss Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, within the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering. With over three decades of experience in academia and research, Prof. Ruzic has made significant contributions to plasma-material interactions and fusion technology.
He was awarded the AVS Plasma Prize for Outstanding Work in Plasma Science and Technology in 2012 and has published over 220 peer-reviewed journal papers, two books, and six book chapters. Prof. Ruzic holds ten patents and is a well-known science celebrity, with his educational YouTube videos garnering over 8.2 million views. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University and completed post-doctoral research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Prof. Ruzic is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, the American Vacuum Society, the American Physical Society, and SPIE (Society for Optics and Photonic Engineering).
John M. Shimkus – Chair of Energy Policy
Mr. Shimkus, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, began his career as an Army officer before transitioning to public service. Over his 24 years in Congress, he became a key figure in energy policy, particularly as a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he served as Chairman and later as Republican Leader of its Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee. Additionally, he represented the United States in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 2001 to 2014 and was reappointed to the role by Speaker Paul Ryan in 2017.
Throughout his congressional career, Mr. Shimkus played a significant role in shaping U.S. energy policy, strongly advocating for nuclear energy and backing efforts to enhance the nation’s infrastructure and environmental regulations. Following his retirement from Congress, he joined KBS Group as a senior advisor, providing expertise in policy and government relations. His numerous achievements have earned him global recognition, including the 2005 Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, and the Order of the Three Stars from Latvia.
Professor J. Gary Eden – Chairman of the Advisory Board for Laser Engineering and Innovation
Professor Eden has authored more than 370 referred, archival publications and 106 awarded patents, is a member of multiple honorary organizations, and is a Fellow of the IEEE, Optica, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and SPIE. In 1975, he was appointed a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, DC). Professor Eden has demonstrated several powerful laser spectroscopic techniques that have resulted in the discovery of (for example) Rydberg series in the rare gas dimer molecules, the first observation of excitation spectra for the photoassociation of thermal atom pairs, and three body photoassociation.
As a research physicist in the Laser Physics Branch (Optical Sciences Division) of NRL from 1976 to 1979, he made several contributions to the area of visible and ultraviolet lasers and laser spectroscopy, including the co-discovery of the KrCl rare gas-halide excimer laser, and received a Research Publication Award (1979) for his work at NRL in which he co-discovered the proton beam pumped laser (Ar-N2, XeF). Since joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1979, he has been engaged in research in atomic, molecular, and optical physics, laser spectroscopy, and the discovery and development of ultraviolet and vacuum-ultraviolet lasers and lamps for applications in atomic clocks, laser fusion energy, and photochemical processing.
He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, and Editor-in-Chief of Progress in Quantum Electronics. In 1998, Professor Eden served as President of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), following earlier service as a member of the LEOS Board of Governors. Professor Eden received the LEOS Distinguished Service Award in 1996, was awarded the IEEE Third Millennium Medal in 2000 and was named a LEOS Distinguished Lecturer for 2003-2005. Between 2015 and 2017, he also served as a Distinguished Lecturer for the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics.
He was awarded the C.E.K. Mees Medal of the Optical Society of America in 2007 and was the recipient of the Fulbright-Israel Distinguished Chair in the Natural Sciences and Engineering for 2007-2008. J. Gary Eden received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana. He is a co-founder of Eden Park Illumination and EP Purification.
Neil Campbell, Ph.D. – Chairman of the Advisory Board for Laser Innovation and Modeling
Neil Campbell, Ph.D. possesses extensive expertise in laser technology, optics, pulse power, and fluid dynamics. He has been engaged extensively in laser development, spectrally from the ultraviolet through to the longwave infrared across chemical, gas and solid-state lasers -these being discharge, photolytically, relativistic electron beam, flashlamp, optically pumped molecular and diode laser excited. His work has been primarily within the research and development arena, for national and university laboratories, industry and defense, and including organizations such as the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa, Grintek Avitronics, ARMSCOR, Applied Research Associates, and the University of New Mexico. Dr. Campbell also dedicates substantial time to mentoring master’s and doctoral students.
For several decades, Dr. Campbell’s efforts have been directed at alternate pump solutions for selected molecular lasers, with the goal of enabling a disruptive change in specific systems’ capability and performance envelopes. The goal has been to access much needed practical operational domain gains and performance parameters not currently viable via existing laser approaches. He holds eight patents, of which a subset focused on molecular lasers have been the subject of a successful, multi-year Department of Defense–funded research and development program. This laser technology holds promise for medical, energy, and extreme light science applications.
Junaid Razvi Ph.D. – Senior Advisor in Nuclear Energy
During his tenure at General Atomics (GA), Dr. Razvi played a pivotal role in advanced nuclear fission programs. He spearheaded initiatives to develop intellectual property and establish domestic production of critical medical radioisotopes, earning recognition from the U.S. Congress and the Department of Energy. Additionally, Dr. Razvi directed GA’s global activities for its TRIGA® reactor facilities, overseeing installations in 23 nations, and managed GA’s nuclear facilities, including research reactor operations and nuclear fuel manufacturing.
Dr. Razvi holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University, a Master’s in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a focus on Physics and Mathematics from Wabash College, Indiana.
Dr. Razvi also managed a U.S.-Russia collaboration to develop advanced modular GEN-IV gas-cooled reactor technology, ensuring compliance with bilateral treaties for plutonium disposal from dismantled nuclear weapons. Furthermore, Dr. Razvi contributed to developing solutions for the safe transport of used nuclear fuel.
Tom Blees – Head of Corporate Initiatives
Tom Blees is the President of the Science Council for Global Initiatives (SCGI), an international NGO that includes climatologists, scientists, and engineers involved in cutting-edge energy systems and climate research. In his professional history, Mr. Blees has acted as a consultant and energy systems advisor to private industry and governments from the local to the international level.
Mr. Blees is also on the board of The World Energy Forum, a UN- & World Bank-affiliated organization and a member of the selection committee for the Global Energy Prize, considered Russia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize for energy research.
Author of the book “Prescription for the Planet – The Painless Remedy for Our Energy & Environmental Crisis”, he is actively involved in encouraging and coordinating high level international cooperation on advanced nuclear power system and fuel cycle projects with the USA, Russia, South Korea, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and other countries.