Keynote Speakers

Kenneth Orski
Innovation Briefs are published by Urban Mobility Corporation (UMC), a Washington-based consulting firm, established in 1982, and specializing in transportation management and technology transfer. The principal of UMC, C. Kenneth Orski, serves as editor and publisher of Innovation Briefs. Mr. Orski also directs MIT's International Mobility Observatory, a project that monitors and documents global trends in transportation innovation.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Orski has worked professionally in the field of transportation for over 30 years. He served as Associate Administrator of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration under President Nixon and President Ford (1974-78), and prior to that was a senior officer in the United States Foreign Service with assignments to the European Communities in Brussels and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, where he directed a program of inter-governmental cooperation in transportation. From 1978 to 1981 he served as Vice President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a private foundation supporting transatlantic cooperation on issues of common concern to industrialized nations.

During his 20-year consulting career, Mr. Orski counseled more than 30 state and local jurisdictions on issues relating to transportation planning, travel demand management, traffic mitigation, transit operations and deployment of intelligent transportation systems. For nearly ten of those years (1985-94) he also served as a technical adviser to the Federal Transit Administration on policies and program dealing with private sector involvement in urban transportation. More recently, he was a member of President George W. Bush's transportation transition team.

While in federal service, he was awarded three Secretarial citations "for exceptional achievement and outstanding contributions to the development of federal transportation policy" and for his subsequent service as a departmental counselor he received the Department of Transportation's Outstanding Public Service Award "for providing exceptional leadership in improving transportation in the public and private sectors." A frequent contributor to professional journals and editorial pages of major newspapers, Mr. Orski has held leadership positions in numerous professional organizations, including the Urban Land Institute, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Transportation Research Board and ITS America. He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Commerce and Industry and Who's Who in the World.

For additional information on Mr. Orski, please visit the Innovation Briefs Web site.

Dr. Charles V. Petty, Family Success Unlimited, Inc. - Banquet Speaker

Laugh and Learn with Dr. Charles Petty! Dr. Petty has been a counselor, professor, worked for large corporations in Texas and North Carolina, served on North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt’s staff, and since 1985 all he does is “eat and speak!”  Demand for his humor and insight is national and international. He has spoken in 50 states and 14 foreign countries.  His presentation “Roaring Fires, Flickering Flames, Dying Embers or Cold Ashes?” will motivate, inspire, entertain, and inform.