Barb Adams teaches 8th grade American History at North Union Middle School.  She has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the Ohio State Place University and a master's degree in education from Marygrove College.  She has served for five years as a master teacher for the Explore History and Hands on History programs through the Ohio State University and Ashland University in conjunction with the Ohio Historical Society teaching teachers to use primary sources to teach history.  In 2002, she received the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ohio National Middle School Citizenship Teacher of the Year award.  She also advises the high school and middle school mock trial team for her school district and participates in Ohio/National History Day competition.  In 2011, Mrs. Adams won the Patricia Behring Teacher of Merit Award for the Junior Division at the Ohio History Day State Competition.  Barb lives on a farm near LaRue, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.

Al Bell spent forty years of his professional career teaching government at Findlay High School.  He began using the We the People curriculum in his classes about 1987.  Beginning in the 1990s, the Center for Civic Education began to provide valuable training for teachers who were using the We the People curriculum.  Because of this, Mr. Bell was able to help conduct teacher training at UCLA, Boston University, Indiana University, Ohio State University, University of Montana, University of Alaska, Furman University, and University of Georgia.  For three summers, he also helped direct the Ohio We the People Summer Institute at The Ohio State University.  At least three times, he has been with teachers sent to such places as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to share the principles of democratic societies with teachers and education officials in those countries.

Ms. Craig is a recently retired teacher, and a long-time favorite presenter among Law & Citizenship Conference attendees.  She continues her work with the State Bar of Texas Office of Law-Related Education as a consultant and is the author of several teaching guides and presenter at numerous Law-Related Education (LRE) conferences throughout the US.  Ms. Craig is a recipient of the State Bar of Texas Leon Jaworski Award for excellence in law-related education as well as the American Lawyers' Auxiliary award as the National High School LRE Teacher of the Year.  She is a fifth generation Texan.

In January 2011, the Republican State Central & Executive Committee of Ohio unanimously reelected Kevin DeWine to serve as chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.  As the party's chief executive officer, DeWine is responsible for the management of all party operations and services, including candidate recruitment, campaign support, training, fundraising, voter contact programs, communications, technology resources, and legal strategies.

In addition to his role as chairman, DeWine is a member of the Republican National Committee, where he sits on the party's ethics and site selection committees.  He previously served four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives, rising to the chamber's second-highest position as Speaker Pro Tempore.  He holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Dayton and an MBA from Wright State University. He and his wife, Kelle, reside in Fairborn with their four sons.

Mark Dickman teaches AP Government and Politics, college prep Government, and American History at Findlay High School as well as serving as the school’s social studies department chair.  He has been active as both a teacher and mentor of the We the People program since 2002.  He received his bachelor’s degree in secondary social studies education from Wright State University and his master’s degree in history from Wright State University.  Mr. Dickman lives in Middle Point, Ohio, with his wife and two daughters.

Major Matt Donald is a retired US Army Military Police officer.  He served in the Army for 23 years where his service included deployment operations in Bosnia and Afghanistan.  While in the military, he was awarded a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, and six Army Achievement Medals, along with several other awards.  Since November 2002, Major Donald has held teaching positions at The Ohio State University in the Army ROTC and International Studies Departments.  He also is a pro bono mediator for Franklin County Small Claims, Domestic, and Juvenile Courts.  Major Donald is completing law school at Capital University, scheduled to graduate in 2012.  Major Donald is married with three children and enjoys hunting, fishing, and motorcycling.

Tim Dove has been a teacher in the Worthington City School District for 30 years, currently is at Phoenix Middle School as a social studies and technology teacher.  Mr. Dove earned his undergraduate degree from Miami University and masters degree from Ohio State.  He has been a field professor for secondary social studies methods courses at Ohio State since 1992.  He has worked with the Mershon Center, Ohio State University, and CIVITAS to create curriculum and teaching seminars in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and Morocco. 

Mr. Dove has been recognized for his teaching many times over the years, including: 2011 Ohio Teacher of the Year, Columbus Council of World Affairs International Teacher of the Year, Ohio Council for the Social Studies Middle School Teacher of the Year, The Anderson Award, the OSU College of Education’s Career Educator Awards, and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Master Teacher Award.

Lori Urogdy Eiler has been teaching social studies at Shaw High School in East Cleveland for 34 years.  Her unique innovative and interactive approach to teaching has earned her many state and national awards, including Ohio Teacher of the Year, OCSS and NCSS Secondary Teacher of the Year, national law high school teacher of the year (ABA Auxiliary), the Good Neighbor Award for Innovative Teaching, and the Street Law Educator of the Year among others.  Empowering students to be 'upstanders' with wide 'universes of obligation,'  students in her class host among other things, 'Be the Change' workshops for international guests and they recently gained national recognition for their anti-bullying program with elementary students through Facing History and NOT IN OUR SCHOOLS.  In 1998, OCLRE established an award in her name to recognize mock trial coaching excellence and the positive impact advisors have on students.  She is also currently member of the Board for the ACLU of Ohio.

Mr. Ginsburg is an attorney in private practice in Millersburg, Ohio.  He earned his BA from the University of Cincinnati and his JD from the Vanderbilt University School of Law.  Before entering private practice, he was a legal aid attorney for six years and a Holmes County magistrate for twelve years.  Mr. Ginsburg serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Ohio and is the current chair of the Ohio High School Mock Trial competition committee.

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Katie Harper has over sixteen years experience in public service with more than thirteen years focusing on statewide community education programs for the State Treasurer’s office.  Currently in her role as a Community Education Coordinator, she is an integral part of the development and management of the Smart Money Choices conference series.  Ms Harper presents personal finance information to a variety of audiences across Ohio including young adults.  She received her B.A. in History from the University of Cincinnati.

Kevin Hillery has been a teacher and associate principal at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron for the last 22 years.  He coached Hoban’s mock trial team for 20 years, including leading the team to three state championships.  Mr. Hillery has been married to his wife Barbara for 24 years and have two sons, both of which participated in mock trial. 

Jane Hubbard has coached Upper Arlington High School mock trial teams for the past 15 years.  In addition, she contributed to the writing of two of the literature-based middle school mock trials and continues to share her enthusiasm for OCLRE programs during presentations at workshops and conferences.

Kurt Hunt is an attorney in the Cincinnati office of Dinsmore & Shohl and an adjunct professor that teaches media law & policy at Xavier University.  His law practice includes advising telecommunications and media clients on a wide array of issues including: defamation; copyright and trademark infringement and licensing; data privacy; compliance with marketing regulations (such as restrictions on spam and paid endorsements); cable franchising; broadcasting licensing; and compliance with various state and federal telecommunications regulations.  Mr. Hunt has also served as co-chair of the Ohio Mock Trial Case Committee for the last two years.

When she was elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio in 2004, Judith Ann Lanzinger made history by becoming the only person ever elected to all four levels of the Ohio judiciary.  She was re-elected to a second six-year term in 2010.  Over the last 25 years, she has served on the Supreme Court, the 6^th District Court of Appeals, the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, and the Toledo Municipal Court.

Justice Lanzinger was the first one in her family to attend college.  She received a bachelor's degree magna cum laude in education and English from the University of Toledo.  She then taught elementary school and started a family before earning a law degree cum laude at the University of Toledo College of Law where she was valedictorian of her class.

The Justice enjoys speaking about the court system to community groups, especially to schoolchildren in the Law and Leadership program.  In the spring of 2010, she started a blog, justicejudy.blogspot.com to educate the public about the judiciary.  She is Ohio's representative for former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's icivics.org, a national Web site that has a similar intent.

Elaine Larson has worked with the Center on Congress at Indiana University (CCIU) for over seven years providing consultation and content development for CCIU’s main website and, since 2005, managing content and website development as well as teacher outreach for CCIU’s Teaching with Primary Sources project.  In other roles, Elaine oversees the creation of a variety of digital media, websites, and online resources for K-12 education.  Elaine has a BA in English education and social studies, and an MA in Adult and Higher Education.  She has taught English and social studies at the middle school and adult levels, and she has authored a variety of online professional development modules for teachers.

Dr. Jeffrey Lewis earned his bachelors degree from Case Western Reserve University and his masters and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University.  His research focuses on the history of science and technology, particularly their importance for national policy and security concerns.  Dr. Lewis was a Fulbright Scholar in 1999-2000.  He has been teaching at Ohio State University since 1992 and since 2003, has been teaching in the Undergraduate International Studies Program, focusing on current security issues.  His book, The Business of Martyrdom: A History of Suicide Bombing will be published in 2012.

Denny Lyle has been the legal advisor for Sylvania Southview High School since 1995.  He has also worked with mock trial teams at Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo.  Mr Lyle’s high school mock trial teams have been to the state competition for the last 15 years, won the state championships five times, and have places as high as seventh place at the national competition.  He was awarded the Lori Urogdy Eiler for Mock Trial Coaching Excellence in 2000.  Mr. Lyle is a civil litigation partner at Anspach Meeks Ellenberger in Toledo. 

Addie Gannon Natalie joined the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education as the High School Mock Trial and Project Citizen program coordinator in November 2005 with previous experience as an admissions counselor at Ohio State.  Addie graduated from the Ohio State University with a degree in Mass Communications and Social Issues in 2004.  That same year, she was a John Glenn Institute Academic Intern Fellow.  Addie also participated in Center programs as a student at Findlay High School and was a member of the We the People State Championship class in 2000.

Dr. Angela Nelson is an associate professor in the Popular Studies Department at Bowling Green State University.  Dr. Nelson holds bachelors and masters degrees in music education and a doctorate in American Culture Studies.  Her research and teaching interests include African Americans in television, cultural significance of African American music, television and music as popular culture, and pop culture and media theory.

Justice Terrence O'Donnell began his judicial career in 1980 on the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court – the busiest trial court in Ohio – and served there for 14 years until his election to the Eighth District Court of Appeals in 1994.  He served there for eight years, and subsequently served as a visiting trial court judge in various counties throughout the state before joining the Supreme Court in 2003.

Throughout his legal career, Justice O'Donnell contributed to his profession by serving as the perennial Chairman of the Cleveland Bar Association Student Essay Contest and recognizing winning student authors on Law Day.  Justice O’Donnell is a former schoolteacher and a founding member and past president of the Legal Eagles, a law fraternity for alumni of St. Edward High School in Lakewood.  He also is a member of the Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellows Class of 2005.  The Justice presently serves on the Board of the Lawyers Guild of the Diocese of Cleveland.

Dr. Alam Payind, the director of Middle East Studies Center at Ohio State University, served in the Afghan government as the Director General of Cultural and Foreign Relations, and was a professor at Kabul University before the Soviet invasion in 1979 forced him to seek refuge in the US.  Dr. Payind has seen Afghanistan through many phases: under King Zahir Shah, President Dawud, the ten-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Mujahiddin regime, followed by the Taliban regime, and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, and subsequent Karzai government.  He has been back to Afghanistan seven times since the establishment of the Karzai government.  His combination of academic qualifications and life experience uniquely qualifies him to give the cultural, historical, and current social context for recent events. 

Besides being a professor at the Ohio State University, he is still part of the faculty at Kabul University in Afghanistan, and is a consultant to the new Afghan government in its educational reconstruction efforts.  In late 2006, Dr. Payind was offered the position of Afghan Ambassador to the United Kingdom, which he turned down for personal and professional reasons.  He received his Ph.D. in Political Science and Higher Education, as well as an M.A. in Political Science in 1977 from Indiana University, his M.Sc. in Higher Education from Indiana University in 1972; and his BA in Political Science & Islamic Law from Kabul University in 1966

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Kriss Plumer has been the Learning Center Representative in the Community Relations Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland since 2005.  In this role, she handles the day to day operations of the Bank's Learning Center and Money Museum, conducts tours of the Bank and the museum, and educates visitors about the Federal Reserve System, financial literacy and economic education.  Prior to joining Community Relations, Kriss held a variety of positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in the National Billing and Check Departments.  Kriss has a bachelor's degree in secondary English education from Ohio University.

Char Pope retired from the education ranks having spent time as a classroom teacher, counselor, technology director, and administrator.  During that time, she received numerous honors including Teacher of the Year and various impact awards.  After retiring, she joined Promethean as a Teaching and Learning Consultant for five years, helping teachers integrate interactive whiteboard technologies and student response systems into their teaching.  Char now consults with school districts on technology integration and spends time with two wonderful granddaughters.

Chris Redfern was elected Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party in December 2005.  Prior to that, Chairman Redfern represented 80th Ohio State House District in the General Assembly for five terms, including the office of House Minority Leader from 2003-2006.  Before coming to the Statehouse, he was an Ottawa County Commissioner – the youngest in the state when his term began.  Chairman Redfern attended Bowling Green State University where he earned bachelors and masters degrees in state and local government. 

Kevin Wittman is a social studies teacher at Sycamore High School.  He has been with the district for 17 years.  His current teaching assignment is AP US Government.  He has taught all levels of US government offered at Sycamore as well as the other required history classes.