Events

Dr. Smith is Chief of Staff at Hampton Roads Transit, where he supports the CEO in managing and directing agency work in collaboration with executive team members. Brian is a fourteenth generation native of Hampton Roads and a US Army veteran, receiving numerous medals and awards while serving as a Stinger Missile Team Chief with the First Infantry Division. He serves on the MPA National Advisory Board for Regent University. He is a LEAD Hampton Roads 2016 graduate and holds a seminary degree in addition to a PhD in organizational leadership. In 1999, he was a Delta International Scholar and studied abroad in Belgium. His doctoral research focused on leadership in collaborative regional networks. He has a master’s degree in public policy from Regent University and an advanced certificate in public administration from Old Dominion University, with an emphasis on public budgeting and finance. He is married to Monica, a public school music teacher, and is the proud father of two children who’ve both attended Norfolk Christian Schools since pre-K. Eli will be a freshman in high school next year, and Regan, along with most of Brian’s disposable income, will be headed to Virginia Commonwealth University starting this Fall.

Robert S. Bowen was promoted by the Norfolk Airport Authority’s Board of Commissioners to the position of Executive Director effective March 1, 2016.

The Norfolk Airport Authority is a political sub-division of the Commonwealth of Virginia, an independent agency of the City of Norfolk, and is the owner, landlord and operator of the Norfolk International Airport.

Robert has worked for the Airport Authority for 32 years, previously serving as Deputy Executive Director from 2009 – 2016 and as Director of Operations from 1988 – 2009. Prior to joining the Airport Authority, Robert was employed at Piedmont Aviation’s Norfolk International Airport general aviation facility from 1977 - 1987 in a succession of positions starting as an aircraft line serviceman and ending as assistant manager. Robert has been a member of the American Association of Airport Executives since 1988 and Airports Council International – North America since 2003, has been an Accredited Airport Executive since 1995, and has been a member of the Virginia Airport Operators Council since 2010 where he has served as a Board Member since 2011, Secretary from 2013 – 2015, Vice President from 2015 – 2017, and President from 2017 – 2019.

Robert earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Old Dominion University in 1975 and a diploma from Northumberland County (VA) High School in 1970.

Robert resides in Virginia Beach with his wife Beth, sons Randell (U.S. Air Force) and Reynald (U.S. Army), and daughter Lois Ellen (6 years old).

LIEUTENANT GENERAL THOMAS J. SHARPY
    
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LIEUTENANT GENERAL THOMAS J. SHARPY
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Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Sharpy is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Capability Development, Headquarters Allied Command Transformation, Norfolk, Virginia. He is responsible for developing operational and strategic capability requirements on behalf of 29 NATO nations. 

General Sharpy graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree, and completed undergraduate pilot training in 1988. His career has involved numerous supervisory and leadership positions at wing, major command and air staff levels. He also served in a number of joint assignments, including Senior Military Aide to the Vice President of the United States; Director of Plans, Programs and Analyses for Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Vice Commander, 18th Air Force, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; and Director, Strategic Plans, Requirements and Programs, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Illinois. Prior to his current assignment, General Sharpy served as Deputy Commander, AMC, at Scott AFB, where he was responsible for the Air Force's air mobility strategic transportation mission and fleet of more than 1,160 aircraft.

EDUCATION
1987 Bachelor of Science, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1988 Undergraduate Pilot Training, Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.
1994 Squadron Officer School, Distinguished Graduate, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1994 Master of Business Administration, Louisiana Technical University, Ruston
1998 Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
2004 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2006 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
2007 Air Force Enterprise Leadership Seminar, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2010 Senior Executive Fellows Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
2012 Capstone General and Flag Officer Course, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
2015 Senior Joint Intelligence Operations Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
2015 Defense Acquisition Executive Officer Workshop, Fort Belvoir, Va.
2016 Joint Force Air Component Commander Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

How can a serious cause compete for attention in a society hungrier for entertainment than education? With provocative campaigns that use sex, celebrities, and humor, just as an ad agency does. Dan Mathews is the irreverent force behind many of PETA's edgy crusades and star-studded stunts. His brainstorms, such as the iconic "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign, routinely make global news. Among his many accomplishments are the following: He persuaded Calvin Klein to stop using fur after leading a raid on the designer's office and pressured General Motors to stop using animals in crash tests by storming the company's auto shows. His multimedia campaigns helped push Ringling Bros. circus to close in 2017, after 146 years in business, and SeaWorld to stop breeding orcas in captivity in 2016. He served lunch to prisoners at America's first vegetarian jail in Phoenix and organized the first Vegan Gumbo Festival in New Orleans. He's been named one of America's most influential gays by Out magazine, and in 2016, he was presented with an "Activist of the Year" award by Vivienne Westwood in London. He started at PETA in 1985 as the young organization's receptionist, but the pop-culture junkie soon rose through the ranks, devising whimsical campaigns to increase public awareness of animal issues—such as infiltrating a fur designer's fashion show in Milan dressed as a priest. He recruited stars—including Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson, P!nk, and Alec Baldwin—to put PETA on people's pop-culture radar. "Mathews' greatest insight is his seemingly intuitive … understanding that causes are as much about trendiness as they are about conscience," wrote New York magazine. His memoir, Committed, was published in the U.S. by Atria in 2007 and has since been published in Australia and across Europe. "Mathews believes in the spoonful-of-sugar approach to enlightenment, letting personal, gossipy, often hilarious anecdotes illuminate hot-button issues," wrote The Washington Post. His columns have appeared in USA Today, The Guardian, and Huffington Post, and he's lectured at Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, and his alma mater, American University in Washington, D.C.