| Dr. Leonard Haynes,III Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities |
| Dr. Betty Pace University of Texas at DallasSickle Cell Disease Research Center |
| Keynote Speakers/Presenters |
| Mr. Ephren Taylor CEO, City Capital Corporation |
| Professor Daryush Ila Executive Director Alabama A&M University Research Institute (AAMURI) |
| Walter L. Strong, PhD Executive Vice President Dillard University |
| Jacquelyn Michel Director for Innovation & Intellectual Property University of Texas-Pan America |
| Dr. Kenneth W. Porter Director for the Health Sciences Center-UTSA Office of Technology Ventures |
| Jacqueline Toussaint-Barker Senior Engineer and Program Manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)Sensors Directorate |
| Darlene F. Williams HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research (PD&R) |
| Michael Rondelli Director of Technoloy Transfer-San Diego State University Research Foundation |
| Beverly Kuykendall President & CEO of Federal and Commercial Contracts, Inc. |
| Douglas K. Simpson Electrical Engineer, US Air Force Research Laboratory |
| Marvalene Hughes,PhD President, Dillard University |
| Clarence Johnson Principal Director & Director For Civilian Equal Employment Opportunity Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity |
| Wendy Lawrence-Fowler Vice Provost and Research and Sponsored Projects University of Texas-Pan America |
| Richard McCline, PhD Professor & The James A. Joseph Endowed Chair in Small and Minority Business Enterprise |
| Dr. J. Arthur Jones Senior Associate for the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network |
| Gregory Foxworth AVP for Research, Texas A&M University |
| Jeanette Brown Director for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the U.S. EPA |
| Melissa Green Director of Division of Science and Technology at the UNCF Special Programs Corporation |
| Dr. Shirley McBay President for the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network |
| Tizoc Loza Corporate Project Manager for Mentor Protege-Small Business Innovation Research, Northrup Grumman Corp. |
| Dawn Underwood Director of Sponsored Programs and IRB Administrator at Indiana State University |
| Dr. Marcus Shute Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs and Professor at Clark Atlanta University |
| Theresa L. Bailey Director for the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects, UTPA |
| Cheryl E. Hall Director for Sponsored Programs, SUBR |
| Dr. William Sanders Director of the National Center for Envirnmental Research (NCER), US EPA |
| Julia Ehrgood Senior Associate at Carmen Group's Healthcare, Education, and Tax Practice |
| Maisha Challenger Associate at Carmen Group's Healthcare, Education, and Tax Practice |
| Dr. Paul Cheng-Hsin Liu Professor in the Department of Technology at California State University, Los Angeles |
| Dr. Edmond Moore Senior Materials Research Engineer serving as a Plans and Program Engineer, Air Force Research Laboratory |
| Dr. Jacob Cohen Program Executive at NASA Headquarters, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Advanced Capabilities Division (ACD) |
| Dr. Jose Ramirez-Domenech Assistant Professor of Biology at Dillard University |