Sharon Melzer
Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State
Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University

Dr. Sharon Melzer is a criminologist with expertise in transnational organized crime, terrorism, illicit finance, and illicit trade and balances her government and academic careers. Currently, she teaches a graduate-level course on International Organized Crime at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and is a Foreign Affairs Officer with the U.S. Department of State’s (State) Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). She is also an At Large Board Member of Penn State University’s Graduate School Alumni Society Board of Directors.

During her academic career, Dr. Melzer taught courses on organized crime, white-collar crime, human trafficking, terrorism, transnational crime, research methods, criminological theory, introduction to criminology and the criminal justice system, and designed, directed, and implemented a study abroad in criminology program (Czech Republic and Germany). Previous academic appointments include serving as a Senior Fellow/Affiliated Faculty with George Mason University’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) and as an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) – College at Plattsburgh. Additionally, she has served several national professional organizations, including as the Executive Director of the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime (IASOC) and on program committees for the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual meetings.

Dr. Melzer’s government service spans three departments: State, Treasury, and Defense. In addition to her current position at State, she also served as a detailee to its Bureau of Counterterrorism and as Senior Advisor for Transnational Threats and Illicit Trade/Franklin Fellow within INL. While serving as a Franklin Fellow, she organized and chaired the United States Government Interagency Working Group to Combat Illicit Tobacco and co-chaired, with the United Kingdom’s Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) tobacco sub-group of the OECD’s Task Force – Countering Illicit Trade. She was also a Strategic Policy Specialist with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau. Dr. Melzer also held an Adjunct Faculty appointment with the Department of Defense’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University.

From Penn State, she earned an MPA, a BA in Administration of Justice, and BA in History. She also holds an MS in Criminology from Florida State and a Ph.D. in Justice, Law and Society from American University.

Katie Bode-Lang
Director of Education and Outreach, Penn State Office for Research Protections

Katie Bode-Lang is the Director of Education and Outreach for the Office for Research Protections at Penn State. Her team oversees research ethics education for the University as well as training and communication for research compliance. Bode-Lang is also the author of The Reformation, which won the American Poetry Review/Honickman first book prize. Prior to her work in Research Protections, Bode-Lang was the assistant director of a research center in the College of Health and Human Development and she taught English in the College of Liberal Arts. She has presented at national conferences on her work on research ethics education and on communicating effectively with researchers. She earned her MFA in poetry at Penn State.

Tanja Gruber
VP for Research and Development, Origin Materials

Dr. Tanja Gruber joined Origin Materials in December 2021 with over 20 years of experience in academia and the biochemical industry. Dr. Gruber is responsible for the overall research and development of Origin Materials’ technology. Gruber has a multidisciplinary background in biochemistry, molecular biology, chemical engineering, and microbiology with strong expertise in enzyme engineering and production. At DuPont and IFF, Dr. Gruber led R&D teams and projects from early stage to development in diverse topics including engineering enzymes for teeth whitening, enzymatic production of dietary fibers, and new probiotics for animal nutrition. Dr. Gruber has 14 granted patents and more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Gruber studied Chemical Engineering and Technical Chemistry in Switzerland and Austria before coming to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship. Dr. Gruber received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University and carried out postdoctoral work at the University of California San Francisco.

 

Christopher D. Renn
Associate, FIFTEEN Architecture + Design
Adjunct Associate Professor, Temple University

An Associate at FIFTEEN Architecture + Design, Christopher D. Renn is an accomplished architect, educator and mentor with twenty years of professional experience. Holding design in the highest regard, Chris brings together the functional and programmatic requirements of a project with a cohesive aesthetic solution that meets each client’s needs and aspirations. Carefully listening to multiple perspectives, he is able to weave together ideas, materials, and processes to yield seemingly effortless results. Leading teams with understanding and empathy, Chris brings out the best in each individual involved.

His varied portfolio and experience while at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson includes large, complex projects such as the adaptive reuse of Philadelphia’s Main Post Office, K-12 Schools, and award-winning Blue Bottle Cafés in New York, Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago. In all of his work, Chris’s skill and design talent is evident in his attention to detail, with a commitment to shepherding the project’s integrity at every phase of design.

Renn has also served an Adjunct Professor at Temple University for over ten years where he teaches Design Studio across all levels of the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. He is a frequent guest reviewer at a number of institutions including Drexel University, The Pennsylvania State University, The University of Maryland, Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Nebraska.

Kyler Sherman-Wilkins
Associate Professor of Sociology, Missouri State University

Dr. Kyler James Sherman-Wilkins is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Faculty Affiliate in the Gerontology program and founder and director of the Health Equity Research Collective (HERC) at Missouri State University. A social demographer and life course sociologist by training, Dr. Sherman-Wilkins’ research centers around the social and structural determinants of health and health inequities, particularly as it pertains to cognitive health, across the life course. He is also interested in addressing the research to policy gap and has engaged audiences across the U.S. on best practices for communicating research to policymakers.

He is a dedicated and award-winning teacher and advisor who focuses on empowering students to address challenges in their communities through activism and policy. In addition to teaching and research, Sherman-Wilkins is engaged in campus, professional and community service, and sits on Missouri State's Pre-Med Committee, the Provost's Diversity Council, the Board of Trustees for PRB, a population research organization in Washington D.C., the Board of Directors for PROMO, Missouri's Statewide LGBTQ+ Advocacy organization and the Board of Directors for the Missouri Foundation for Health. He is also a founding board member of the Missouri Council on Aging.