Special Guest Biographies
One of the advantages of being a part of the Engineering Leadership Program is the opportunity to participate in discussions with current and former leaders in government and industry. The following are short bios of some of our special guests.
Name: Mr. James S. Balloun
Dates at ISU: September 18-23
Mr. James Balloun retired as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Brands, Inc. on September 1, 2004. He is the former Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of National Service Industries, where he led the company for five years prior to the spin-off of Acuity Brands, Inc. in November 2001. Acuity Brands (AYI) is a $2 billion manufacturer of lighting fixtures and cleaning chemicals.
In 31 years with McKinsey & Company, Inc., prior to NSI,
Mr. Balloun dealt with business issues in a broad range of
manufacturing industries, including building products,
paper, magnetic storage tape, tires, plain paper
copiers, trucks, pharmaceuticals, and construction
aggregates among others, while living in San Francisco, Tokyo
and Atlanta. During his tenure with the firm, he
led a number of pro-bono assignments to create public
and non-profit organizations, e.g., the Japan US trade
study group and the Georgia Research Alliance. At
the time Mr. Balloun left McKinsey & Company, he was one of the senior governing leaders in the firm, serving as a member of the firm’s shareholders (board of directors), partner election, and partner review committees.
Mr. Balloun received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, Harvard’s top academic honor. Before attending graduate school, he served three years in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineering Corps, where he reached the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a B.S. degree in
Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University, where he was elected to Tau Beta Pi and served as Student Body President. He grew up in Ames, Iowa, where his father, Stanley Balloun, was a Professor of Poultry Nutrition at Iowa State University.
Mr. Balloun is an active contributor to the Atlanta
community. He has served as Chairman of the
Commerce Club and the Chairman of the Trustees of the Woodruff Arts Center. He is a Director of Radiant Systems, Inc., Enzymatic Deinking Technologies and Unisen/Star Trac. He is a former director of Wachovia Bank and Georgia-Pacific. He serves as a Trustee of the Westminster Schools, the Woodruff Arts Center and as an Elder of Trinity Presbyterian Church. He is married to Julie Lanier Balloun and has two children, Mark and Jill, and four grandchildren.
Mr. Balloun's current professional interests focus on
Board Governance, University Research as a platform for
new business development, and “angel” investments in new
businesses. Mr. and Mrs. Balloun share a strong interest in the environment and conservation.
Name: Mr. Robert A. Lane
Dates at ISU: September 18-23
Mr. Robert
A. Lane was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was raised in the Midwest and attended high school at Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, a west suburban community near Chicago. In 1964 he was accepted into the engineering college at Iowa State University and in 1968, he graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering.
Upon graduation Mr. Lane began a thirty-year career with the Shell Companies in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was primarily involved with
leadership positions in Shell’s offshore and onshore oil & gas exploration and production businesses throughout the United States. In addition, he held several senior positions in Shell corporate strategic planning in Houston, Texas, and London.
During his final years with Shell, his assignments included Manager of Plans Coordination and Strategy for Shell Oil Company, General Manager of Engineering for the U.S. Exploration and Production Company, Vice President and General Manager of Shell Western E & P Company, and Vice President of Shell E & P International Ventures, Inc, all in Houston. He also served as
liaison to the Shell Oil Company in London for three years.
After electing to retire from Shell, Mr. Lane became the Chief Operating Officer of Sonat Exploration, a large independent exploration and production company located in Houston. He served in this role and other responsibilities involving both onshore and offshore operations until 2000 when Sonat Inc. was sold to El Paso.
Mr. Lane has been married to Jacklyn Richard of Labadieville, Louisiana, for thirty-four years. They have a daughter, Kristi Stites, who is an advertising executive in Denver, Colorado. He is chairman of The Gus Archie Memorial Scholarship committee, which is affiliated with the Society of Petroleum Engineers, AIME.
He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of PushAmerica, the national service organization of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. He is chairman of the Shell Offshore Pioneers Reunion Committee and a member of Houston’s ARE (Active Retired Executives).
Name: Dr. Jack
Brown
Dates at ISU: October 16-20
Dr. Jack Brown received his BS in electrical
engineering from Iowa State College in 1959, and received his MS in
nuclear engineering from Iowa State University in 1962. He
received an MS in nuclear science from the University of Michigan in
1965, and received his Ph D in nuclear engineering from The Ohio
State University in 1973.
Dr. Brown had a 30 year career with
the
Battelle Memorial Institute (R&D organization). He then went on
to serve as the international nuclear arms
control specialist at the U.S. Department of Energy, the United
Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), and the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA). Dr.
Brown’s personal experiences have ranged from
novel uses of the Mossbauer effect, nuclear weapon inspections in
Iraq, participation in a mock-terrorist takeover of U.S. nuclear
weapons, and inspection of a failed nuclear reactor in Antarctica.
Dr. Brown and his wife Maggie have
more recently been involved with the development of an
after school program in Depoe
Bay, Oregon.
