Keystone Leadership Awardees
2007 Announced

Leadership in Government
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)
Presented by U. S. Senator Ron Wyden

Olympia Snowe’s dedicated work in the U.S. Senate has garnered nationwide recognition as a leading policymaker in Washington. In 2005, she was named the 54th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine and this year, Time Magazine named her one of the top ten U.S. Senators. Calling her “The Caretaker,” Time magazine wrote of Snowe: “Because of her centrist views and eagerness to get beyond partisan point scoring, Maine Republican Olympia Snowe is in the center of every policy debate in Washington…But while Snowe is a major player on national issues, she is also known as one of the most effective advocates for her constituents.”

Focusing her attention on efforts to build bipartisan consensus on key issues that matter to Maine and America, Snowe has built a reputation as one of the Congress’ leading moderates. In 1999, she was cited by Congressional Quarterly for her centrist leadership, and is co-chair with Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut) of the Senate Centrist Coalition, a forum for communication and cooperation between Senate Democrats and Republicans.

Senator Snowe has worked extensively on a number of issues, such as: budget and fiscal responsibility; education, including student financial aid and education technology; national security; women’s issues; health care, including prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients; welfare reform; oceans and fisheries issues; and campaign finance reform.

Leadership in Industry
John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company
Presented by U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu

John Hofmeister is President, Shell Oil Company, a U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies operating in more than 140 countries and territories. In the U.S., Shell is currently the number one branded gasoline retailer and has been a recognized pioneer and industry leader, since the early days of the last century, in oil and gas exploration and production technologies.

Today, Shell is becoming and industry leader in the development of alternative energy. John is committed to Shell's contributions to U.S. energy security from diverse energy sources. Shell invests heavily in new supplies of conventional oil and gas, as well as in alternative energies and energy technologies of the future, including unconventional oil and gas, LNG, coal, gasification, bio-fuels, wind and hydrogen, all in an effort to meet U.S. energy needs today and tomorrow.

John grew up in a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and worked his way through college at Kansas State University, ultimately earning a master's degree in political science. His broad experience base and global professional career includes senior management positions in North America, Asia and Europe with General Electric, Nortel and AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) prior to joining Shell in 1997. He currently serves on the Boards of the American Petroleum Institute, United States Energy Association, National Association of Manufactures, the National Urban League, and the Foreign Policy Association. He is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. (Clinton School Research Center)

Leadership in Education
Dr. Carlo Parravano, Executive Director of the Merck Institute for Science Education
Presented by Dr. Hubert Dyasi

Dr. Parravano has provided leadership by participating on committees for the National Research Council and National Science Resource Council. In addition he recently chaired the board of directors for the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study and headed a team to reform science education in Thailand—a Merck supporting response to the tsunami of December 2005.

Dr. Parravano is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of numerous initiatives to improve science education in several states. Before assuming his current position, Dr. Parravano was Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase. While at SUNY, he taught courses in general, physical, analytical, and environmental chemistry. In 1977, he received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

In addition to his academic and administrative appointments, he served as Director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the SUNY Purchase/Westchester School Partnership. He earned a BA in chemistry at Oberlin College and received a PhD in physical chemistry in 1974 at the University of California-Santa Cruz.

Dr. Parravano serves as Vice Chair of the NJ Professional Teaching Standards Board and Co-Chair of the NJ Core Curriculum Science Standards Committee. He serves on the advisory board of the National Science Resources Center, the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, the NJ Mathematics Coalition, and the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence. He also is currently a PI for a NSF-funded Mathematics and Science Partnership project.

Leadership in the Environment
Peter A. Seligmann, Co-founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer,
Conservation International
Presented by U. S. Representative Tom Udall

Peter Seligmann, co-founder and CEO of Conservation International (CI), has led CI from its days as a small group with lofty ideals to an international conservation leader achieving ambitious, strategic goals across more than 40 countries on four continents.

After receiving his master's from the Yale School of Forestry in 1974, Seligmann soon landed a job in conservation. His decision to move overseas, nearly a decade later, turned out to be an auspicious one for the future of international conservation. From his home base in Costa Rica, Seligmann visited Peru, where he was struck by the contrast between the country's enormous biological wealth and staggering poverty. He saw clearly that saving biodiversity would require building economies around conservation, so that local people had a stake in conserving their natural heritage.

These early experiences inspired Seligmann to link conservation with economics and led to the creation of CI in 1987. Over nearly two decades, Seligmann – with President Russell Mittermeier and a strong multinational team – has overseen CI's development into both an intellectual leader and a catalyst for significant conservation delivery. CI continues to be committed to finding lasting solutions to conservation issues and believes that all sectors of society must understand the costs of environmental loss and be engaged in finding solutions.

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Above, 2006 Leadership in Government
The Honorable Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senate, Presented by Senator Chuck Hagel

Above, Robert W. Craig and friends at 2006 Awards.

Above, Awards for 2006