The primary responsibility of the Board of Trustees is to provide a general policy oversight that will enable the Medisend College of Biomedical Engineering Technology to continue to be a leading engineering college in the United States. The Trustees have a responsibility to ensure that the Institute maintains consistent quality in all elements of the Institute.
General Richard B. Myers, Chairman
General Richard B. Myers serves as President of Kansas State University and Chairman of the General Richard B. Myers Biomedical Equipment Technology School. General Myers retired from the military as the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 1 October 2005 after serving over 40 years in the US Air Force. General Myers also served as Vice Chairman and Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has commanded at every level, including Commander of US Space Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Pacific Air Forces, US Forces Japan, and two fighter wings. A fighter pilot with over 4,100 hours, General Myers logged 600 combat hours during the Vietnam conflict. General Myers is a native of Merriam, Kansas and a 1965 graduate of Kansas State University, and received his commission through ROTC.
General Myers lectures nationally on national security issues and leadership. He is Foundation Professor of Military History and Leadership at Kansas State University and occupies the Colin Powell Chair for National Security Leadership, Character and Ethics at National Defense University. He serves on the board of directors for Aon Corporation, Deere and Company (2006 to 2016), Northrop Grumman Corporation, United Technologies Corporation, and Rivada Corporation. General Myers also serves as First Vice President of the Defense Health Board, was the past Chairman of the USO Board of Governors, and on the boards of several other non-profits to include Fisher House, Midwest Research Institute, and past chairman of the Kansas State University Foundation Board. General Myers graduated from Kansas State University, BS and Auburn University, MBA.
Nick Hallack, President & CEO
Nick Hallack joined MediSend International as President and CEO in 2004. Since that time, MediSend has grown from a small humanitarian organization with a single mission of shipping surplus medical supplies to developing countries into a global organization impacting community health worldwide. Under Hallack’s direction, MediSend’s mission included education, professional training, product development, technical support, management technologies in biomedical equipment installation, repair and maintenance, and the distribution of life-saving medical supplies and biomedical equipment for long-term partnerships and emergency relief programs. Hallack has conceived and developed a premier international school in biomedical technologies, the MediSend Global Education Center, offering professional education and training in skills essential to improving healthcare conditions in the developing world and more recently in the US, through the General Richard B. Myers Veterans Biomedical Technology Program. Under Hallack’s supervision, MediSend’s Mobile Biomedical Equipment Test and Repair Kit™ is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. The Kit has been distributed to hospitals and clinics in 21 countries throughout the developing world.
Hallack and his IT team conceptualized and implemented a suite of integrated web-based applications, including a decision-support system, an inventory and supply chain management solution, a customer portal, a donor asset management and reporting system, and enterprise reporting system. In recognition of these innovative designs and for the use of technology, MediSend was the recipient of the prestigious CIO 100 three years in a row. Hallack came to MediSend from a successful background of international business development, finance and marketing in the European fragrance and luxury industry. He lived and worked in New York and Paris for 16 years prior to joining MediSend and is fluent in French, German and Italian. A graduate of the University of Texas, Hallack holds an MBA from the University of Dallas.
Dan Butcher, Trustee
Dan is the Managing Partner at Clark Hill Strasburger. Dan Butcher counsels clients on tax matters, particularly in the areas of state and local taxation. He has extensive experience with matters involving Texas franchise tax, Texas sales and use tax, and other state and local taxes, including administrative appeals, refund claims, and litigation. A significant part of this practice includes representing taxpayers before the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts as well as the agencies responsible for state taxes in many other states in the U.S. Regarding professional affiliations, Dan served as the chairman of the Corporate Tax Committee at State Bar of Texas Tax Section between 1992 and 1994 and the General Counsel for the Southwest Chapter of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Dan graduated University of Denver, B.S.A. with cum laude in 1981, the University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with cum laude in 1984 and The Southwestern Methodist University, LL.M. in 1989.
Clete Madden, Trustee
Mr. Madden serves as the President of the outpatient imaging operations of U.S. Radiology Specialists (USRS), including Touchstone Medical Imaging. Prior to joining Touchstone, Mr. Madden was the Chief Development Officer for Radiologix, Inc., a leading provider of imaging services with 72 imaging centers. Mr. Madden has been in the healthcare field for over 25 years with much of this time spent with one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms providing services to many health care clients as a Partner and National Industry Director overseeing 150 healthcare partners. Mr. Madden holds a BBA in Accounting with High Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Madden is on the Board of the Association for Quality Imaging, a national industry organization that advocates for and supports the outpatient imaging industry.
Ron Pellegrini, Trustee
Ron is currently the Vice President, Head of Service for West Central Region US & Canada at GE Healthcare. He is responsible for all Imaging, Ultrasound, and Biomedical Engineering Services. Ron currently leads a team of 1000+ employees supporting GE & multi-vendor products. Prior to GE, Ron was the Vice President & Head of U.S. Field Service for the Laboratory Diagnostics Division at SIEMENS Healthineers for the last 30 years. He was responsible for managing 800+ employees including Field Service Engineers, Managers, and Senior Leaders. Ron has led large Laboratory & Diagnostic Imaging Field Service & Sales teams at SIEMENS. Prior to SIEMENS Healthineers, Ron was a U.S. leader in the Field Service and the Field Application departments at Bayer Healthcare and Chiron Diagnostics. One of Ron’s most rewarding experiences was his active-duty and reserve duty as a Laboratory Technologist and leader in the U.S. Air Force.
Ron has been in the healthcare field for over 30+ years and is a licensed Medical Technologist (MT). He holds a BAS and a Master of Arts in Organizational Management. Ron has been a servant for most of his adult life. He was engaged in the veterans mentoring program for active-duty service members transitioning out of the military and into the civilian sector. He also participates in local high school programs attracting more young women and men into the biomedical field. Ron is a life-time member of the Rhome & Wise County, Texas Military Veterans association. Ron was elected and currently serves as a City Councilmember for the City of Aurora, TX.
Woodrow Gandy, Dr., Trustee
Dr. Woodrow Gandy attended the University of Texas as an undergraduate and got his medical degree from U.T. Southwestern Medical School in Dallas before completing residency training in internal medicine at the University of California, Sacramento, and San Francisco General Hospital. He practiced medicine in the Dallas area, serving as Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor Medical Center at Irving until co-founding T-System, Inc., a medical informatics company that serves hospitals in all 50 states and military facilities. Dr. Gandy is an active investor in early stage life science companies and serves on boards of medical device, software, and biotechnology companies.
Chairman, Ikonopedia, Inc. Dallas, Tx (2012-present).
Board Member, Van Duzen, Inc. Dallas, Tx (2010- present)
Co-Founder, T-System, Inc. Dallas, Tx (1996- 2017)
Board Member, Mind Above Matter Ft Worth, Tx (2014-present)
Board Member, Ehlers-Danlos Society Montgomery Village, Md
Chairman, Zoe Geh Foundation, Inc. Dallas, Tx (2005-present)
Board Member, Adirondack Medical Foundation Saranac Lake, NY (2013- p)
As the father of a daughter with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Dr. Gandy supports and is involved with research to improve our understanding of the various Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and to develop more effective specific treatments.
Gerald Heeger, Trustee
For more than 50 years, Dr. Gerald Heeger has been passionately committed to expanding access to nontraditional students to affordable higher education and to the innovative uses of technology in higher education.
Dr. Heeger is past president of the University of Maryland University College (now University of Maryland Global Campus). Under his leadership UMUC became one of the largest universities in the United States and maintained its leadership in providing education to US military students around the world. During his tenure, UMUC received national and international recognition for its leadership in online education.
Prior to joining UMUC, Heeger served as Dean of New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies, as Dean of The New School, and as Dean, Provost, and Executive Vice-President of Adelphi University. He also served as a faculty member of the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia.
Dr. Heeger has extensive experience with higher education accreditation and, between 2000-2005, was a member of the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges. In 2005, he was named to the International Adult Association of Schools and Colleges.