Rachel Willis
rachel.willis@unc.edu

Professor Willis is an Associate Professor of American Studies and an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . She received her Ph.D in Economics at Northwestern University. Her research, teaching, and public service all relate to access to work with an emphasis on higher education, technology, and globalization. Willis teaches numerous courses in the American Studies and Economics departments relating to understanding and documenting labor markets, training opportunities, and specific communities including a new first year seminar "Access to Higher Education." A Kauffman grant from the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative and a Bryan Public Service Fellowship are helping fund her collaborative work on the UNC ACCESS Project as part of a social entrepreneurship venture with her students to improve physical access to UNC system institutions.

Kevin FitzGerald
kfitz@unc.edu

FitzGerald is the Special Assistant to the Chancellor for State Government Relations and Planning Director of the Center for Public Technologies. Kevin earned an A.B. from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.P.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kevin has served as Director of the North Carolina Division of Social Services, where he managed the North Carolina's Child Welfare, Child Support, Welfare and Adult and Family Services programs. He had lead responsibility for managing significant policy and financing reforms in each of these program areas. Kevin has worked in a variety of local government positions, including Assistant County Manager in Forsyth County. At the School of Government, Kevin is coordinating planning activities related to the establishment of the Institute's Center for Public Technology, a resource dedicated to improving local and state government use of technology to improve services and strengthen communities.

Lynn Blanchard
blanchard@unc.edu

Blanchard is the Director of the Carolina Center for Public Service and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, she received her undergraduate degree from East Carolina University and graduate degrees from the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. In her professional career, Blanchard has worked with Wake County Public Schools, Family Support Network of NC, UNC Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine. In the latter roles, she developed award-winning community health improvement programs in areas such as HIV/AIDS prevention and early intervention for special needs children. Since coming to the Carolina Center for Public Service in 2002, she has overseen the programmatic development of the Center, including the new Public Service Scholars program, which recognized its first graduates in May, 2005. In addition to her role in AMST 94, she has also taught Intervention Methods in Health Education, a required course for first year Master of Public Health students in Health Behavior and Health Education. She also serves as the leader of Carolina’s annual Tar Heel Bus Tour for new faculty and senior administrators. In that role, and in others, she is a true advocate of Carolina’s role in addressing community and state needs.

Jerome Lucido
jlucido@email.unc.edu

Lucido guides enrollment planning and policy, and oversees the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the Office for Scholarships and Student Aid and the University Registrar at UNC.   He also heads up EPAC (Enrollment Policy Advisory Committee) at UNC which was established to formulate and coordinate enrollment goals. Previously he served as Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Services and Academic Support at the University of Arizona where he was recognized for his contributions toward improving the quality of education for students from underrepresented groups.  Lucido has also been responsible for many of the policies and programs affecting the student body at Carolina including the decision to drop early admissions here.  Additionally, he played a leadership role in the development of the Carolina Covenant, a program to enable eligible students to attend the University and graduate debt-free. Lucido is a member of the NACAC Steering Committee on Admissions Practices, and now serves as the newly appointed Chair of the Guidance and Admissions Assembly Council for the College Board as well as being a member of their Board of Trustees.

Courtney Thornton
cht94@unc.edu

A doctoral student in higher education administration at North Carolina State University, Thornton is completing her dissertation on “Civic Responsibility and Research Universities : Ideology, Culture and Action” using the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia as case studies.

Tom O'Keefe
tokeefe@email.unc.edu

Tom O'Keefe is a senior economics major and creative writing minor from Boise , Idaho . He is pre-medical and interested in biology and literature. Taking American Studies 94 as a sophomore transformed his perspective on the university, and he is happy to be helping in the coordination of what promises to be an incredible series of field labs this fall. Dave Werry has been his roommate since their freshman year.

David Werry
dwerry@email.unc.edu

David Werry is a senior economics and political science double major from Oshawa, Ontario.  He grew up on a farm in Canada and followed his older brother to UNC.  David also took American Studies 94 as a sophomore and looks forward to being a part of the course again.