Key Speakers

Chuck Hagel, Nebraska's senior U.S. Senator, is serving his second term in the United States Senate. Senator Hagel's duties include membership on four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking; Housing and Urban Affairs; Intelligence and Rules.

Hagel is the author of America: Our Next Chapter, a straight-forward examination of the current state of our nation and provides substantial proposals for the challenges of the 21st century. Alan Greenspan says, "America: Our Next Chapter should be required reading;" former World Bank President James Wolfensohn declares the book, "a must read." Journalist and author Tom Brokaw states, "this is a book for people who care about their country," and General Colin Powell says that Hagel "writes with insight, expertise, authority, and with the credentials that come from his dedicated service in war and peace."

Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Hagel worked in the private sector as the President of McCarthy & Co., an investment banking firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, and served as Chairman of the Board of American Information Systems (AIS). Before joining McCarthy & Co., Hagel was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Private Sector Council (PSC) in Washington, D.C., Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the 1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations (G-7 Summit) and President and Chief Executive Officer of the World USO.

In the mid-1980's, Hagel co-founded VANGUARD Cellular Systems, Inc., a publicly traded corporation. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Hagel to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration, a nomination confirmed by the United States Senate. Hagel also served as Deputy Commissioner General of the United States for the 1982 World's Fair. From 1977 through 1980, Hagel was Manager of Government Affairs for The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Washington, D.C. From 1971 to 1977, he was Administrative Assistant to Congressman John Y. McCollister (R-Nebraska). Beginning in 1969, Hagel worked as a newscaster and talk show host with radio stations KBON and KLNG in Omaha, Nebraska.

George H. Wood is principal of Federal Hocking High School in Stewart, Ohio and serves as the Executive Director of The Forum. Dr. Wood’s 30 year career in public education includes work as a classroom teacher, school board member, professor of education, and school principal. He is the Founding Director of Wildwood Secondary School in Los Angeles and has served as principal of Federal Hocking for 16 years. Federal Hocking is a rural school in Appalachian Ohio which has been recognized as a Coalition of Essential Schools Mentor School, a First Amendment School, and as one of America’s 100 Best by Readers’ Digest. He authored Governor Ted Strickland’s (OH) K-12 Education Transition Paper as well as the books Schools That Work, Time to Learn, and Many Children Left Behind (ed. with Deborah Meier).