Dr. Michael J. Fagel (PhD, CEM, CHS-IV) has been involved in many phases of public service. His professional career spans nearly four decades in fire, rescue, emergency medical services, law enforcement, public health, emergency management, as well as corporate safety and security. He spent 10 years at FEMA in their Occupational Safety and Health Cadre in Washington, responding to incidents and disasters such as the Oklahoma City Bombing where he worked as a safety officer and CISD and spent over 100 days at the World Trade Center for FDNY at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks. Over the course of his decades-long career in public service, Dr. Fagel has spent several deployments in the Middle East helping to create a national response plan and a new FEMA-type organization. Currently, he is an instructor at the Illinois Institute of Technology-Stuart School of Business, Masters in Public Affairs Program, as well as at Northwestern University in the Masters of Public Policy and Administration Program, delivering master level courses in biodefense, terrorism, and homeland security. He also teaches homeland security at Northern Illinois University, Benedictine University's Masters in Public Health Program, as well as an instructor at Eastern Kentucky University, Safety Security Emergency Management Masters Program.

Dr. Jennifer L. Hesterman is a retired Colonel in the US Air Force. She was commissioned in 1986 as a graduate of Air Force ROTC at Penn State University. During her military career, she served in three Pentagon tours and commanded multiple times in the field. A cleared professional, she is an advisor for Watermark Risk Management International, a senior analyst for the MASY Group, on the Advisory Board for the Government Security Conference, and a member of the ASIS Crime and Loss Prevention Council. Dr. Hesterman holds a doctoral degree from Benedictine University and master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Air University.