Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference

Dr. Grady Bray

Dr. Grady P. Bray started his own company in 1984 and today serves as the President of Crisis Human Services, Inc. He is an adjunct and frequent presenter for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute and was the first behavioral scientist for the Disaster Mortuary Operations Response Team. He worked the Oklahoma City bombing; numerous domestic and international air disasters; the World Trade Center attacks of September 11th; the United Nations bombing in Baghdad; the tsunami in Thailand; and Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike.

Dr. Bray is a disaster psychologist with an international reputation as a lecturer, author, disaster survivor, and emergency response authority. He recently appeared on the Good Morning America program discussing the miners in Chile and has appeared as a subject matter expert on such diverse programming as the TODAY show, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and FEMA' s Recovery Channel, and he was featured in an NBC Dateline segment that focused on surviving highrise fires. He has also appeared in numerous training videos and DVDs.

In 2003, Dr. Bray resigned as the Yates County, New York, coroner and accepted a full-time position as vice president for a Texas-based disaster company, where he established the Family Assistance Program and worked until 2006. Dr. Bray is active as a consultant and provides services to such diverse groups as the Fire Department of New York, The 911 Museum and Memorial, and numerous private and government organizations. He has also provided assessment and training for the Executive Office of the President of the United States as well as international response teams for private corporations and government agencies.

In response to an invitation from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, New York, Dr. Bray joined the faculty as an assistant professor of Preventive, Family and Rehabilitation Medicine in 1977 and remained with the medical school until 1984. A South Georgia native, Dr. Bray received his undergraduate degree in biology from David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Nashville, he also taught at the John A. Gupton School of Mortuary Science. After receiving his B.A., he returned to Georgia and worked as a pyrotechnics chemist, a high school teacher, and a special counselor for disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. Dr. Bray received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Georgia in 1974 and went on to work as a clinical psychologist with the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

Dr. Dan Diamond

Corporate clients, government agencies, medical centers, emergency response teams, associations, and non-profit agencies in serious times of transition call upon Dr. Dan Diamond to resuscitate, strengthen, and equip their teams with resilience to thrive when times are tough. Having led trauma teams into two of the most catastrophic disasters in recent years -- the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina -- Dr. Diamond is a high-energy, engaging, unforgettable speaker who challenges people to survive and discover renewed purpose and significance in life and on the job.

Dr. Dan Diamond guides teams to adapt and excel, no matter what. He has experienced things most people can’t fathom and guides participants to the disaster zones and back to wake up to possibilities for progress never before imagined. Diamond combines a lifetime of diverse experiences as a family physician, and founder of an international medical disaster response team to help teams adapt and excel. He combines his medical expertise with his emergency response insight to share reality-tested principles that help teams emerge from difficult times.

Not only in his life's work but in his presentations, Dr. Dan's goal is to exceed expectations and deliver a lasting impact as he has does in every disaster situation. He founded and serves as the Director of the Nation’s first state-affiliated medical disaster response team. Dr. Diamond has responded to a variety of international disasters and most recently he served as the Medical Director for Medical Teams International’s First Response Team to Haiti. Following Hurricane Katrina, he played a strategic role as Director of the Mass Casualty Triage Unit at the New Orleans Convention Center. In 2010, the American Red Cross gave him the “Real Hero” award and he also received the Washington State Governor’s Award of Excellence for his work in Haiti. As an experienced family physician and an award-winning educator, Dr. Diamond earned his medical degree from University of Washington and completed his residency in Family Medicine in Milwaukee, WI. The American Academy of Family Physicians awarded Dr. Diamond the degree of Fellow. He is Board Certified with the American Board of Family Physicians. He is a member of the Editorial Board for the Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Dr. Diamond is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and is recognized as a national expert in the treatment of mood disorders.

Vickie Nadolski

As Director of the National Weather Service Western Region, Vickie Nadolski is responsible for the management and operation of twenty-four Weather Forecast Offices (WFO), three River Forecast Centers (RFC), and four Aviation Center Weather Service Units.

Ms. Nadolski's career spans more than three decades of dedicated public service at the NWS. Before assuming her current position, Ms. Nadolski served as Deputy Director of the NWS.

In the early 1980s, Ms. Nadolski began development of sensors and algorithms to support automation and managed demonstration test bed projects at the NWS Sterling, Virginia, Test and Development Center. She served more than a decade in both program management and as the manager of the $230 million tri-agency acquisition of the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) at the NWS Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. She oversaw the collaborative efforts of the Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, and Department of Transportation as they defined, developed, and implemented more than 900 ASOS sites.

Ms. Nadolski first came to the NWS in 1976 as a staff meteorologist in Cleveland, Ohio, where she issued public, aviation, and marine weather forecasts and warnings for 32 counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Lake Erie.

Ms. Nadolski holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science equivalent in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University. She became a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in January 2006. Her numerous awards include the Department of Commerce Silver Medal and several awards from local, state, and national organizations for her work on automating surface observations.

Ms. Nadolski serves on the AMS Board on Women and Minorities. She also serves as the gender focal point for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), WMO Commission for Basic Systems, and WMO Commission on Instruments and Methods of Observations.