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Department of Education
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Prior to joining the Department, Webster served from 2015 to 2018 as director of risk management at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In this capacity he led the programs overseeing government-to-government risk management activities worldwide, as well as the agency's internal controls program. Webster served a 21-year career as an Air Force officer, including assignments as a C-130 navigator and as a program acquisition officer. Following military service, he transitioned into management consulting focused on the federal government. In this capacity, he led engagements that performed in-depth cost analyses, designed agency cost and performance management systems, led strategic planning initiatives, and implemented governance, risk, and compliance software systems. In 2003, Webster reentered national service with the Department of Defense Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq, as the principal finance advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation. In this role he effectively became the de facto CFO of this ministry until the transition of sovereignty back to the Iraqis was completed. In 2007, he was appointed as the CFO of the U.S. Department of Labor. In this role, Webster oversaw the achievement of an unqualified audit opinion, and his efforts were recognized by the George Mason University Mercatus Center with an award for the best Annual Performance Report (APR) out of all 24 CFO Act agencies. Moreover, the APR produced under his leadership received the highest score ever awarded by the Mercatus Center up to that point in time, a 10-year period. In 2009, Webster joined the Department of Defense Business Transformation Agency as its deputy director. In this role he successfully led all internal operations of the agency. Of particular note, he led development of the agency's first strategic plan that directly linked agency-level strategic goals to individual performance plan measures. In 2008, Webster led the initiative to establish the Annual Federal Enterprise Risk Management Summit, which has been held every year since. He was also a leading founder of the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM) in 2011 and served as its first president. In 2016, he was inducted into the AFERM Hall of Fame, recognized for his contributions to enterprise risk management over his professional career. In 2017, Webster was selected by the Association for Government Accountants for the worldwide International Achievement Award. He has also served on the U.S. Technical Advisory Group for the international risk management standard, ISO 31000. As an adjunct professor at Central Michigan University, George Washington University, and Troy State University, Webster has taught enterprise risk management, strategic planning, managerial accounting, financial management, engineering economic analysis, and business ethics. He has authored numerous journal articles and served as co-author of the books Managing Risk and Performance: A Guide for Government Decision Makers (2014), Chasing Change: Building Organizational Capacity in a Turbulent Environment (2009), and Activity Based Costing and Performance (1994). Webster's certifications include Project Management Professional, Certified Government Financial Manager, Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT, and Prosci Organizational Change Management. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Webster received his bachelor's degree in engineering, master's in systems management, and doctorate in business administration.
Whitaker has been the principal of Mt. Comfort Elementary School since 2011. She has been a Mt. Vernon employee since 2000 and became an administrator at the former Intermediate School and also the Middle School in 2009. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana State University and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Ball State University.
District of Columbia Government For services as the Chief Learning Officer from 09/2015-10/2016 and as the Deputy Chief Procurement Officer from 10/2016-10/2017.
Dr. Mitchell M. "Mick" Zais took the oath of office as South Carolina State Superintendent of Education on January 12, 2011. Following a four-year term, he chose not to run for reelection. Before winning public election as the seventeenth State Superintendent of Education, he served as president of Newberry College for ten years. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served 31 years on active duty in the United States Army, retiring as a Brigadier General. As State Superintendent, Dr. Zais oversaw the operation of and advocated policy for 82 school districts, 1250 schools, 51,000 teachers, 720,000 students and a $4.0 billion annual budget. During Dr. Zais’ four years in office, on-time high school graduation rates increased every year, from 72 percent to an all-time high of 80 percent. On the state report card, the number of school districts rated “excellent” increased from 7 percent to 51 percent, while the number rated “at risk,” the lowest rating fell from 7 percent to 3.7 percent. A strong advocate for school choice, during his tenure the number of public charter schools grew from 37 to 66, enrollment in these schools expanded from 11,000 to 28,000, and per pupil funding for charter school students more than doubled, from $2,734 to $5,720. He also increased on-line course offerings from 64 to 95, with enrollment increasing from 10,000 to 23,000. Finally, he developed and instituted an accountability system whereby every school and district in the state received a letter grade of A through F, based on measures of student growth and student learning outcomes. As State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Zais served on the Boards of Trustees for the University of South Carolina, Winthrop University and The Citadel. For the past 12 years, he has represented South Carolina on the Southern Regional Education Board. During Dr. Zais’ tenure as president of Newberry College, enrollment nearly doubled, the endowment more than doubled, facilities were constructed and renovated, academic programs were added, and athletic teams competed for NCAA regional and national titles. For the last three years of his administration, the prestigious “U.S. News and World Report” named Newberry College as one of America's best colleges. While at Newberry, Dr. Zais served as chair of the presidents’ councils of both the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities and the South Atlantic Athletic Conference. He was also a member of the board of directors for the Foundation for Independent Higher Education, the Lutheran Education Conference of North America, the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission, the Newberry Opera House Foundation and the Southeastern Region of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Dr. Zais represented the state’s 20 private colleges and universities as commissioner on the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. Dr. Mitchell (Mick) M. Zais earned an engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; a Master of Arts degree in military history from the School for Advanced Military Studies at Leavenworth, Kansas; and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in social psychology and organizational behavior from the University of Washington. He is also a graduate of the National Defense University, Washington, D.C., where he was a post-doctoral research fellow in national security affairs. Dr. Zais has written and published extensively in the fields of organizational behavior, curriculum design, stress, military history and doctrine, leadership and management, and military strategy, in such professional journals as the “Journal of Applied Psychology,” “Armed Forces Journal International,” “Military Review,” “Parameters,” etc. His opinion-editorial pieces have appeared in newspapers across the country. Before becoming Newberry College's 20th president, Dr. Zais served his country for 31 years as an officer in United States Army, attaining the rank of brigadier general. As an assistant professor at West Point, he taught management consulting, organizational behavior, and leadership. He has also served as an internal management consultant to the Army. A paratrooper and ranger, Dr. Zais served in a wide variety of infantry units, in Vietnam, the United States and Korea. He commanded two rifle companies, an infantry battalion, a light infantry brigade, and served as deputy commanding general, Fort Riley, Kansas. His staff experience is primarily in military plans and operations, having worked as chief of operations, plans, and training for an infantry battalion and division; war plans officer for a corps; and Chief of War Plans for the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Zais was a White House aide and served in Panama as executive assistant to the four-star commander of all U.S. forces in Central and South America. In Kuwait, he was commanding general of U.S. and Allied forces. He also served as commanding general of Operation Provide Refuge, the task force that cared for the 4,000 Kosovo refugees who entered the United States. His final assignment was as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, the headquarters that administered the 184,000 part-time Reservists, 9,000 civilian employees and 11,000 full-time military members of the Army Reserve. Dr. Zais' military awards and decorations include the Department of Defense and the Army Distinguished Service Medals, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Ranger, Airborne, and Combat Infantryman's Badges, and the South Carolina Meritorious Service Medal. Dr. Zais wife, the former Susan Fincher, a graduate of the University of South Carolina, is from Columbia. They are the parents of two married adult children. Son Bradley, who served as an infantry soldier in Iraq, has two daughters. Daughter Ashley, the former Miss South Carolina USA, has two sons. All four grandchildren are
