Rex Bolinger

Rex Bolinger received his B.S. from Ball State University, his M.S from Purdue University, and his Ph.D from Ball State University.  Rex served as the program manager for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, helping in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create early-college high schools at universities in five states. Currently Dr. Bolinger chairs the Indiana Association of Public Charter Schools and is executive director for Team HOPE (History Opens Eyes); the group of Milken Educators works to advancing Dr. William J. Bennett’s American history books, “America: The Last Best Hope”, and revolutionize the way American history is taught in schools and colleges across the nation.He has also served as a teacher, High School Principal, and Central Office Administrator in Indiana.

Donald Cassell

Donald Cassell directs Sagamore's Africa portfolio. He recently published a case study on the newly established Philanthropy Secretariat in Liberia. The case study is being published in the Liberian Studies Journal, a journal of scholarship and research on Liberia. Mr. Cassell also oversaw the development of the Indiana-Africa Connections Project, a database of over 250 Hoosier organizations with ties to Africa. Additionally, he serves as the host of Sagamore’s Fellows Program.

Previous to his role at Sagamore, Mr. Cassell spent 20 years working as an architect in Indianapolis. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Construction Specification Institute (CSI).

A native of Liberia, Mr. Cassell graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts.  Mr. Cassell also studied at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he received his Master of Divinity.

Roland Cole

Roland Cole earned his B.A. in Economics, Masters and Ph.D. in Public Policy, and a J.D. from Harvard University. Dr. Cole assists in developing SIPR programs and projects related to technology policy; identifies ways in which technology policy impacts existing SIPR research projects; assists SIPR in effectively leveraging; and authored a paper for his research on Measuring the Impact of State-Level College-Cost Initiatives. Since 1992, Cole has served as executive director of the Software Patent Institute (SPI), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that operates an online database of key documents and offers courses to clients such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has also served as an attorney at Shughart Thomson & Kilroy in Kansas City, Missouri, and at Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis. He is a co-founder of the international Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG). In addition, Cole has co-authored a number of books and has taught at the University of Michigan, Indiana University (Indianapolis) and the University of Washington.

Alan W. Dowd

Alan W. Dowd is a senior fellow with the Sagamore Institute, senior fellow/senior editor with the Fraser Institute, adjunct professor at Butler University, and contributing editor with The American Legion Magazine, where he writes the Landing Zone column. In each of these roles, he researches and writes widely on U.S. foreign policy, national defense, and international security. His writing appears in a number leading publications, including: World Politics Review, Military Officer, Policy Review, Fraser Forum, Parameters, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Indianapolis Star, National Review Online, VFW Magazine, Current, FrontPage, The American Enterprise, American Outlook and the online editions of The Weekly Standard and The American, among others.

A founding member of Sagamore’s leadership team, Mr. Dowd shouldered a number of day-to-day management and research roles during the Institute’s early years, before focusing his professional energies on his own writing in 2007. He holds a B.A. with high honors from Butler University and an M.A. from Indiana University.

Todd Goble

Senior Fellow Todd Goble heads the Infusionomics team at Sagamore, a group that focuses on educational reform and economic literacy. Todd also serves as the interim executive director for the Association for High School Innovation (AHSI) and the vice president of education with StreetSchool Network™. His efforts with StreetSchool resulted in accreditation in 2005 and reaccreditation (five years later) as a sponsoring corporation for CITA. In addition, since 2004, Todd has led a collaborative grant for adapting and teaching economic literacy, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship to underserved students.

Todd holds both a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Education from Allegheny College. He also received his principal and superintendant certifications from Cleveland State University.  Over his teaching career, Todd has served in a variety of roles in both public and private education—including secondary teacher, principal, and executive director. In addition, Todd has worked as a minister of Christian education at Bay Village Presbyterian Church, as a senior account executive with New England Life and CIGNA, all in Cleveland, Ohio. He currently resides in Monument, Colorado.

Justin Heet

Justin Heet earned degrees in Economics and Political Science from Indiana University. He is a national partner and Senior Principal for Policy Research and Analysis at Thomas P. Miller and Associates. At Sagamore, Mr. Heet researches immigration and international labor markets and was a major contributor to the bestselling Hudson Institute white paper--"Workforce 2020"--which evaluated the impact of immigration on combating the effects of population aging. Mr Heet also co-authored the “Connecting Mexico and the Hoosier Heartland” study; the study identified and examined the growing economic and cultural linkages between Mexico and Indiana. Most recently, Mr. Heet authored Sagamore's part of a joint study with the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences (ZASS) in China.

Larry Ingraham

Senior Fellow Larry Ingraham has been a leader in Indiana’s trade outreach in Asia since the early 1980s.  As a top aide to Governor Robert Orr, he played a crucial part in Indiana’s successful efforts to build a bridge for Japanese investment, which has resulted in over 250 Japanese firms now operating in our state employing over 45,000 Hoosiers at a total investment of over $10 billion. 

In addition, he has served in a number of capacities in the business field, including as founder and president of Ingraham & Associates, Inc., an international firm that provides consulting services to US and Asian corporations, economic development firms, and government agencies in a range of vital areas, such as site evaluations, joint ventures, marketing, procurement, public relations and global trade.  He has served as a visiting lecturer at the Indiana University School of Business, advisor of East Asian Business Affairs for the Indiana Department of Commerce and vice president of the Pacific Rim Sector of the INB Business Development Corporation.  He has also been president of the Midwest US-Japan Association in 2000 and 2001, and director of the sister-city office of Miyoshi, Japan in Columbus, Indiana from 1997-2002.  He is a key member of the Japan America Society of Indiana, which produced an Indiana guidebook for Japanese firms.  Finally, Larry is on the advisory committee for the Purdue CIBER (Center for International Business and Research), and has strong connections with the Purdue Chinese professors heading up the Purdue Chinese language studies program, the Purdue China Center, and the Purdue Confucius Institute.

Byron Johnson

Byron Johnson is a distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences, Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) as well as director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior-all at Baylor University. Dr. Johnson is a Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute (Princeton), and Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research (San Francisco). Johnson is also the chief advisor for the Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society, Peking University (Beijing). He is recognized as a leading authority on the scientific study of religion, the efficacy of faith-based organizations, domestic violence, and criminal justice. Professor Johnson has directed research centers at Vanderbilt University and the University of Pennsylvania and Johnson’s research has been used in consultation with the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Labor, and the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Johnson recently authored More God, Less Crime, a book on the impact of faith on prisoner rehabilitation.

Michael Lindell

Michael joins Sagamore as Senior Fellow and Director of Scholarships for Education Choice. After earning his undergraduate in International Management from Indiana University School of Business, he devoted 15 years to overseeing sales and marketing in the student loan industry. Most recently, he served as the director of Chase Bank's Health Education Loan Program.

Mike is the father of two sons. His own father--a high school teacher and principal--instilled in him the value of earning a quality education and using his talents to serve others. This background fuels his desire to build Sagamore's program to provide educational opportunities for low-income families.

Jerry Pattengale

Now a prominent leader in the educational arena, Dr. Pattengale  was raised in a family of 10 near Lafayette, Indiana in the little town of Buck Creek, which prompted his popular Buck Creek newsprint series. At the age of 16 he found himself both a high school graduate and homeless. In 2006, PBS/WIPB (Ball State University affiliate) included his journey in its special film, Leading the Way out of Poverty. In 2007 and 2008 he participated in Roundtable meetings at the White House on compassion efforts through the OFBCI.

His currently serves as  assistant provost at Indiana Wesleyan University and distinguished senior fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and executive director of The National Conversations series, a joint effort between Indiana Wesleyan University and Sagamore to convene events that generate productive conversations on the most controversial issues of our day. Additionally, Dr. Pattengale directs the Green Scholars Initiative, one of the world’s largest collections of ancient texts and items related to the Judeo-Christian story.

A prolific writer, Dr. Pattengale has authored several books: Why I Teach and The Purpose-Guided Student (McGraw-Hill, 2009, 2010), Helping Sophomores Succeed (Jossey-Bass, 2010), What Faculty Members Need To Know about Retention (Magna Publications, 2011), Taking Every Thought Captive (ACU Press, 2011), and Biblical Evidence: A Logical Approach to Objectivity (Triangle, 2011).

Amy Sherman

Dr. Sherman is the author of several books (including "Restorers of Hope"), numerous “how-to” ministry manuals, and scores of published articles. She  frequently speaks to gatherings of Christian community ministry practitioners and at public policy leaders. She has served as an advisor to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, provided expert testimony at Congressional hearings, and briefs local, state, and federal public officials on policies regarding faith-based social services.

Sherman is also the founder and former executive director of Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, a holistic, Christian community development ministry serving an urban community of approximately 370 lower-income families. Currently, Sherman also volunteers as a Senior Fellow for the International Justice Mission and is an active member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, VA. Sherman received her undergraduate degree from Messiah College in 1987 and her Ph.D. in foreign affairs/economic development from the University of Virginia in 1994.

Ryan Streeter

Ryan Streeter joins Sagamore as Distinguished Visiting Fellow and Director of Fiscal Studies. Streeter also serves as Editor of ConservativeHome, a political web site focused on the future of conservatism in America. Previously a senior fellow at Legatum Institute, Streeter has written on a range of topics such as the nature of prosperity globally and locally, entrepreneurship, and the private sector’s role in solving public problems.  He was co-director of The Legatum Prosperity Index, a global assessment of economic growth and well-being and has conducted surveys of entrepreneurs in emerging economies.  Prior to joining Legatum, Streeter was vice president of Civic Enterprises, a public policy development firm in Washington, D.C., where he provided a wide range of research, analysis, and public communication services to a diverse group of clients, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Heritage Foundation, and the Urban Land Institute. Streeter also served as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush for domestic policy, in which capacity he managed the development of policy on a range of issues such as poverty, civil society, global health, housing, human services, and health care.  He was also a research fellow at the Hudson Institute and top aide to former Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith.  He holds a Ph.D. in political philosophy from Emory University.

John E. Waters

John E. Waters joined Sagamore in March of 2011 as senior fellow of the New Energy portfolio. Also president of Waters & Associates Consulting, Waters has over 25 years experience in sustainable enterprise development, product development, and successful implementation of complex solutions. Most recently, Waters conceived and co-developed a $2 billion business plan for the energy supply and transportation sectors. Leveraging a consortium he founded between Alcoa, Johnson Controls, and Google, he launched Bright Automotive, Inc, in January 2008, of which he now serves as Vice Chairman.

Previously the vice president of Transportation at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Waters established the practice and provided energy strategy for Fortune 500 companies (e.g., Alcoa, Ford, Wal-Mart, etc.).

Prior to RMI, Mr. Waters was the Vice President of Business Development for EnerDel, Inc.—a lithium battery joint venture with Delphi Corporation. He led the joint venture and was responsible for developing new markets, commercial sales, and strategic partnerships. As manager of product engineering at Delphi Corporation (2001–2004), Waters initiated strategic customer partnerships and launched a new lithium battery business for Delphi. He was responsible for the design, testing, and production of multiple lithium battery products, including the Segway^®.

Prior to Delphi, Mr. Waters worked for GM where he led numerous projects, including the development and production of battery pack systems for GM’s first electric vehicles (i.e., GM EV1, and the Electric S-10). Mr. Waters has been awarded five U.S. patents, two international patents, holds two defensive papers in battery pack designs, and has received numerous industry awards.