Dale B. Billingsley, Ph.D., is Professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences and University Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs at the University of Louisville. He received his B.A. in English and history from Texas Christian University (1972), was a Rotary International Fellow at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (1972-73), and returned to the United States for graduate study in Renaissance literature at Yale University, where he earned the M.A. (1974), M.Phil. (1975), and Ph.D. (1977). He joined the English faculty of the University of Louisville in 1978. During his tenure, Dr. Billingsley has held a variety of leadership positions including director of freshman interdisciplinary studies, director of undergraduate studies in English, director of the university honors program, acting assistant provost for internal affairs, acting associate provost for institutional effectiveness and assessment, associate university provost for undergraduate affairs, chair of the Faculty Senate, and faculty trustee on the University Board of Trustees. He has been active in student development and student life projects throughout his career. As university vice provost for undergraduate affairs (since 2007), he serves as the provost's liaison to the faculty senate and to the undergraduate academic units. He is the university's liaison to Metropolitan College, the Council on Postsecondary Education for undergraduate academics, Jefferson County Public Schools, and various related agencies.

Diane Calhoun-French, Ph.D. (Chair) is Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Jefferson Community and Technical College chairs the Metropolitan College Council. Dr. Calhoun-French joined the faculty of JCTC in 1981 teaching English, speech and humanities. In her 23 years at JCTC, Dr. Calhoun-French has enthusiastically served in numerous leadership positions. Her dedication to the College’s success is demonstrated not only by the countless hours she works throughout the week, but also through her financial support. Throughout her tenure, Dr. Calhoun-French has financially supported many initiatives including the Seminary Building Renovation, the Partners In Progress Campaign, and her most recent commitment to the Fulfilling the Promise Campaign.

Dana Jackson is the Executive Director of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections Louisville Initiative. Making Connections is an initiative that has at its center improving outcomes for some of the nation’s most vulnerable children and families. In her role as Executive Director she has helped spark a powerful movement to strengthen family and community supports to improve the odds for vulnerable children and families. Dana has developed and coordinated relationships with strategic partners and potential co-investors; worked to build the capacity of residents and neighborhood leaders to use data to improve conditions in their community and is also part of the Louisville team that is helping to identify potential opportunities for Making Connections to impact, leverage, and influence a family strengthening movement in Louisville. Previously Dana served as a Deputy Commissioner of the Department for Community Based Services in the Cabinet for Families and Children, the state's social services umbrella agency. Prior to her tenure as Deputy Commissioner she was the State Director of the Division of Protection and Permanency, which is the state's child welfare and adult protective services arm of the Cabinet. Dana also served the Cabinet in the capacity of State Director for the Division of Child Care, where she oversaw the state's certified and registered child care programs, as well as administered the child care subsidy program. She has a long history of working in the area of family/neighborhood strengthening and community organizing. Dana is a Magna Cum Laude graduate with B.A. degrees in Child Development and Psychology and a M.A. degree in Psychology from Spalding University. She is also a 2007-08 Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellow.

Ted Smith is Director of Economic Growth and Innovation with Louisville Metro Government. Dr Smith was appointed by Mayor Greg Fischer as the Director of the newly-formed Department of Economic Growth and Innovation in January 2012. This department seeks to grow our economy through a wide range of means including flexible loan programs, advanced planning activities as well as strategic work in globalization and sustainability.

As of July, 2011, Dr. Smith was the city’s first Director of Innovation and was tasked with both internal government agency innovation support as well as citizen engagement. Prior to joining city government, he was appointed Senior Advisor on Innovation in Health Information Technology in the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) of Health IT in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In that role, he led several initiatives focused on encouraging innovation in health IT and public private partnerships. Dr Smith is an Open Government champion and applied researcher on innovation related to open data and a former member of the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) Open Government Team. He is a successful online media entrepreneur. His most recent company provided news about the treatment of chronic disease. He holds a bachelor of science in Neuroscience from Allegheny College and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Miami University (OH). Dr Smith completed his post-doctoral studies at MIT in space biomedical measurement and was a Co-Investigator for the Neurolab space shuttle mission.

Former Members

Former members of the MC Council include:

• Carolyn Gatz
• Margaret Handmaker
• Dave Howarth
• Daniel Minesinger
• Laura Roybal
• Kelli Stamper
• Eric Streicher
• Bruce Traughber
• Mary Gwen Wheeler