The Quilt, a national coalition of advanced U.S. regional networks for research and education (R&E), is pleased to announced its 2017 Quilt Executive Committee. This committee provides ongoing oversight of The Quilt affairs as delegated by the full Board of Directors.

OARnet Interim Executive Director Paul Schopis will remain chairman of The Quilt’s board of directors through Dec. 31. Schopis was elected vice chairman of the board last year and stepped up to the chairman position on Oct. 1, 2016. He is the first person to serve as chairman of the executive committee twice, previously serving on The Quilt’s executive committee and elected chair of board of directors in 2008.

Schopis currently serves as the interim executive director of OARnet, as well as chief technology officer. As CTO, Schopis develops the strategy and implementation of OARnet’s optical fiber network and private cloud computing environment. Schopis led the team that designed OARnet’s network, one of the nation’s leading statewide, high-speed networks for research and education, and was involved in all phases of its creation.

New appointees and members of The Quilt Executive Committee in 2017 include Cas D’Angelo, Dave Jent, Tripti Sinha and Steve Fulkerson. Mark Johnson, previously a chairman of The Quilt, will serve as vice chairman.

The following complete this year’s Quilt Executive Committee:

• Paul Schopis, Chief Technology Officer, OARnet (Chairman)
• Mark Johnson, Chief Technology Strategist, MCNC (Vice Chair)
• Amy Philipson, Executive Director, Pacific Northwest GigaPoP (Treasurer)
• Steve Fulkerson, Executive Director, Arkansas Research Education Optical Network (Secretary)
• John Gillispie, Executive Director, MOREnet (Chair of the CEO Round Table)
• Jeff Letourneau, Executive Director, Networkmaine
• Brian Remer, Chief Technology Officer at WiscNet
• Cas D’Angelo, Executive Director, Southern Crossroads/Southern LambdaRail
• Dave Jent, Associate Vice President of Networks and Managing Director, Indiana GigaPOP
• Tim Lance, President and Chairman of NYSERNet
• Tripti Sinha, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Crossroads – MAX

The Quilt facilitates collaboration among our country’s regional networks to further advance networking for research and education.  Representatives from participating organizations comprise The Quilt Board of Directors. The officers of The Quilt Executive Committee are elected from the Board of Directors after receiving nomination from their peers.

These individuals will join the other networking leaders from around the country in California in February at The Quilt 2017 Winter Member Meeting in La Jolla. Follow all conversations on social media during the Winter Member Meeting using #WMM17.

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About The Quilt
The Quilt is the national coalition of advanced regional networks for research and education, representing 36 networks across the country. Participants in The Quilt provide advanced network services and applications to more than 250 universities and thousands of other educational institutions throughout the United States. Visit www.thequilt.net.