Roster change

Don Upson, former Virginia secretary of technology, has been hired as a vice president of business operations for webMethods Inc.'s new public-sector unit. He is expected to begin work at the integration software specialist in June.

Upson was vice president at Litton PRC Inc. before his appointment as Virginia's secretary of technology in 1998. It marked the first time that a technology executive had been given such a prominent role at any level of government. He stepped down from that position in March.

For more, see "Upson joins webMethods' fed push" (FCW.com May 9, 2000)

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Stuart McKee, a former Walt Disney Co. executive, has been appointed the chief information officer of Washington. He also will head the state's Department of Information Services, a leader in e-government.

While with Disney, McKee served as vice president of global Internet operations, overseeing the company's Internet properties, including ESPN.com, Disney.com, ABCNews.com, Go.com, DisneyStore.com and DisneyTravel.com.

Before that, he was general manager and senior executive producer for Go.com, an Internet portal developed by Infoseek and Disney. He also served as director of business and database systems for Infoseek, managing the strategic planning, development and operations during its acquisition by Disney in 1999.

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Steven Kuhr has been named managing director of Kroll Inc.'s emergency management group, the global risk consulting company announced May 7. He replaces Jerome Hauer, recently appointed the director of public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kuhr will be responsible for directing initiatives related to homeland security, counterterrorism planning and preparedness, as well as managing emergency preparedness, response and recovery programs.

The emergency management group will focus on three primary government service areas related to emergency management and counterterrorism: Federal, state and local programs; public health and medical programs; and transportation security and emergency preparedness.

Kuhr recently served as senior director with the crisis and consequences group at Kroll, where he advised clients on matters surrounding disaster management and terrorism preparedness.

Before working at Kroll, Steven was a consultant for the departments of Justice and Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, and state and local jurisdictions on terrorism-related planning and exercise projects.

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The National Science Board (NSB) at its May meeting elected Warren Washington, a National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) executive, to serve as chairman and Diana Natalicio, president of University of Texas at El Paso, to serve as vice chairwoman.

The NSB is the policy body of the National Science Foundation, and is composed of 24 top representatives from industry and academia. Members are appointed by the president, confirmed by Senate and serve six-year terms. The chair and vice chair are elected from among board members for two-year terms in those positions.

Washington, head of the Climate Change Research Section in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division at NCAR, joined the board in 1994. Natalicio joined the board in 1995, and served as vice chairwoman from 1996 to 2000. She joined the University of Texas faculty in 1971 and has served as its president since 1988.