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The Heinlein Society Board of Directors
Joe Haldeman
Additional information concerning Mr. Haldeman may be found here: http://home.earthlink.net/~haldeman/
Jerry Pournelle
Additional information concerning Dr. Pournelle may be found here: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/
Mike Sheffield
Pamela Somers
Born in (and a lifelong resident of) Baltimore, Maryland, Ms Somers had only one ambition throughout her primary and secondary education: to teach. After realizing while in college that she'd be an unlikely match with the education system as it was evolving then, she pursued bookkeeping and accounting and fed her desire to teach as a volunteer instructor for the American Red Cross. Her volunteer work as an Advanced First Aid and Emergency Care instructor led to her becoming among the first female Emergency Medical Technicians certified in the mid-70's, which led (if somewhat less directly) to a 29-year career in the field of public health with a specialty in emergency response. Long before the tragic events of 9-11, Ms Somers assisted with the development and editing of one of the first-ever coordinated plans for response to domestic terrorism, outlining a strong role for public health agencies in non-biologic field response. There, also, she continues to teach - developing, writing and teaching in-house classes. She and her husband, Robert Preisinger, live in the vicinity of Baltimore and keep tabs on six active grandchildren. Ms Somers joined the Society in 2003, and accepted an appointment to Membership Services Chair late in 2004. She was elected by the Board in 2007 to fill a vacancy left by a resignation.
Geo Rule
He was elected to a three year term in 2007.
Keith G. Kato
Deb Houdek Rule
MIchael Cassutt
He met Robert and Virginia Heinlein in 1977
and corresponded with them for many years. He has contributed to The Heinlein
Journal, and was a panelist at the Heinlein Centennial.
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Mr. Haldeman was born in Oklahoma in 1943, received a Bachelor of
Science in astronomy from the University of Maryland in 1967, and was
shortly thereafter drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as a
combat engineer in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam as a member of
the 1/22 Airmobile Bn, 4th Infantry Division, and received a Purple
Heart for wounds incurred in action in 1968. After his military
service, Joe enrolled at the University of Maryland for graduate
studies in math and computer sciences, but dropped out to write full-
time. His numerous novels, short stories, poetry, and theatrical
adaptations have won substantial recognition, including the Hugo,
Nebula, Ditmar, Galaxy, Campbell and Rhysling Awards, among others.
Adjunct Professor Haldeman teaches writing every fall semester at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has taught elsewhere. Joe
has served on the Board of Advisors of the National Space Society, as
Science Fiction Writers of America's Treasurer for two and one-half
years; as Chairman of their Grievance Committee for 18 months, and as
their President in 1992-1994. Elected a Director by the Board in
August 2003, he was re-elected by the membership to a full three year
term in September 2004 and again in 2007. He is married to Gay Potter Haldeman, his
wife of forty years as of 2005, and they live in Gainesville, Florida
and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dr. Pournelle was born in 1933, in Shreveport, Louisiana. He served
in the US Army during the Korean War. After military service he
obtained advanced degrees in psychology, statistics, engineering and
political science including two PhDs from the University of
Washington. He has held many positions in the aerospace industry, and
worked at Boeing, Aerospace Corporation, and the Space division of
North American. His last aerospace assignment was a classified study
for Project Apollo. He served as Associate Professor of Political
Science at Pepperdine University. In the 1969 he was appointed
Executive Assistant to the Mayor for the City of Los Angeles. He was
manager of the Sam Yorty reelection campaign in 1969 as well as
manager of the Barry Goldwater Jr. campaign for Congress. He later
made use of that experience later when he edited Robert Heinlein's
unpublished "How To Be a Politician" which was released as Take Back
Your Government! (1992). Jerry is also a noted lecturer, essayist,
consultant and advisor, computer columnist, and holds memberships in
and has served as a board member to numerous professional space-
related organizations. From 1980 to present he has been the Chairman
of the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy, a policy
advisory group. He has served as a past President of the Science
Fiction Writers of America. His fiction and non-fiction writings are
extensive and have been awarded recognition including the Campbell,
Evans-Freehafer, Seiun, Prometheus, Forrie, Inkpot awards, and the
2005 Heinlein Award. Jerry is married to Roberta Jane nee Isdell.
They have four sons and one daughter and currently reside in Studio
City, California. Dr. Pournelle was elected by the membership as a
Director in September 2005 and reelected in 2008.
Mr. Sheffield was born in San Diego, California, in 1960. He served 4 years in the U.S. Air
Force as an Electronic Warfare Systems Specialist with the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing
"Wild Weasels". At the end of his service in 1985 he began working at TRW Space & Technology
(now Northrop Grumman Space Technology) where he has been for more than 20 years. During his
time there he has worked in several departments, including Quality Assurance, Satellite
Integration, Test and Launch and his current position as a Software Engineer in Ground
Systems. He began organizing SF convention blood drives at Conucopia, the 1999 NASFiC in
Anaheim, California, and has been involved in every Worldcon blood drive since then. He
joined The Heinlein Society in September 2001 and later that year became the chairperson of
their blood drive committee, where he continues today. He was appointed to the board of
directors in June 2006 to fill one of the positions in the newly expanded board.
In June of 2004 he married his wife, Sharon, who is one of the most brilliant people he has
ever met. They live in Long Beach, California. Mike has a predilection for wearing kilts,
much like Lazarus Long. Mike was elected President of The Heinlein Society in
2010.
George
E. "Geo" Rule is a native Californian returned to the roots of his
Minnesotan ancestors by his wife, Deb Houdek Rule, who he had the great
good fortune to meet as a result of their common membership in a
Heinlein fan group. Mr. Rule has been an active participant of the
Heinlein community since early 1992 as a member of the Heinlein Forum,
the oldest online Heinlein fan group. Prior to
his involvement with The Heinlein Society, Mr. Rule and his wife ran
their own Heinlein-themed website. Mr. Rule has authored, co-authored,
or been editor on various online articles having to do with the works or
history of Robert A. Heinlein. He has served previously as Chair of the
Academic section of the Society, and in addition to his board
responsibilities is also currently serving as Education Chair, where he
led the Society's effort to produce the
Keith G. Kato was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1950. He attended UCLA and
the University of California, Irvine, obtaining his Ph.D in plasma physics at
the latter under the direction of SF author Gregory Benford. Since 1983 Keith
has worked for an applied physics R&D group. He has seven
patents, and has given numerous papers at scientific conferences. Keith has also been a martial artist since 1965, and holds
the 4th degree black belt in Shōtōkan karate-dō. He is a patron of
the arts, and in any given year sees 40-50 musicals, plays, concerts, and
operas. Keith began attending SF conventions in 1972, and since 1974 has been
hosting his famous “Keith Kato Chili Party” at major SF conventions around the
world. He is a Charter Member of The Heinlein Society (having attended the
exploratory formation meeting in July, 1998); is chairman of THS’s Social
Activities committee; and was elected to THS’s Board of
Directors in 2009, where he now serves as Secretary-Treasurer. Keith was also a
"Cell C" mid-level manager and worker bee at the 2007 Heinlein Centennial in Kansas City. He was
fortunate to meet Robert and Ginny Heinlein three times. Keith lives in Alta
Loma, California, aka “Cucamonga” for all you Jack Benny fans.
Deb Houdek Rule is a native of Minnesota, growing up on a farm near Pine City,
MN. A graduate of the University of Southern California in
Cinema-Television Production, she has worked in broadcast engineering since
1983, currently at the NBC station in Minneapolis. She has also worked
extensively in television and video, writing, producing, and editing numerous
video productions, including "Earthscape," a tour of Earth from space using NASA
footage which aired for PBS in California.
Mr. Cassutt was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, in 1954, but grew up in Hudson,
Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1975, working in
television and radio in Tucson until moving to
Los Angeles in 1978. He was an executive with CBS TV from 1979 to 1985, and
since then has been a freelance writer and producer. He began publishing short
SF in Amazing in 1974, going on to contribute stories to F&SF, Asimov’s,
Universe and other magazines and anthologies. He is the author of six novels,
from 1986’s The Star Country to the forthcoming Heaven’s Shadow (Ace 2011, with
David S. Goyer). He has also written extensively on manned spaceflight,
co-authoring the autobiographies of astronauts Deke Slayton and Tom Stafford,
compiling the Who’s Who in Space encyclopedia (three editions) and publishing
articles in Air & Space. His primary work, however, has been in television,
writing scripts for such series as The Twilight Zone, Max Headroom, Eerie,
Indiana, StrangeLuck, and The Dead Zone, among others. He also teaches TV
writing at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and for ten years wrote a column
about SF television for Scifi.com.