JFI Welcomes Its New President

Monday, 22 August 2011

The Joe Foss Institute is pleased to introduce its new leader, Dr. Lucian Spataro, Jr. Dr. Spataro is an educator, businessman and adventurer who brings a broad range of experience to his new role as the President and CEO of JFI.

He follows former President and CEO Capt. Robert Paulk, who has stepped down to accept a role of increased responsibility in the United States Navy. Capt. Paulk had been serving as a Reservist while leading the Institute, but has once again answered the call to serve our nation. We are thrilled that Capt. Paulk will continue to serve as part of the JFI National Advisory Board.

Dr. Spataro expressed excitement about the opportunity to influence the America of tomorrow: “If we reach students today, we will reach the leaders of tomorrow..."

"It’s no secret that our educational priorities in America have changed. The Founding Fathers saw civic education as foundational to the health of our nation’s freedom, yet today, our own Department of Education has reported that we are facing what former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has called a crisis in civic education. I look forward to the challenge of making a difference—one student at a time. And as we continue to grow and expand our program offering, we will be looking for regional partners with whom we can work as we serve students and educators—on a number of different levels—from the classroom to the community.”

JFI Chairman Sandy Froman said, “Lucian brings a depth and diversity of business and educational experience to the Institute. His executive, operational and financial skills, together with a passion for the Institute's mission and a natural networking ability, are just what we need at this stage of the Institute's development. Lucian's leadership will enable us to grow the Institute and inspire more students to patriotic public service using a sustainable community-based model. We are delighted to have Lucian on our team.”

Dr. Spataro earned a B.S. from the University of Arizona and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Ohio University. He has held engineering, management and educational positions around the world, including assignments in Mexico, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, England, and Scotland.

In 1987, he was asked by the state of Sonora, Mexico, to spearhead the development of the organization now known as PRISSA, to promote industrial growth in the Arizona-Sonora region. He also founded L.S. Systems, developed the Offshore Matrix software program, and became a principal investor and partner in the PRIME Industrial Group. In recognition of his civic and business contributions, he was chosen by Site Selection Handbook as one of the “10 Outstanding Young Leaders of 1988,” and was nominated for a White House Fellowship in 1992.

In 1993, Dr. Spataro was named Vice Rector of Academic Affairs at the Universidad del Noroeste in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. In 1996, he was appointed Director of the Academic Program on Sustainable Development at the University of Arizona’s International Campus. During this time, he authored numerous articles and publications on International Business and Sustainable Development, and was the recipient of numerous grants with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration in that same area of research.

In 1999, he took a leave of absence from the University of Arizona and accepted an offer in the for-profit education arena to become Executive Vice President of the TesseracT Group. He was soon appointed President and CEO and asked to lead the restructuring of this publicly-traded education company (NASDQ: TSST).

He later returned to the University of Arizona as a professor of Sustainable Development and simultaneously continued with his community-based educational endeavors and was instrumental in helping to start up the Black Stallion Literacy Project (BSLP) in K-8 classrooms across Arizona. The project brought BSLP to more than 70,000 students in Arizona and then nationwide.

In 2006, he joined Anchor Management as Operations Officer, overseeing and working to improve the performance of Anchor’s portfolio companies and providing management support. This firm serves the founders of Insight Enterprises (Fortune 500 NASDAQ: NSIT). Most recently, Dr. Spataro served as the Chief Operations Officer for Education2020, an education software company with headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Lucian also has a passion for adventure. In 1981, he was a member of the H.A.S.E. expedition on Mexico’s Mt. Citlaltepetl, the third-highest peak in North America; the expedition’s goal was to set a world record for high altitude scuba diving. In 1982, Dr. Spataro organized a team of scuba divers to set the Guinness World Record for time and distance in underwater biking. In 1989, he embarked on a record-breaking ocean-to-ocean journey to raise awareness of rainforest protection, riding a team of Arabian horses from Los Angeles to Chesapeake Bay. This event is recounted in Dr. Spataro’s Ride Across America, published in 1991.

Today, Lucian calls Scottsdale home, where he lives in the shadow of the McDowell Mountains with his wife Lori, daughter Lauren, and their black lab Dallas and endurance horse Masquerade.