Dr. Joseph E. Pesce, Ph.D.

CEO & President

Joseph E. Pesce is the founder of Omnis, Inc. and serves as CEO and President. He is directly responsible for establishing the strategic vision of Omnis in all of its business areas and guiding its execution. He is also directly involved on a “hands on” basis with some of the most complex research and analytical initiatives of the firm.

Dr. Pesce is engaged in extensive training and educational activities both as an instructor and as a designer of training programs and materials. He is a determined advocate for critical thinking, problem solving, analytic methodology, and leadership.

Joe has over 25 years of extensive experience in science, technology, space & space policy, and education, within academia, the private sector, and the U. S. Government.

An astrophysicist, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His topic of research is the large-scale environments of Active Galactic Nuclei. He has held positions at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD and at the Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. Dr. Pesce has used ground-based telescopes all over the world (USA, Chile, Italy, the Canary Islands, and Australia), as well as space-based ones, and is the author of over 60 articles in peer-reviewed astronomical journals.

He is a Visiting Professor of the University of Colorado, Boulder College of Arts & Sciences; serves on the Board of Advisors for The Presidents Leadership Class, University of Colorado, Boulder; is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society; a Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; a member of Peterhouse, Cambridge; the American Astronomical Society; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Sigma Pi Sigma; and the Cosmos Club (Washington DC). He was a recipient of the prestigious Isaac Newton Studentship at Cambridge University; a Presidents Leadership Scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder; and served on the Board of Directors of the Animal Behavior Management Alliance (ABMA).

Dr. Pesce earned his Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.Sc. in Astrophysics from Cambridge University (Peterhouse) and the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, and his B.A. (cum laude and with Honors) in Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Charles A. Duelfer

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Charles Duelfer is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Omnis and in that capacity is involved in providing advice to the executive management of Omnis on its strategic business direction and strategy implementation. He has recently served as CEO of Transformational Space Corporation, an entrepreneurial space launch company.  Currently he is consulting on a range of intelligence and security management topics and is the author of the book  Hide and Seek: The Search for Truth in Iraq.

Mr. Duelfer was formerly Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence for Iraq WMD. He led the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) that conducted the investigation of the scope of Iraq's WMD. The ISG was a unique intelligence organization of over 1700 military and civilian staff that investigated Iraq WMD programs. It used all available collection and analytic capabilities in a hostile environment. The Duelfer Report is the definitive work on the relationship of the Saddam Regime to WMD and was presented to the President and Congress in October 2004.

Previously, Mr. Duelfer was the Deputy Executive Chairman and then acting Chairman of the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) from 1993 until its termination in 2000. The Commission was established following the Gulf War by the UN Security Council to monitor and eliminate Iraq's WMD.

Before joining UNSCOM, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for arms control and multilateral defense matters. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Duelfer was in charge of defense trade matters as the director of the Center for Defense Trade and Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of State for politico-military affairs. In this capacity, he had responsibility for arms transfers, munitions licensing, and conventional arms control. From January to March 1991, he directed the State Department's Task Force in support of Desert Storm.

Mr. Duelfer joined the Politico-Military Bureau of the State Department in 1983 and was responsible for special regional activities including conflicts in Chad, Libya, and Grenada and ongoing strategic verification, space and strategic defense issues. In 1984, he became Deputy Director of the Office of International Security Policy and was responsible for European, African, and Latin American regions. He became Director, with responsibility for regional security issues worldwide, in 1985. During this period, Mr. Duelfer also worked with the special coordinator for counterterrorism to develop, implement, and exercise the State Department's terrorism response system. Before joining the Department of State, Mr. Duelfer worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget (1977-1983), where he was responsible for Department of Defense strategic nuclear forces and space programs.

He holds a B.A. from the University of Connecticut and an M.Sc. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Duelfer is the author of numerous articles and the book, Hide and Seek: The Search for Truth in Iraq.

Dr. James Beall, Ph.D.

Dr. James (Jim) Beall serves on the Board of Advisors of Omnis and is a senior consultant on space policy and space flight systems for various divisions of the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense.  He has involved himself extensively in issues associated with the evaluation and testing of spaceflight systems, including ballistic missile defense systems, high-performance, fault-tolerant computing in space, and radiation hardening of space-based computers, and has worked on issues related to technical SIGINT.  He has worked on public policy associated with technology development and export control, and has interests in non-linear systems theory and applications.

Since 1982, Dr. Beall has served on the faculty at St.Johns College. As a tenured professor, he teaches courses in physics, astrophysics, philosophy, ancient language, and religion. Jim also served as senior adjunct professor at George Mason University since 1992 through 2006, and is now a member of the affiliate faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Science at GMU.

As an academic, Dr. Beall has written widely on policy issues associated with technology transfer and the development of the research infrastructure that sustains our national defense.  He also has interests in education for critical thinking, and conducts an active research program in theoretical, observational, and computational astrophysics.

In 1978, the Office of Technology Assessment sponsored Jim as a Congressional Science Fellow.  Dr. Beall served as Chair of the Advisory Group to the Director for the Joint Global Change Research Institute of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland from 2004 to 2006.

Jim holds a B.S. in physics from the University of Colorado, and M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland.

Tamara L. Mitchell

Treasurer & Business Operations Manager

Tamara Mitchell has served as the Business Operations Manager of Omnis since September 2008, and in February 2016 was also appointed Corporate Treasurer.

As Business Operations Manager, Tamara directly oversees corporate finance, accounting, payroll, human resources, contract administration, and office management. Her accomplishments include implementing a new payroll structure that improved financial transparency and, in its first year alone, saved the company more than $500,000.

Tamara started her career in the banking and financial industry over 17 years ago. Prior to joining Omnis she was a Management Associate at Aggregate Industries, where she worked within all the operations departments and implemented a merger and acquisitions tool to assist the payroll department. The tool was adopted by all the operational divisions in the company.

Prior to working at Aggregate, Tamara was an Assistant Controller and Assistant Project Manager at Landis Construction, where she managed the finance and accounting functions.

Tamara earned her BBA in International Business & Finance from Howard University. She also has a MIM & MBA with a concentration in Finance, and Certification in International Trade—all from University of Maryland University College.

Whitney Mixter

Executive Vice President

Whitney Mixter is the Executive Vice President of Omnis, Inc. In this capacity, she oversees the company's day-to-day operations, providing guidance and direction to the Omnis staff to ensure that our clients' needs are met as efficiently as possible. Whitney also works closely with Omnis' President and Chief Executive Officer to define and implement the company's long-term strategic objectives.

Prior to assuming the role of Executive Vice President, Whitney served as both an Analyst and Program Coordinator for Omnis. As an Analyst she contributed to a number of consulting efforts, including the development of a comprehensive assessment of foreign and domestic aerospace programs. As Program Coordinator, Whitney's responsibilities included integrating and maintaining all curriculum materials for Omnis' training programs, as well as acting as a liaison between the company and its clients.

Whitney holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Psychology from Wake Forest University.

Rick Lawrence, Ph.D.

Director, Machine Learning and Data Science

Dr. Rick Lawrence is Director, Machine Learning and Data Science, for Omnis. In this role, he provides technical guidance and expertise in machine learning and data science for ongoing Omnis initiatives.

Prior to joining Omnis in June, 2016, Dr. Lawrence was Distinguished Research Staff Member, and Senior Manager, Machine Learning & Decision Analytics, within the Cognitive Computing organization at IBM Research at Yorktown Heights NY. In this role, he led a number of research initiatives involving innovative applications of machine learning in areas including non-factoid question-answer systems, analysis of social media, quantitative finance, and product recommendation systems.

Dr. Lawrence has published over 100 technical papers spanning computational neutron transport methods, high-performance computing, data mining, and machine learning. He received the 2014 INFORMS Innovative Applications in Analytics Award as well as the Best Paper Award in the Industry & Government Track at the 2013 ACM KDD Conference for joint work with UNICEF on classifying SMS text messages in Uganda. He led the IBM sales productivity project selected as a Finalist in 2009 for the prestigious INFORMS Franz Edelman competition that recognizes the application of advanced analytics to solve challenging business problems. He was a member of the team that won the 2008 ACM KDD Cup.

Dr. Lawrence received his B.S. degree at Stanford University in Chemical Engineering and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Illinois. Before joining IBM in 1987, he led the Neutronics Methods group in the Applied Physics Division of Argonne National Laboratory. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies.

Christina I. Ray

Senior Managing Director for Market Intelligence

Christina I. Ray is Senior Managing Director for Market Intelligence at Omnis and co-head of the firm's practice in Threat Finance & Market Intelligence She is an experienced trader, asset manager and risk manager with extensive experience in multiple asset classes, including fixed income, equities, commodities and their derivatives. At Omnis she devotes her applied mathematics and program development skills to the creation of algorithms which provide early warning of tactical and strategic threats. She is also expert in a variety of capital markets risk management techniques and their application to problems in the national security and intelligence domains.

Ms. Ray's specialized interest and the focus of her activities involves the fusion of those risk measurement methods used by both the Intelligence Community and the financial community in areas that involve low frequency, high consequence events. Her research is premised on the view that causal inference models and methods are a superior alternative to stochastic techniques currently used by the financial community — particularly for certain instruments and asset classes. Building upon financial risk management insights and improved causal inference methodologies, such models can lead to substantially different valuations of derivative instruments and portfolio risk with forecasting and risk mitigation implications in the national security arena.

Ms. Ray has advised regulatory bodies including the CFTC and SEC and from 2001 through 2006 served as Project Manager of a strategic assessment regarding U.S. national security and the integrity of the financial infrastructure which culminated in a proof of concept based on its findings and recommendations. She recently completed several special studies for the U.S. government regarding the use of market intelligence for assessment of geopolitical risk.

Prior to Omnis, Ms. Ray held a number of senior positions at Drexel Burnham, Daiwa Securities and A. G. Becker Paribas where she was involved at various times as an options trader, risk manager and trading manager. She is highly experienced in portfolio management and portfolio risk assessment. She is a frequent speaker at financial industry and energy market conferences. Ms. Ray is also a Special Advisor to Digital Sandbox of Reston, Virginia, a quantitative threat assessment firm.

Ms. Ray has a B.A. and M.S. in Physics from Michigan State University and took additional Ph.D. courses at the University of Michigan. Ms. Ray is the author of The Bond Market - Trading and Risk Management (Richard D. Irwin, November 1992), used as a textbook in the finance departments of graduate schools and in the training programs of certain primary dealers. She is also the author of Think Like a Trader, Invest Like a Pro (McGraw Hill, 2000) a book describing both causal market behavior and Internet resources that provide the individual investor with many of the tools and techniques of institutional investors.

Dr. Robert Mikelskas, Ph.D.

Dr. Robert (Bob) A. Mikelskas is the President of RAM Systems & Technology LLC, a firm that specializes in systems engineering, systems acquisition, and technology evaluation and development. Bob is also a Research Professor for the International Cyber Center of George Mason University

Dr. Mikelskas served the MITRE Corporation as a corporate officer for just under a decade from 2001 to 2010. From 2007 to 2009, he assumed the role of Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO). In that capacity, he established the Corporation’s knowledge management and information technology strategy. Furthermore, Bob employed MITRE’s IT infrastructure as a test bed for commercially available technology solutions to client problems, including the establishment of a Cyber Security Operations Center. Prior to his appointment as the CIO, Dr. Mikelskas served as VP for MITRE’s Center for Integrated Intelligence Systems, where he focused on developing a strategy for maintaining client relations and overseeing programs in advanced intelligence and information systems. Prior to appointment as a MITRE corporate officer, Bob managed and contributed technically to a wide variety of programs supporting national security agencies.

Prior to joining the MITRE Corporation, Dr. Mikelskas worked for the General Electric Information Services Company. While there, he assumed responsibility for the information security of a globally distributed network and information system.

As an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University G.W. Whiting School of Engineering, Bob taught graduate courses in computer science.

Bob has served multiple advisory groups, including the National Imagery and Mapping Agency Forum, and the Department of Defense’s Future Imagery Architecture Independent Review Team. He has also served the Intelligence Community as a member of the Measurement and Signatures Intelligence Technology Advisory Panel, and NATO as a member of a review group responsible for consulting with member countries on strategies for sharing intelligence information. Dr. Mikelskas participated in the Preventive Defense Project’s Overhauling Counterproliferation Workshops and contributed to the 2007 Defense Science Board Summer Study Panel on the future of war.

Presently, Bob is a member of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, the National Military Association, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the IEEE Computer Society.

Dr. Mikelskas holds a B.S. (magna cum laude) in Mathematics from Fairfield University and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University.

Ian McCredie, CMG, OBE

Ian McCredie pursued a full career in the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) serving in Zambia, Iran, Denmark, many Middle Eastern countries, the UK Mission to the UN in New York (as a member of the UN Security Council) and five years in Washington DC as senior coordinator between UK & US intelligence agencies - with particular focus on the response to 9/11 and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Postings in London included head of intelligence assessments for the Middle East, head of the Iran Task Force and head of new entrant intelligence officer training.

He followed this with nearly seven years as Head of Corporate Security for Royal Dutch Shell, where he was responsible for managing risks arising from organized crime, terrorism, information theft and espionage (commercial and state sponsored – including cyber and the insider threat), wars, coups, revolutions and militant activism. Ian was head of security crisis response (kidnapping & extortion, major incidents, country evacuations, piracy) and executive protection.

Ian brings an ability to organize teams to access strategic information and to analyze, assess and present it to senior policy makers. He is expert in risk management and resilience in a complex international environment.

Jim Poole

Director of The Omnis UK Unit

Jim Poole is the Director of the Omnis UK Unit. He has over 22 years experience with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Cabinet Office. Jim is an experienced intelligence professional with a flexible, practical approach. Jim is experienced in training and developing intelligence analysis, in using analytical and facilitation skills to help others get the best results from their thinking and in providing consultancy in analysis and training issues. Jim has a proven ability to lead teams in the delivery of analytical (and other) projects and is an experienced mentor and coach.

As an all source strategic intelligence analyst, Jim supported UK Export Control and Counter Proliferation activity with the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) Illicit Global Transfers and then Proliferation Studies teams during the late 1990s and early 2000s, including in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and during the build up to the 2003 Iraq War. From 2004-2006, Jim served as a WMD Analyst for the Cabinet Office's Joint Intelligence Organisation, drafting and coordinating all source intelligence assessments for the UK Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and No 10. In 2011 Jim returned to DIS to lead the strategic assessment team responsible for Sub Saharan Africa, Piracy and Latin America.

As a trainer Jim set up the Defence Intelligence Analyst Training Centre and then served as its Senior Instructor during 2003 and 2004. In this role Jim designed and delivered all source analysis training to both new and experienced UK and allied analysts. Jim utilized his training experience from 2006 to 2008 as the Head of Training within the Cabinet Office's Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis (PHIA) team, where he was responsible for coordinating cross community analytical training and standards, and for being the focal point for training exchanges with allies.

From 2008 to 2011 Jim was the Head of Analytical Capability and Outreach within the PHIA team, where he was responsible for monitoring and evaluating the UK's strategic intelligence analysis capabilities and for developing strategies to develop and protect those capabilities. In this role Jim also designed and facilitated workshops where analysts from across the community could apply analytical techniques and best practices on questions of importance to the JIC and National Security Council. In this role Jim also acted as the UK representative to the Global Futures Forum.

Jim holds a MSc and a BSc (Econ) from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, both in International Politics and Strategic Studies.

Joseph L. Shaefer (Brigadier General, USAF, Ret.)

Joe Shaefer serves on the Board of Advisors of Omnis and is a senior consultant on national security, terrorist finance, and counter-insurgency.

Joe's military career spanned 36 years: Army and Air Force, Active, Guard and Reserve, from Private to Brigadier General. His assignments included: Special Forces ("Green Beret") A-Team commander, NATO and Southeast Asia country officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), air attaché to Myanmar (Burma), Mobile Interrogation Team commander in the First Gulf War, senior political/military affairs officer for the Air Force Chief of Staff, and chief of the reserve intelligence forces for Air Combat Command, the US Strategic Command, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Joe's undergraduate degree from UCLA is in International Relations and his Masters from American Public University is in Military Studies with honors in Unconventional Warfare (UW). He then became a professor of Security & Global Studies at this university, where he taught counterinsurgency operations, counterterrorism, UW, illicit finance and other topics. He has completed and spoken at senior executive seminars at the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies and at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

In his civilian career, Joe was a branch manager, then Regional VP, then Senior VP in charge of Business Development and the Fixed Income division at Charles Schwab & Co.

Joe is a published member and frequent speaker at the National Security Forum, has served at the Central Intelligence Agency on a special panel to counter terrorist finance, and has been published or reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Strategic Review, American Thinker, Forbes, and many other publications. He also is the founder and CEO of Stanford Wealth Management, an investment advisor.

Dr. Jørn Siljeholm, Ph.D.

Director of The Omnis Oslo Office

Dr. Jørn Siljeholm is the Director of the Omnis Oslo Office. His experience spans academia, industry, and government, in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), leadership, risk analysis, finance, communication and international environmental strategy. For 15 years he worked as a visiting scholar on environmental studies, finance and WMD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge (Center for Technology, Policy & Industrial Development; the Center for International Studies; the Program in Science, Technology & Society; and the MIT Security Studies Program).

Dr. Siljeholm served as a multidisciplinary weapons inspector for the UN in Iraq (UNMOVIC), Strategy Advisor on "anti-corruption" for the Norwegian Development Agency / the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Environmental Advisor to EXXON with particular responsibilities for refineries and the downstream industry, CEO for Friends of the Earth Norway, General Rapporteur to the UN World Conference on Environment, Special Advisor to SINTEF on strategy, and Executive Vice President for communications to the largest finance company in Norway, Storebrand. Over the last two years he initiated and led two major strategic projects as an MFA consultant on weapons of mass destruction and arctic environmental strategy for the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and the senior strategic advisory group "Rådgiverne LOS".

Jørn obtained his Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Chemical Risk Assessment from the University of Oslo and MIT, Cambridge, MA, with prestigious funding provided by Exxon, Statoil and the Norwegian Research Council. He has a B.S. in Philosophy and Sociology.

Brian Tauss

Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer &
Director of Corporate Security

Brian is the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and Director of Corporate Security for Omnis, and a member of the Board of Directors. Along with the President and Executive Vice President, he is responsible for guiding the day-to-day operations of the company -- especially in areas involving highly secure initiatives. In recognition of the importance of the latter role to our customers, Brian actively implements and manages physical and operational security for Omnis facilities and personnel. He ensures compliance with customer security requirements, including those required by the U.S. Government and members of its Intelligence Community.

Brian says that he is blessed to come from a family that has provided continuous support to the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense for more than 70 years -- beginning with his father (Edward Tauss) at the beginning of World War II. He often remarks that this work is "the family business." His parents instilled in him that serving one's country and raising a family are privileges of the highest order.

Prior to joining Omnis in 2006, Brian spent over 30 years in the field of criminal justice working with and in secure environments. A graduate of George Mason University, his career involved the safeguarding and management of highly sensitive information, safeguarding personnel and operating in high-risk and high-security situations. Brian is certified in Control Theory Psychology and has worked with professional agencies in utilizing Control Theory techniques. As adjunct faculty in the Virginia Community College System, he has designed and implemented courses addressing issues in criminal justice.

Brian is trained and proficient in implementing programs and operating secure facilities, including Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs). He is trained in the application of National Industrial Security Program (NISP) standards and corresponding Intelligence Community Directives (ICDs) to meet personnel, information technology, and facility security requirements.

His guiding principals for Omnis: "Hire the best. Treat them like family. Focus on mission."

Randolph Tauss

President & Director of Corporate Strategy

Randy Tauss is President and Director of Corporate Strategy for Omnis and a member of the Board of Directors. In this capacity, he is responsible for defining and implementing the long-term mission of Omnis as an innovator of technological and analytical solutions for clients in the intelligence, defense and national security communities and the private sector.

He is a physicist and applied mathematician, with 37 years experience as a senior analyst and manager at the Central Intelligence Agency. He managed the largest branch in CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, has extensive foreign weapons systems experience, and has provided direct support to senior policymakers, Congress, and the White House. He also was a founding member of the Senior Analytic Service—the highest analytic rank at the CIA.

Mr. Tauss has extensive experience organizing and integrating Intelligence Community resources (CIA, FBI, Department of Defense, National Intelligence Council and others) to address scientific and technical intelligence issues. His work as TWA Flight 800 Project Director—featured on the NBC Nightly News and elsewhere—was used to close the largest criminal investigation in FBI history, and is the basis for one of the advanced analysis courses offered by Omnis.

With scientists at Lockheed Martin and predecessor teams, he co-developed modern passive covert radar technology. He also was the originator and Director of the MARKINT ("Market Intelligence") Project, a post-9/11 effort comprising more than 170 participants, which assessed the feasibility of deriving actionable intelligence from capital and commodities market data.

Mr. Tauss has published numerous articles in intelligence-related journals, including three featured articles in CIA's Studies in Intelligence, the only author in the 50-year history of the publication to achieve this distinction. His TWA Flight 800 Studies in Intelligence article was selected as one of the 12 best in the past 50 years.

Mr. Tauss received numerous intelligence medals, exceptional performance awards, and other honors during his career, including runner-up CIA Scientist of the Year. For his overall achievements supporting the Intelligence Community, he was nominated in 2007 for the CIA's 60th Anniversary Trailblazer Award.

Mr. Tauss earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Virginia.