The Board reviews the current and future activities of NFSTC and makes strategic decisions regarding corporate direction. The Board of Directors meets four times a year. The members of the Board of Directors are elected by representatives of those member organizations at the annual members’ meeting. Board members are elected for a three-year term, may serve no more than two consecutive terms, and may or may not be associated with a membership organization. **Term expires in the spring of the year noted after each Director’s name.

Mitchell R. Morrissey, President

(District Attorney, Denver, CO) **2012

Mitch Morrissey has been a prosecutor since 1983 and the elected District Attorney in Denver, Colorado since 2004. His office is responsible for the prosecution of more than 6,000 felony and 21,000 misdemeanor criminal cases each year. Mr. Morrissey is nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in DNA technology and applying that technology to criminal prosecutions. In 1989, he introduced the first DNA evidence used in a criminal trial in Denver and was instrumental in convincing the courts to accept the science. The DNA Resource section of his Web site, www.denverda.org, has become a resource for attorneys throughout the world.

Mr. Morrissey has worked extensively with the Denver Cold Case Project where over 4,200 unsolved sexual assaults and murders have been reviewed in an ongoing effort to use DNA technologies to solve those cases. Mr. Morrissey, along with the Denver Police Department, is a national leader in the use of DNA to solve burglary cases and other property crimes.

Mr. Morrissey is one of the lead proponents of using Familial DNA Database Searches in the United States and directs the Denver DNA Human Identification Research Project, which is studying the use of familial DNA searches in criminal investigations in Colorado.

Carl M. Selavka, PhD, D-ABC, Secretary

(Forensic Analytical Chemist) **2011

Carl Selavka is a forensic scientist specializing in explosives, arson, and esoteric toxicology. He is currently serving as a consultative forensic specialist with a number of operational and academic agencies and programs. Carl left his post as Director of the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) Crime Laboratory System in March 2007 after almost nine years of service. He was responsible for the full service central laboratory in Sudbury, the satellite crime laboratories in Agawam, Danvers, and North Sudbury, and the DNA Databank for the Commonwealth.

Prior to joining the MSP in July 1998, Dr. Selavka spent two years as the Director of Forensic Services with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, where he worked with the state’s 25 public forensic science laboratories. In New Your, he helped the laboratories achieve accreditation and was responsible for the State DNA Databank and Forensic Science Commission. Carl also worked for five years as a Director at National Medical Services in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania and four years as an Operations Officer with the Army Forensic Toxicology Drug Testing Laboratory in Hawaii.

From 2002-2003, he served as a Senior Program Manager at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Science & Technology. In this capactiy, Carl was responsible for $45MM+ in Cooperative Agreements within the Crime Laboratory Improvement Program and the coordination of NIJ Forensic Resource Network activities.

Carl attended Indiana University from 1978 to 1982, majoring in Chemistry and Forensic Studies. In 1987, he graduated with an MS and PhD in Forensic Chemistry from Northeastern University in Boston. Carl is past-President of the American Board of Criminalistics and is currently active with FEPAC, ASTM E-30, and the National Laboratory Certification Program for urine drug testing laboratories. His research and publications have focused on esoteric toxicology, bomb, and arson analysis, and laboratory leadership.

James J. Cali, CPA, Treasurer

(Forensic Auditor) **2012

Currently with Bi-State Development Agency dba METRO, James Cali is a well established expert in internal and forensic auditing, working in State, local and corporate auditing capacities since 1985. His forensic accounting experience includes investigations for money laundering, embezzlement, bank fraud, securities fraud, insurance fraud, mortgage/loan fraud, terrorist financing and arson for profit. Cali has served as an expert witness providing testimony for litigation, mediations, and arbitrations.

In 2007, he received an “Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award” from the United States Department of Justice for the forensic accounting and financial investigation related to a nation-wide prescription drug diversion and money laundering case.

Mr. Cali is one of only seventy-five (75) individuals within the state of Florida selected by the Office of Homeland Security to attend an intensive forensic accounting seminar centered on Terrorist Financial Networks and Financial Forensics Techniques. He has achieved “Forensic Accountant – Expert Witness” status by testifying before State and Federal Grand Juries in addition to civil and criminal proceedings.

Benny Del Re

(Santa Clara Crime Laboratory) **2013

Mr. Del Re recently retired as Director of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory, where he was responsible for planning, organizing, and directing operations.

Mr. Del Re earned a Masters in Public Administration from the College of Notre Dame and was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Sacramento, majoring in Forensic Science with minor in Chemistry and Biology. Prior to joining the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office in 1989, he was a Supervising Criminalist and Criminalist for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Laboratory and a Criminalist for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Criminalistics Laboratory.

Mr. Del Re is a member of several professional organizations including: American Academy of Forensic Sciences, California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors, American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, California Association of Criminalists, Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners, American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board.  Mr. Del Re has also served on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory National Steering Committee; the National Center for Forensic Science; Forensic Advisory Committee and the Santa Clara County Law Enforcement Executive Council.

J.C. Upshaw Downs, M.D.

(Georgia Bureau of Investigation) **2013

James Claude Upshaw (“Jamie”) Downs, M.D., is coastal Georgia’s first Regional Medical Examiner. He has been continuously employed as a Medical Examiner since 1989 and was Alabama’s State Forensics Director and Chief Medical Examiner from 1998 to 2002. Dr. Downs has lectured extensively in the field of forensic pathology and has presented at numerous national and international meetings in the fields of anatomic and forensic pathology. He is a consultant to the FBI Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia, having authored four chapters in their manual on Managing Death Investigation and was primary author of the FBI’s acclaimed Forensic Investigator’s Trauma Atlas. He has authored several books and chapters in the field of forensic pathology and child abuse, including Abusive Head Trauma in Infants and Children: A Medical, Legal & Forensic Reference with CD-ROM and Child Fatality Review: A Clinical Guide and A Color Atlas (in press).

He has lectured regularly at the National Forensic Academy and at the FBI’s National Academy. Areas of special interest include child abuse and police use of force. Professional activities have included service on numerous professional boards and committees. He has testified in numerous state and federal courts, as well as before committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. 

Dr. Downs is on the Board of Advisors for the Law Enforcement Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Medical Examiners, the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations (Vice Chair), and the National Forensic Science Technology Center. He also serves on the Forensic Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1983 (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), Dr. Downs completed Peace Officers Standards and Training at the Southwest Alabama Police Academy, where he distinguished himself as class president and top academic student. He received his doctor of medicine degree and his residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology and his fellowship in forensic pathology from the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston). He is board certified in anatomic, clinical, and forensic pathology.

John W. Ives

**2012

John Ives, President of Eagle 32 Innovative Solutions, LLC, brings experience from his extraordinary 35-year executive career in the Intelligence Community, interacting regularly with highest levels of government and drafting special access program policy recommendations for the Secretary of Defense.

He has served as senior advisor to the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, and Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization for policy and strategic planning of threat finance and future cyber initiatives. He has coordinated sensitive national technologies with support to the National Capital Region.

Mr. Ives emerged as one of only eight Department of Defense approving authorities for Defense Information Systems, the responsibility for functional requirements trace and in-progress reviews including configuration management review of a modernized system for advanced Information Management/Technology (IM/IT) architectures for connectivity to the Global Information Grid (GIG). He articulated and codified Force Protection Authority using the Patriot Act, affiliated legislation and policy to create a third policy door juxtaposed between Intelligence Oversight and Law Enforcement Regulation resulting in FBI arrests and surveillance operations. Mr. Ives’ unique combination of business and military education and experience includes master’s degrees in organizational management and strategic studies.

Joseph P. Polski

(Chief Operations Officer, IAI) **2011

Joe Polski is the Chief Operations Officer and a past president of the International Association for Identification (IAI). Polski is currently the Treasurer of the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations (CFSO). In addition, he is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Forensic Science Committee and chair of its resolutions sub-committee, a member of the General Forensics Technical Working Group of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and a member of the Identification Services Sub-Committee of the FBI’s Advisory Policy Board. He is currently President of the Board of Directors of the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC).

Polski has long been active in the field of criminal identification and forensic science at the local, state, and national levels. He is a retired Commander with the St. Paul, Minnesota Police Department, where he served for 31 years. During that time Polski held many positions dealing with identification and forensic science including that of laboratory director.

Marie Samples

(New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner) **2012

Marie Samples is an Assistant Director with the Department of Forensic Biology, which is part of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, in New York City. The laboratory is the forensic DNA testing laboratory for the city, with current responsibility for the analysis of homicides, sexual assaults, and selected other cases. Within the laboratory, Marie manages a casework group and the CODIS group of criminalists.

Prior to joining the Department of Forensic Biology, Marie was a Criminalist with the California Department of Justice crime laboratory system. Her experience includes serology, controlled substance identification, clandestine drug labs, blood/breath/urine alcohol analysis, and general crime scene responsibilities.

A native Californian, Marie has a B.S. in Biochemistry from the California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) and two master’s degrees (chemistry and biochemistry). She has been active in many professional organizations, including the American Board of Criminalistics, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the Forensic Education Program Accreditation Commission.

Susan Uremovich

(Laboratory Director) **2013

As Laboratory Director at Virginia Department of Forensic Science Eastern Laboratory, in Norfolk, Susan Uremovich is responsible for administrative oversight of laboratory operations and delivery of services, personal supervision, and quality system management.

Ms. Uremovich moved to Virginia in 2005 from New Mexico, where she was the Bureau Chief for New Mexico Department of Public Safety (NMDPS) Forensic Laboratories. Prior to that, she was a supervisor, DNA technical leader and forensic scientist with NMDPS and a criminalist with Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Tucson Police Department laboratories.

Susan received her BS in Chemistry from Bucknell University and MS in Forensic Chemistry from University of Pittsburgh. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Criminalistics and has served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors.