ASPA's 2017 Annual Conference

2017 Nesta M. Gallas Lecturer:

Adm. Thad Allen (Ret.)

Adm. Allen retired from the Coast Guard in 2010 as the 23rd Commandant. He currently serves as Executive Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton where he supports government and commercial clients in cyber security, energy and the environment, navigation systems, emergency response and crisis leadership.

He is a nationally recognized expert in disaster response and an advisor to government leaders. He was the lead federal official for the responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He also directed Coast Guard operations in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the Haitian Earthquake. A 1971 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, Adm. Allen also holds Master's degrees from The George Washington University and MIT Sloan School.

He is a member in the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration. He serves on a number of federal advisory committees and holds the James Tyler Chair at the Admiral James M. Loy Institute for Leadership at the Coast Guard Academy.

Richardson Lecturer:

L. Douglas Wilder

L. Douglas Wilder’s career in public service spans 40 years and is noted for several historic milestones.

Mr. Wilder became the first African-American to be elected governor in the U.S., leading the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1990 to 1994.  As the Commonwealth’s 66th governor, he was commended for his sound fiscal management and balancing the state budget during difficult economic times.  Financial World magazine ranked Virginia as the best managed state in the U.S. for two consecutive years under his administration.  Prior to his time as governor, he served as lieutenant governor from 1986 to 1990 and as state senator from 1969-1985, chairing committees on Transportation; Rehabilitation and Social Services; Privileges and Elections; the Virginia Advisory Legislative Council; and the Senate Steering Committee, which appoints committee members.  

Other legislative achievements include providing state health care coverage for sickle-cell anemia patients, toughening penalties for capital murderers and prison escapees, and expanding low and moderate income housing.  For eight years, he persisted in sponsoring legislation that eventually led to establishing a state holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. making Virginia the first state in the nation to have a legislative holiday for Dr. King.

Persuaded to run for mayor in 2004, Mr. Wilder received eighty percent of the vote and carried each of the City’s nine council districts and every precinct in the City.  He was sworn in as Richmond’s first elected mayor in 2005 and served until 2009, making him the first African-American mayor elected by popular vote all from all of the citizens of Richmond. During his term, Richmond made remarkable progress in its fight against crime, having its lowest rate in 27 years.  Downtown economic development and neighborhood improvements were widespread, and financial management reached a new level of scrutiny that served taxpayers well.

An attorney by profession, Mr. Wilder gained recognition as a leading criminal trial lawyer.  He graduated from Howard University Law School in 1959 and later established the legal firm that became known a Wilder, Gregory & Associates, one of the few minority-owned businesses in Virginia at the time.  Prior to earning his J.D., he graduated from Virginia Union University with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and worked in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as a toxicology technician.

Though he’s now an octogenarian, Mr. Wilder has not slowed a bit. He’s still a highly-involved and highly-dedicated citizen of the city that he has called home for most of his life, and one of its best and most outspoken ambassadors. At present, Mr. Wilder is a Distinguished Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. He also is the driving force for establishing a National Slavery Museum.