About
Board of Trustees
Mitchell F. Stanley
Mr. Mitchell F. Stanley is the founder and Chairman of the National Center for Sustainable Development (NCSD), a national 501(C)(3) not-for-profit corporation. He also serves as Board Member at the Energy and Environmental Management Institute of George Washington University in Washington DC., and Chief Foreign Expert on the Energy Professional Investment Committee of Asia Investment Association. In his business career he serves as Board Member and President of Sinoaccess Group. Prior to the establishment of NCSD, he was Chairman of the Board of WebBank, an FDIC insured financial institution located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The first internet bank in the United States which received FDIC insurance.
His career in government service began in 1977 and he served many senior positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce, The State Department and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. Mr. Stanley served as President Reagan’s assistant in the White House West Wing for three years. In 1984, he joined the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce and organized the First Presidential Trade Mission to Asia: to Korea, Japan and China.
Upon his return from Asia, he served as Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary for Secretary of Commerce Mr. Malcolm Baldrige. His interest in new and innovative small business lending products and economic development programs began during his tenure with the federal government as Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Finance, Investment and Procurement programs under president George H.W. Bush. Mr. Stanley completed his government career with the highest rank in the Senior Executive Service and received several Presidential Rank Awards. He graduated in 1977 from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Eric H. Fang, MD
Eric Fang serves as Vice Chairman of the Board and President & CEO of the National Center for Sustainable Development (NCSD). He is a Board Member of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Foundation. Mr. Fang also serves as Executive Standing Board Member of the Energy Professional Investment Committee of China Investment Association. In his business activities, Mr. Fang serves as CEO of Atlas Renewable, a leader in renewable investment. In his advisory capacity, Mr. Fang serves as a member of Board of Advisors at the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations. He also serves as Strategic Advisory Board member of Energy Vault (NYSE: NRGV) along with leaders from CEMEX Ventures (NYSE: CX), BHP Ventures (NYSE: BHP), Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (TADAWUL: SAUDI ARAMCO), Enel Green Power (ENEL.MI), PlusVolta, Pickering Energy Partners, Ark Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Korea Zinc (KRX 010130).
Mr. Fang has more than 30 years of experience in technology investment, business development advisory, corporate management, business strategic relationship development, product marketing and sales and joint ventures investment development in both China and the United States. In his business capacity, Mr. Fang is the founder and CEO of Sinoaccess Group based in China and the United States. His Sinoaccess Group is a strategic advisory and investment group covers a wide variety of market sectors including renewable energy, environment, water resources, healthcare, bio-medical, telecom and mobile.
Mr. Fang served as a key China market development advisor to some of the largest companies including Fortune 500 public companies in the United States, such as AT&T, GE Capital Spacenet, Tektronix, Comsat RSI, Orbcomm, Arris Group (CommScope NASDAQ: COMM), and Software AG of Germany. In 1986, Mr. Fang’s Sinoaccess Group successfully built 24 islands satellite communication backbone network for the Indonesia government under U.S. EXIMBANK Financing. In the 1990s, his Sinoaccess Group brought major SatComm players from North America into China to help China to build more than 8 satellite communications networks nationwide with different Chinese Ministries under World Bank Financing.
Over the past 15 years, under Mr. Fang leadership, the National Center for Sustainable Development has successfully engaged in a multi-level practical business relationship with Chinese government agencies including major NGO players and State-Owned Energy Enterprises (SOEs) in China to cooperate in Clean Energy, Climate Change, Biotech and Healthcare development. In the recent years, Mr. Fang successfully founded Muuzii Inc., a Texas based mobile translation and language learning company that has AT&T Wireless as its service partner. He was also a key founding investor of Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd. GigaMega Company back in 1993.
Mr. Fang holds a MD degree from Southwest University of Medical Sciences in Chengdu, China and BS degree from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Dr. Charles M. Ludolph, Jr. Ph.D.
Dr. Ludolph is Senior Vice President, a member of the Board of Trustees and Advisory Board, and Director of the Policy Institute of the NCSD. Starting in 1971, Dr. Ludolph served in the U.S. Commerce Department and advised seven Presidential Administrations and 20 successive U.S. Congresses on economic matters including international trade and investment. He also served more than ten years in a senior capacity for the Albright Stonebridge Group, the premier public affairs company led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Dr. Ludolph was the Commerce Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe from 1994 to 2002. In 1996, he negotiated the U.S.-EU Mutual Recognition Agreement, which liberalized non-tariff barriers burdening more than $1 billion of bilateral trade with Europe in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and ICT equipment. This agreement was later adopted by Switzerland and Canada. Starting in 1983, Dr. Ludolph directed the U.S. government’s commercial and investment programs with European Union countries, which resulted in seminal transatlantic accords covering tariffs, environment, technology, testing and standards. He received the U.S. government’s highest award for his work supporting trade and investment flows with the EU and Russia in 2000. He is a 2007 recipient of the Bundesverdienstkreuz Medal from the government of Germany bestowed by President Koehler and a 2009 Vice President and Academician in the Russian Academy of Sciences for Complex Security. He has published extensively on international trade and econometrics, particularly related to international transactions affecting pensions, annuities and taxation.
He is an occasional lecturer on foreign policy and trade at the George Washington University School of Business and the Elliot School for International Policy as well as the American University and Marymount University. He is a founder of the Luther Brady art education program at GWU. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and served on that University’s Alumni Committees for undergraduate studies. Dr. Ludolph has also served on the GWU Business School’s Advisory Committee for undergraduate studies and has paneled graduate and undergraduate business case study competitions for George Washington University. He has an MBA and DBA from George Washington University, as well as a BA from Georgetown University.
Dr. Robert M. Smith, Ph.D.
Dr. Smith has twenty plus years of experience working as an engineer in the aerospace, automotive, textile, and medical device industries. In the aerospace industry, he worked for The Boeing Company as a system engineer on Space Station Freedom. At Ford Motor Company, he researched automotive painting processes to improve appearance and corrosion resistance. For Milliken & Company, he researches textiles with advanced optical and moisture management properties. In the medical device industry, he has worked with multiple startups developing cardiac defibrillators and heart pumps. Most recently Dr. Smith was one of the founders of a company developing an implantable pump to treat patients suffering from congestive heart failure. The device has been implanted in dozens of patients either saving or improving the quality of their lives.
Dr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University, a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University. His graduate research was conducted in the areas of atomization and sprays and semiconductor thin-film deposition.
Doug Stanley, Multi-Emmy Award Winner
Adding a new chapter to a long and successful career as a primetime television producer, multi-Emmy Award winner Doug Stanley is the visionary and architect behind the deeply talented team at Confluence Productions.
Doug Stanley is best known for his seven years producing Discovery Channel’s global hit show “Deadliest Catch”, but has worked across all genres of television: reality, magazine-style, LIVE, documentary, competition, scripted and sports.
During his 30-year career, Doug has been directly involved in the production of nearly 200 shows for networks including FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Country Music Television, MTV, and many others. In Recognition of his work, Mr. Stanley has had 8 Prime Time Emmy Awards nominations and has been honored with two Prime Time Emmy Awards.