The Panel's mission is to provide an independent, thorough, and objective incident review of this tragic event, including a review of educational laws, policies and institutions, the public safety and health care procedures and responses, and the mental health delivery system. With respect to these areas of review, the Panel should focus on what went right, what went wrong, what practices should he considered best practices, and what practices are in need of improvement. This review should include examination of information contained in academic, health and court records and by information obtained through interviews with knowledgeable individuals. Once that factual narrative is in place and questions have been answered, the Panel should offer recommendations for improvements in light of those facts and circumstances.-- From Governor Kaine's Executive Order #53-07
The Panel has completed its work and is no longer accepting correspondence via postal mail.
Retired Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. Gerald Massengill will chair the panel. He led the state's law-enforcement response to the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon in Northern Virginia and the 2002 sniper attacks. Massengill retired in 2003 after 37 years in the Virginia State Police, and came out of retirement in 2005 to serve as interim director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for 18 months.
Tom Ridge served as the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (2003-2005). He previously served as Governor of Pennsylvania (1995-2001) and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1983-1995). He currently consults on a variety of national and international issues.
Gordon Davies served as Director for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for 20 years (1977-1997). He previously served as President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (1998-2002), and recently directed a project to improve state higher education policy making.
Roger L. Depue, Ph. D., has over 20 years experience at the FBI, most recently as Administrator at the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. Depue is the founder, past president and CEO of The Academy Group, Inc., a forensic behavioral sciences services business for consultation, research, training, and investigation of aberrant and violent behavioral problems.
Aradhana A. "Bela" Sood, M.D., FAACAP is Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Medical Director of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children at Virginia Commonwealth University Health Systems.
Dr. Marcus L. Martin is the Assistant Dean for the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia. He is also a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Martin previously served as the Chairman for the Health System at the University of Virginia, Department of Emergency Medicine.
The Honorable Diane M. Strickland served as a judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit Court in Roanoke County and the cities of Roanoke and Salem between 1989 and 2003. Prior to that, she served two years as a General District Court judge. After 15 years on the bench, Judge Strickland now works for The McGammon Group, a leading mediation and arbitration firm. Recently, she co-chaired a two-year study by the Boyd-Graves Conference on issues surrounding involuntary mental commitment.
Carroll Ann Ellis is a recognized expert in the field of Victimology and Law Enforcement. As the Director of the Victim Services Division of the Fairfax County Police Department, four police jurisdictions are served by her office; where she orchestrates services to victims from all crime categories. Her work includes development of special programs tailored to meet the specific needs of victims based on crime categories; training and technical assistance on a broad range of victim issues; creation and facilitation of the first police-based homicide support group; development of community intervention systems; development of program standards for police responses to domestic violence victims; and collaboration between the law enforcement and practitioner communities.