PETER A. HANCOCK is Provost Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Simulation and Training, as well as at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida (UCF). In 2009 he was created the 16th ever UCF University Pegasus Professor (the Institution’s highest honor) and in 2012 was named 6th ever University Trustee Chair. He directs the MIT2 Research Laboratories. Prior to his current position he founded and was the Director of the Human Factors Research Laboratory (HFRL) at the University of Minnesota where he held appointments as Professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Psychology, and Kinesiology, as well as being a member of the Cognitive Science Center and the Center on Aging Research. He continues to hold an appointment as a Clinical Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at Minnesota. He is also an affiliated Scientist of the Humans and Automation Laboratory at Duke University, a Research Associate of the University of Michigan Transport Research Institute, and a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Florida. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Hawaii Academy.

Tonya Smith-Jackson, PhD, CPE is a research engineer with extensive academic leadership experience, including a stint as a program director at the National Science Foundation. She has worked for North Carolina A&T State University since 2013, originally as a professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, as well as the founder/director of the Human Factors Analytics Laboratory. She is currently serving as  Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. She presently serves on a variety of committees and boards.

Dr. Smith-Jackson earned an interdisciplinary MS in Psychology and Industrial Engineering from NC State University and a PhD in Psychology/Ergonomics from NC State University. She earned a BA in psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, and graduated from the inaugural class of the NC School of Science and Mathematics. She is a Fellow in two professional societies: The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. She is a professional development fellow of the AASC&U/AALI Becoming a Provost Academy, the Center for Advancement of STEM leadership, and the HERS Leadership Institute. Her faculty positions in academia include universities and community colleges in New York, North Carolina, Virginia and Germany.

Dr. Smith-Jackson has worked in the industry and government sectors as well, serving as a usability engineer for IBM and Ericsson Mobile Communications (now Sony-Ericsson), and as an expert witness in systems safety, usability and accident analysis litigation. She has served as a manager in county, state and federal government agencies, including the European Command (Germany), county public health and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

She has earned department, college, university, civil and community service awards for excellence and innovation in teaching, research, advising, diversity and inclusion, and outreach to communities. She has been awarded a university women’s leadership award; interdisciplinary collaboration awards; and a Command General’s Award for advancing women in the U.S. Army Command. Gov. Roy Cooper appointed her to the NC Board of Science, Technology and Innovation in 2020 and the Performance Management Advisory Committee in 2021.  She continues to champion HBCU-excellence, inclusion, equity, diversity and belonging.