Ron Angelone

Theodis Beck

Patricia Caruso

Patricia L. Caruso joined the Michigan Department of Corrections in 1988 and has served in several capacities, which include three years as business manager, nine years as Warden, two years as Regional Prison Administrator and 10 months as Deputy Director.

In July of 2003, she was appointed Director of the Department. Director Caruso received a B.A. in political science and sociology from Lake Superior State University and a Masters in comprehensive occupational education from the University of Michigan. Director Caruso was elected Vice President of the American Correctional Association (ACA), for a two-year term beginning in August, 2008 and re-elected in 2010 for an additional term.

She also has served on the ACA’s Commission on Accreditation for Corrections since July, 2006 and has been a member of the ACA Standards Committee since July, 2003. Director Caruso is also serving as the President of the Association of State Correctional Administrators and previously served as their Vice President and Treasurer. She is a past member of the ACA Program Planning Committee and past president of the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents. In addition, Director Caruso is active in a number of other professional correctional organizations.

Harold Clarke (VA)

Harold Clarke grew up in the Canal Zone in Panama. After college in Nebraska, he joined the Nebraska Department of Corrections in 1974 as a counselor. He rose through the department, becoming warden at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in 1987 and the Director of Corrections in 1990, becoming the first employee promoted from within the agency to that position.

In August of 1990, he was appointed Director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, a position he held until 2005, when he began his role as Secretary of the Washington State Department of Corrections. Last November (2007), Clarke took on yet another new role, this time on the East coast as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. On November 15, 2010, Harold was named the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections.

He is currently serving as the immediate past president of the American Correctional Association and on the Executive Committee of ASCA. He is a former member of the Doane College Board of Trustees, former board chair of Lincoln Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors. He also served as president of the Association of State Correctional Administrators. His awards include the Legacy Award from the Association of Women Executives in Corrections in 2007, the Pioneer Human Services Partner of the Year Award in 2006, the Michael Francke Award from the Association of State Correctional Administrators in 1997, the Citizen of the Year Award from the Nebraska Association of Substance Abuse Directors in 1996 and the Dedicated Correctional Service Award in 1994.

Harold Clarke was appointed by Governor Robert F. McDonnell as Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections effective November 15, 2010, overseeing a Department comprised of three major operational areas: Operations, Community and Administration. At the time of his appointment, the Agency had 11,602 employees across the Commonwealth. As of December 31, 2010, the Department has 29 major institutions, 8 field units and 7 work centers overseeing 31,900 inmates, and 7 detention and 4 diversion centers as well as 43 Probation Districts overseeing 59,517 probationers.

David Evans

Hal Farrier

Glenn Goord

Don Hutto

Elaine Little

Larry Norris

After twice serving as Interim Director, Larry Norris was named Director of the Arkansas Department of Correction in December 1993. He brought more than 20 years experience in correctional service to the Director’s Office.

He was born in southeastern Arkansas and educated in Dumas. After serving in the military in the ‘60s, he began his correctional career at the Cummins Unit. His responsibilities within the department increase over the years, from Infirmary Administrator and later Assistant Warden at Cummins, to Warden at the Maximum Security Unit at Tucker, Assistant Director and finally to Director. Along the way, Larry Norris earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and his master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In 2003, he was named Alumnus of the Year by the College of Professional Studies at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Director Norris is a member of the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the American Correctional Association. He has served as president of the Arkansas Criminal Justice Association and the Southern States Correctional Association.

He is married to the former Phyllis Bryant of Altheimer and they are the proud parents of two children. Their son, Trevor, is employed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and their daughter, Ellen, works in public affairs with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

Larry retired 12/31/09 and was replaced by Interim Ray Hobbs.

Richard Stalder

Richard L. Stalder was appointed Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections in January, 1992 by former Governor Edwin W. Edwards. He was re-appointed to the position in April, 1996 by Governor M.J. “Mike” Foster, Jr., and re-appointed to serve a fourth term in February, 2004 by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. Secretary Stalder began his career with the Department in 1971 as a Correctional Officer and has served as Superintendent and Warden of major juvenile and adult facilities, as well as other responsible management roles. He possesses Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Louisiana State University.

Secretary Stalder is an active member of many professional organizations, including the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the American Correctional Association (ACA). In 2002, Secretary Stalder was elected to a two-year term as Vice-President of ASCA and serves as Vice- Chairman of the Programs and Training Committee. He served as ACA President from 1998-2000. He also participates in ACA through active membership on the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Delegate Assembly, as a Commission on Accreditation for Corrections Consultant Auditor.

As Secretary, he led all components of the Department to achieve ACA accreditation—-11 adult facilities, 4 juvenile facilities, the adult and juvenile Divisions of Probation and Parole, the Division of Prison Enterprises and the Headquarters office. He has also worked closely with the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association and the Louisiana District Attorneys’ Association to forge a productive partnership between state and local criminal justice systems.

Additionally, Secretary Stalder is a recipient of the Michael Francke Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Association of State Correctional Administrators as well as the E. R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award, the American Correctional Association’s most prestigious honor.

Morris Thigpen

Morris Thigpen serves as the Director of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) for the U.S. Department of Justice. Appointed in 1994 by the U.S. Attorney General, Morris has oversight responsibilities for the Institute and ensures that NIC fulfills its mission to advance and shape correctional practice and public policy that respond to the needs of corrections through the collaboration and leadership and by providing assistance, information, education, and training.

NIC responds directly to the needs identified by practitioners working in state and local adult corrections and provides leadership to influence correctional policies, practices, and operations nationwide in areas of emerging interest and concern to the field of corrections.
NIC provides direct service rather than financial assistance as the primary means of carrying out its mission and is organized so that each primary constituent group in adult corrections—jails, prisons, and community corrections—is represented and served by one of NIC’s divisions. The Academy Division, the Offender Workforce Development Division, and the NIC Information Center also serve all adult corrections.

Before joining NIC, Morris served as the Deputy Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services in Jackson, Mississippi. From 1987 to 1993, he served as the Commissioner of Corrections for the State of Alabama. Morris’s innovative program for substance abuse treatment received national recognition by the Innovations Transfer Program of the Council of State Governments and he was influential in the passage of the Community Corrections and Punishment Act of 1991.

From 1980 to 1987, Morris served as the Commissioner of Corrections under Mississippi Governors Winter and Allain. He achieved passage in the 1983 legislative session of a $51 million Capital Construction Package, which decentralized the state prison system and provided other significant reforms. From 1977 to 1980, he served as Deputy Commissioner for Community Services and was responsible for adult probation and parole services throughout the state.

Morris’s career in corrections began at Mississippi’s Department of Youth Services in Jackson, Mississippi. From 1971 to 1977, he served as the Director of Juvenile Probation and Parole, as the Superintendent of the Training School, and as the Coordinator of Personnel and Training.

For his many contributions, Morris received the David H. Williams Excellence of Service Award from the Southern States Correctional Association in 1994, the E.R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award from the American Correctional Association in 1993, and the first Michael Francke Award from the Association of State Correctional Administrators in 1992. His education includes a M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Mississippi State University and a B.S. from Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi

Louie Wainwright

A.T. Wall (RI)

Prior to this appointment Mr. Wall served in the capacity of Assistant Director for a number of years. In this position he was responsible for the central management of Departmental operations and functioned as the Director’s second-in-command.

Mr. Wall’s career in corrections began in 1976 as a Probation Officer. After his graduation from Law School, he served as a Prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and then joined the Vera Institute of Justice, where he was Director of a sentencing project for chronic offenders convicted by the New York City Courts. A native of Rhode Island, he returned to his home state in 1985 and worked in the Governor’s Office on policy issues in the areas of corrections and criminal justice. He was tapped by the Director of Corrections to join the Department in 1987 as Assistant Director. Mr. Wall was named Interim Director in 1999 and became Director in 2000.

Mr. Wall received a Bachelors of Arts Degree from Yale University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1980.

Reggie Wilkinson

Dr. Reginald A. Wilkinson has been employed with the State of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) since September 1973. He has served in a variety of positions including superintendent of the Corrections Training Academy, warden of the Dayton Correctional Institution, and deputy director of prisons – south region. Former Governor George Voinovich appointed Wilkinson DRC director in February 1991. Governor Bob Taft reappointed him director in January 1999.
Director Wilkinson’s academic background includes a B.A. degree in political science and a M.A. degree in higher education administration, both from The Ohio State University. He was also awarded a doctor of education degree (Ed.D.) from the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Wilkinson is President and Executive Director of the International Association of Reentry. He is also Past President of both the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the American Correctional Association. He is Vice Chair for North America of the International Corrections and Prisons Association. Wilkinson is, additionally, Director of the ICPA Centre for Exchanging Correctional Best Practices.
Wilkinson has authored numerous journal articles on a variety of correctional topics. He is editor of two books: Correctional Best Practices: Directors’ Perspectives and Best Reentry Practices: Directors’ Perspectives. As ACA president, he commissioned the publication of Best Practices: Excellence in Corrections. Dr. Wilkinson has written chapters in a number of books, a few of which include: Ohio Crime, Ohio Justice; Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory; Frontiers of Justice, Volume 2; and The Full Spectrum: Essays on Staff Diversity in Corrections.
Director Wilkinson has, moreover, received many awards from a variety of organizations. A few of the associations he has received honors from include the National Governors’ Association, the American Correctional Association, the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the International Community Corrections Association, the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, the Volunteers of America, the Ohio Community Corrections Organization, and the Ohio Correctional and Court Services Association. He has also been appointed for a three-year term to the National Institute of Corrections Advisory Board by U. S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.