EXCELLENCE & ETHICS

Matthew L. Davidson, Ph.D., President and Director of Education. Dr. Davidson has dedicated nearly 15 years to character education research, program development, and dissemination serving on staff at the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University, the Values Program at LeMoyne College, and the Mendelson Center for Sport, Character, and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, where he was also an Adjunct Professor of Education. Before founding IEE, Dr. Davidson was Research Director at the Center for the 4^th and 5^th Rs (SUNY Cortland). A frequent national presenter, Dr. Davidson is a past member of the Blue Ribbon Panel for the National Schools of Character Awards Program. His publications include Smart & Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond. He has served as co-principal investigator or external evaluator on federal and private foundation grants, totaling over $8 million.
mdavidson@excellenceandethics.org

Vladimir T. Khmelkov, Ph.D., Vice-President and Director of Research and Technology. Before co-founding IEE, he was a senior research analyst at the University of Notre Dame and served as research consultant for the Notre Dame Center for Ethical Education. He has been engaged in research projects and published on socio-moral development of youth, teacher education, social organizational characteristics of schools and higher education institutions for over 15 years. He has served as co-principal investigator or external evaluator on federal and private foundation grants, totaling over $8 million.
vkhmelkov@excellenceandethics.org

Richard Parisi, Director of Communications and Operations of the Institute for Excellence & Ethics (IEE). Prior to joining IEE, Rich had been a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for the 4^th and 5^th Rs for over ten years. Rich recently retired after 32 years as a public school teacher and administrator. Under his leadership as principal of Morgan Road Elementary (Liverpool, NY), the school was named a National School of Character in 2000. He has also been a consultant with CEP for the last three years.
rparisi@excellenceandethics.org

Kyle Baker, Power2Achieve™ Coordinator. Kyle graduated with a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education. He taught at St. Joseph’s School in Missoula, Montana before joining ACE. During his Master’s program he taught 5^th grade at St. Paul’s School in San Antonio, Texas for two years while also coaching Varsity Football at Antonian College Preparatory High School. As a collegiate student-athlete Kyle earned first team All-American football honors twice and earned Academic All-American honors three times while attending Carroll College. He also was awarded the Dave Rimington Award as the nation’s top center and a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete of the Year award.
kbaker@excellenceandethics.org

Suzanne Davidson, Business Manager. Suzanne earned a BS in Accounting from the University of Scranton. She spent seven years as an Office Manager for Purcell’s Wallpaper & Paint, Inc., a local Syracuse Benjamin Moore Dealer, where she helped to manage all aspects of a small business. Prior to officially joining the IEE staff in 2007, she volunteered for the Center for the 4^th and 5^th Rs, as well as held an administrative position at the Mendelson Center for Sport, Character & Culture at the University of Notre Dame.
sdavidson@excellenceandethics.org

Debra Finn, Office Manager. Deb was previously an administrative assistant at the Center for the 4^th and 5^th Rs, where she maintained the fiscal records for the Smart & Good Schools grants and coordinated trainings on the Smart & Good Schools report.
info@excellenceandethics.org