Executive Director
Michael Milligan
Michael K.J. Milligan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA, is Executive Director of ABET. In this role, he leads a full-time staff headquartered in Baltimore, MD, supporting the operations of over 2,000 volunteers. Milligan is responsible for executing ABET's strategic vision, administration, and accreditation operations, and reports directly to the Board of Directors, whose members are selected by ABET's 31 member societies.
Prior to joining ABET, Milligan worked for the Aerospace Corporation developing a new generation environmental satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He also served 24 years as a career U.S. Air Force officer working in the areas of operations, international research & development, technology acquisition, and education. He served six years as an associate professor and later as Deputy Department Head in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy, CO.
Milligan earned a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, an M.S.E. from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and a B.S. from Michigan State University — all in electrical engineering. He also earned an M.B.A. from Western New England University in Springfield, MA. Milligan is a senior member of IEEE (formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, and a registered professional engineer in Colorado and Maryland. He lives in Severna Park, MD, with his wife and their two sons.
Managing Director, Accreditation, and Chief Information Officer
Joe Sussman
Joseph L. Sussman, Ph.D., is Managing Director for Accreditation and Chief Information Officer for ABET. As such, Dr. Sussman leads ABET's accreditation operations and collaborates with the organization's volunteer leadership in tactical execution and strategic development of accreditation practice on a global scale.
Prior to joining ABET, Sussman spent 26 years as an engineer and business executive at Bayer AG, leading many of the company's quality, manufacturing, and IT efforts. Most recently, Sussman was an Industry Specialist at Deloitte Consulting, where he worked with many prominent global clients.
In addition to his impressive industry background, and prior to joining ABET staff, Sussman served ABET for 24 years in nearly every volunteer capacity, including Program Evaluator for mechanical engineering programs, Chair of the Engineering Accreditation Commission, Representative Director from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on the ABET Board of Directors, and as ABET President for 2008-09.
Sussman was inducted as an ABET Fellow in 2002 after having played a pivotal role in implementing the ground-breaking Engineering Criteria 2000. In 2011, the ASME Board of Governors elected Sussman an ASME Fellow for his contributions to quality in engineering education.
Sussman earned his baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.
Senior Director, Accreditation Operations
Maryanne Weiss
Maryanne Weiss is responsible for managing the operations of the Accreditation Department. She took over this responsibility in April 2006. Prior to that, Weiss was the ABET Meetings and Member Services Director, responsible for society and staff operations in the areas of education, information dissemination, public relations, volunteer training, the ABET Annual Meeting, and special projects. She has been with ABET since December 1994.
From 1991 to 1994, Weiss was at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). She was the Manager for Education and Professional Affairs responsible for the society's continuing education, undergraduate education, accreditation, and professional registration programs.
Weiss received her B.A. from DeSales University in Center Valley, PA, and her M.S. in communications from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
She has led ABET Faculty Workshops for Program Improvement both nationally and internationally, including the first international workshop held in Istanbul, Turkey, in April 2002; a workshop in Seoul, Korea, for the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education Korea (ABEEK) in November 2003; and an international faculty workshop for program improvement in Singapore in December 2003.
Weiss has made presentations at various professional conferences, including the ASEE, the ASEE Deans' Institute, and the National Science Foundation, and co-authored a paper on the effect of the ABET Faculty Workshops on implementing continuous program improvement published in The International Journal of Engineering Education, Special Issue on Assessment (Volume 18, Number 2, 2002).
Weiss has been a peer reviewer for the International Journal on Engineering Education.
Director, Information Management
Marty Flanigan
Marty Flanigan is ABET's Director of Information Management. In this role, he leads a small IT staff that supports the computing hardware and software requirements of the ABET Headquarters staff as well as ABET's external clients and volunteers.
Flanigan is directly responsible for leading his team in management, strategy, and execution of IT infrastructure. He oversees implementing new IT projects and initiatives, including computer network infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, disaster recovery systems, VOIP and cellular telephony, software applications, and desktop support. His duties also include testing new technologies and user-requested special projects.
Prior to joining ABET, Flanigan worked for Ports America as the IT Manager for the Port of Baltimore and as the Corporate IT Change Manager. He had direct corporate-level management for all UNIX systems located at ports in four states. Flanigan was a Network Analyst at Baltimore Gas & Electric Utility Company for 11 years and also a Network/Systems Analyst for Martin Marietta. In addition, he has been a Lab Technician and Computer Analyst at the Phillip Bard Labs of Neurophysiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a Computer Analyst in the Division of Digestive Diseases at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
Flanigan earned a B.A. from the University of Baltimore, an A.A. in electronics from Essex Community College, and a second A.A. from Dundalk Community College.
Managing Director, Society, Volunteer, and Industry Relations
Chuck Hickman
Charles W. Hickman leads ABET's communications and marketing strategy, as well as the implementation of ABET publications, electronic media, media relations, and targeted messaging. In addition, he is the primary point of contact for ABET's society representatives, managing the organization's relationship with its 31 member societies.
In July 2011, Hickman joined the ABET staff after serving as Manager, University Programs, at IEEE (formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Prior to joining IEEE, Hickman held a variety of senior staff positions with AACSB International, the accrediting agency for university-based business schools worldwide, over a period of more than 20 years. He has also served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the e-learning firm Quisic and as the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Council of Higher Education.
Hickman holds a bachelor's in business administration (B.B.A.) and an M.A. in labor relations from the University of Iowa.
Managing Director, Professional Services
Ashley Ater Kranov
Ashley Ater Kranov, Ph.D., is ABET's Managing Director of Professional Services. Her department is responsible for partnering with faculty and industry to conduct robust technical education research and providing educational opportunities on sustainable assessment processes for program continual improvement worldwide.
She is Principal Investigator of a NSF-sponsored validity study of her direct method for teaching and measuring the ABET professional skills and is Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University.
During her more than 21 years as a higher education administrator and professional educator, Ater Kranov has led university-wide assessment initiatives, coordinated regional and professional accreditation activities, taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and conducted faculty development workshops on teaching and assessment worldwide.
Ater Kranov holds a B.A. in art history and French studies from Hampshire College and an M.A. in theoretical and applied linguistics, an Ed.S. in educational leadership, and a Ph.D. in adult and organizational learning from the University of Idaho.
Managing Director, Planning and Operations, and Chief Financial Officer
Lance Hoboy
Lance K. Hoboy joined ABET in 2008 as its Comptroller, served briefly as Interim Executive Director in 2008-09, and now serves as Managing Director, Planning and Operations, and CFO.
Before joining ABET, Hoboy served as the Chief Financial Officer for Worldcell, Inc., an international wireless communications provider. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of Finance and Strategic Planning for the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA).
Hoboy has a proven track record of establishing management systems to improve productivity, reduce costs, stimulate growth, and ensure customer satisfaction. Before joining PDA, he served as the Executive Vice President, CFO, and a Board member for Dovetail Technologies, Inc., a pharmaceutical development company and also held numerous senior-level positions at Tecnal, Inc. (a regional petroleum refining and marketing company that he co-founded), including President, CFO and Director of Marketing & Operations.
Hoboy's other affiliations included Executive Vice President and Interim CFO at LifeTime Pharmaceuticals; Board member for Spurlock Industries, Inc.; Director of Operations at Schwan's Food International; Managing Director at Schwan's Food Asia; and Assistant to the Chief of EDP Budgeting for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Hoboy is a Certified Association Executive who earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and his M.B.A., specializing in Finance and Operations, from Cornell University.
Director, Accounting
Jessica Silwick
Jessica A. Silwick joined ABET as Chief Accountant in 2007 and currently serves as Director of Accounting. In this position, she supervises and develops accounting staff within accounts receivable, accounts payable, and general ledger areas. She also assists in maintaining and developing accounting policies and procedures, year-end financial projections, and five-year financial forecasts; performs high-level account analysis; and serves as the point of contact with public auditors for audit and government filings.
Prior to her employment with ABET, Silwick served as Senior Accountant for Constellation Energy. She was responsible for maintaining the financials for the company's second largest nuclear power plant, maintaining the decommissioning trust funds evaluating new FASB accounting pronouncements as they related to the nuclear and fossil fuel accounting departments, and developing the management representation letter for the CFO's review and approval.
In addition, Silwick has worked as Corporate Accounting Manager for NeighborCare and as Staff Accountant for Sweet Heart Cup Company.
Silwick earned her B.A. in accounting from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.