Arizona Technology Council Elects Grand Canyon University, Northern Arizona University and Quarles & Brady Leaders to Board of Directors

PHOENIX - EntSun -- The Arizona Technology Council today announced Paul Lambertson, dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at Grand Canyon University; Charles B. Chadwell, dean of the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering at Northern Arizona University; and Heather Buchta, partner and chair of the IT and Tech Transactions Team at Quarles & Brady, were elected unanimously to serve three-year terms at the recent Council's quarterly board meeting.

The Council also announced the election of the following 2025/2026 board officers at the Oct. 30 meeting:

• Chairwoman – Christine Boles, MC Consulting Service LLC
• Vice Chairman – Jan Janick, Benchmark
• President and CEO - Steven G. Zylstra, Arizona Technology Council and SciTech Institute
• Secretary - Jonathon Talcott, Buchalter
• Treasurer - Eric Lewis, EY
• Chairman Emeritus – Alex Iuorio, Avnet

"Our new and continuing officers bring outstanding experience across academia, industry and law that will further strengthen our leadership team," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council and SciTech Institute. "In addition, Paul and Charles are shaping the future of Arizona's engineering and semiconductor workforce while Heather is a leading authority on artificial intelligence governance and technology law. Together, their insights will help guide the Council's mission to advance innovation, education and growth throughout Arizona's technology ecosystem."

In addition to the elected officers and new board members, the Council announced directors serving additional three-year terms. Serving their second terms are:

• Reetika Dhawan, Arizona Western College
• Jan Janick, Benchmark
• Kurt VandenBussche, Honeywell Aerospace

The directors serve advisory and fiduciary roles by representing the interests of the state's technology industries in the Council's strategic planning and ongoing operations. The current board includes 32 members representing a diverse set of organizations.

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The biographies of new board appointees are below:

Paul Lambertson, dean of the College of Engineering and Technology, Grand Canyon University

Lambertson joined Grand Canyon University (GCU) as the inaugural dean of the College of Engineering and Technology in 2023. In this role, he and his team focus on igniting the potential within every student, equipping each with the knowledge and skills necessary to become innovative and entrepreneurial leaders in their respective fields.

Beyond the full responsibility for more than 5,000 students across 39 academic programs, Lambertson also leads the university's Center for Workforce Development, directly engaging the nation's dearth of tradesmen and tradeswomen; GCU's semiconductor workforce development program, immersing GCU into the national semiconductor ecosystem; and GCU's Cyber Center of Excellence, accelerating student learning throughout cyberspace.

Charles B. Chadwell, dean of the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering, Northern Arizona University

Chadwell. is dean of the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and a professor of civil and environmental engineering. A licensed professional engineer with a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, he has more than two decades of leadership experience at California Polytechnic State University and NAU, advancing student success, faculty excellence and industry partnerships.

At NAU, he has secured landmark funding, including a $10 million naming gift, and assumed leadership of a $13 million semiconductor lab and workforce development award while expanding research, academic programs and global partnerships. Nationally, he serves as executive director of Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honor society, where he leads efforts to strengthen student leadership development across 147 university chapters

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Heather Buchta, partner and chair of the IT and Tech Transactions Team, Quarles

Buchta advises on artificial intelligence, information technology (IT) and data privacy with an additional focus on trademark and copyright matters. With nearly 25 years working in the IT space, she has deep knowledge of the industry, its standards and practices, and a clear sense of risks that are emerging, as well as those no longer relevant.

Clients know that with this deep knowledge and a practical, get-it-done approach, Buchta reliably and creatively gets deals done. Heather is an artificial intelligence governance professional, certified information privacy professional and certified information privacy manager through the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Buchta is co-chair of the Data Privacy & Security Industry Team, chair of the IT and Tech Transactions Team and Phoenix office chair for the Intellectual Property Group.

Companies represented on the Arizona Technology Council Board of Directors include:

Arizona Commerce Authority; AccountabilIT; Alerion Capital Group; Alliance Bank of Arizona; American Express; Arizona State University; Arizona Western College; Avnet; Benchmark; Buchalter; Edmund Optics; EY; Grand Canyon University; Honeywell Aerospace; IBM; ILLUME Advising; Immedia; Intel; Iron Mountain; KEO Marketing Inc.; Marcus Engineering, LLC; MC Consulting Services, LLC; MSS Technologies; Northern Arizona University; Paragon IT; QTS Data Centers; Quarles & Brady; Tech Parks Arizona, The University of Arizona; Translational Genomics Research Institute; The RFP Success Company; University of Advancing Technology; and The University of Arizona.