VASO Board of Directors - Contact & Bios
| State Director | Peggy Flaxman | PeggyFlaxman@virginiaso.com |
| Chairman & Asst. State Director | Anirudh (Rudy) Khandelwal | Anirudh.Khandelwal@virginiaso.com |
| Vice-Chairman | Justine Cromer | JustineCromer@virginiaso.com |
| Secretary and Tresurer | Faranak Naghavi | |
| Regional Director | Anita Sahai | AnitaSahai@gmail.com |
| Regional Director | Leah Puhlick | LeahPuhlick@virginiaso.com |
| Board Member | Ann Gray | |
| Board Member | Chris Ganley | ChrisGanley@virginiaso.com |
Virginia Science Olympiad Board of Directors
2011 to 2012
Peggy Flaxman is State Director of VASO and has been involved in Science Olympiad since 2006. Prior to becoming State Director, she helped with team formation at Churchill Road Elementary and Spring Hill Elementary, and most recently (2008-2009) coached Longfellow Middle School's team. During her tenure as State Director, she has worked closely with coaches, other State Directors and the National Science Olympiad group to increase the quality of Science Olympiad in Virginia by engaging subject matter experts and developing a volunteer base committed to STEM education. During her years as State Director, VASO has seen significant growth in all areas, with participation increasing in Divisions B and C by 35%.
In addition to Science Olympiad, Ms. Flaxman is an active PTA/PTO member, the Vice-President of the Fairfax County Association for the Gifted, a member of the Fairfax Education Coalition, and represents the Fairfax County Council of PTAs on the FCPS Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Council .
Ms. Flaxman has a professional background in Systems Engineering and Software Design and has spent the past nine years focusing on raising a family. Ms. Flaxman has three children, who attend Fairfax County Public Schools: a 3rd grader, a 9th grader and an 11th grader. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Systems Engineering and currently resides in McLean.
Anirudh “Rudy” Khandelwal is the Chairman of VASO and has seven years of Science Olympiad experience. During High School, he served as captain of his school team where he won over 20 awards and medals at local and state tournaments. After high school, he continued to pursue his passion for Science Olympiad by co-founding and helping to establish VASO as an independent, non-profit organization.
Mr. Khandelwal is also the Director of Risk and Financial Strategy at Slimites Electricals Pvt. Ltd, a metal manufacturing firm, where he oversees $7 million+ in annual procurements. In August 2011, he formed SDA Inc., a technology and management consulting firm. He has experience in manufacturing operations, financial analysis & planning, optimization, consulting and strategy.
Mr. Khandelwal will be completing requirements for Systems Engineering, Economics, and Mathematics from the University of Virginia this spring. He has accepted a position with McKinsey & Company, where he will begin as a Business Analyst in July 2012.
Ann Gray first became involved in Science Olympiad 5 years ago, when she coached a team of 6th graders that competed in the middle school division at the Virginia State Tournament. The way in which Science Olympiad generated excitement about science and engineering in her young team motivated her to help grow the program for other young students. Ms. Gray joined the Board of VASO in 2009, at a time when she also coached a middle school team that had the opportunity to represent Virginia at the National Tournament. During her time on the VASO Board, she has worked on outreach efforts for VASO and implemented a review process to elevate the quality of tournament events.
Ms. Gray’s career in business spans teaching, advising, investing in businesses, and running her own highly successful firm. She was most recently President and Co-Owner of Fabrico, Inc., a 150 person manufacturing company. She transformed the small company into a professionally managed firm through investments in its management team, business processes, technology, and physical infrastructure. The company was sold to Prudential Capital Partners in 2010.
Ms. Gray was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Worcester Business Journal in 2007. She was featured in several articles and books, including Strategies for Successful Career Change and Smart Women, Small Business. Prior to her career investing in and growing small companies, she taught at the Harvard Business School.
Ms. Gray has a PhD in Operations Management from the University of Rochester and a B.S. degree in Industrial and Operational Engineering from the University of Michigan. She moved from Boston to the DC area 7 years ago. She lives in McLean with her husband and two teenagers.
Chris Ganley competed in Science Olympiad during their inaugural year in 1983 as a high school senior. Mr. Ganley began volunteering with Virginia Science Olympiad in 2010 and was elected to their Board of Directors in 2011. He specializes in overseeing the engineering and construction events for VASO. Additionally, he was instrumental in conceiving and developing VASO’s first self-created engineering event, “Roller Coaster”, which will be run for the first time during this year’s tournaments.
Mr. Ganley is an industry leader in the development and commercial oversight of power production facilities. With over twenty years of industry experience, he has developed expertise with photovoltaic, gas-fired projects, and solid-fuel technologies while working for both regulated and independent power companies such as SunWize Technologies, Competitive Power Ventures, Caithness Energy, Northrop Grumman, Louisville Gas & Electric, and Westinghouse Corporation.
Mr. Ganley earned an MBA from the University of Maryland with a focus on finance. He also earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Virginia Tech. During his spare time, he earned Certifications in Financial Management (CFM) and Management Accounting (CMA) from the Institute of Management Accountants.
Mr. Ganley is a native of Virginia. He enjoys playing tennis and coaching his children’s soccer teams. He and his wife currently reside in Vienna with their two daughters, Jordan and Erin.
Anita Sahai is a 6th Grade Advanced Academics Teacher at Louise Archer Elementary School in Vienna and a Regional Director of VASO. Her involvement with Science Olympiad dates back to 2007 when she started the program at Louise Archer for 5th and 6th grade students in an effort to expose students to a hands-on and inquiry based science experience. Apart from mentoring numerous students through Science Olympiad at the elementary school level, Ms. Sahai has been an active board member with VASO since 2010 and has assisted with the planning and organization of tournaments.
Ms. Sahai likes to work on jigsaw puzzles, travel, and spend time with her family. She currently resides in Mclean with her husband and two daughters.
Leah Puhlick has been a volunteer with Virginia Science Olympiad since the program started in Virginia in 2001. At that time, Virginia Science Olympiad consisted of one state tournament run by the science supervisors for Fairfax County Public Schools and she coached a team at Langley High School. When Fairfax County was no longer willing to run any more tournaments, she helped found VASO and has been a board member, regional tournament director, and coach for her high school team ever since.
Ms. Puhlick is currently in her 19th year of teaching high school chemistry. Sixteen of those years have been at Langley High School in Fairfax County. She not only started and currently coaches the Science Olympiad Team at Langley, but she also started and currently coaches both the Science Bowl and the It's Academic teams.
In her spare time, Ms. Puhlick enjoys traveling, playing volleyball, and competing in triathlons.
Ms. Puhlick earned a B.A. and M.T. from the University of Virginia.
Faranak Naghavi has been involved with Science Olympiad for the past five years in a number of capacities including serving as a parent volunteer, helping coach various teams and assisting in running various events at regional and state competitions. She has served as a board member and the Treasurer and Secretary of the Virginia Science Olympiad for the past two years.
Ms. Naghavi is Ernst & Young LLP’s National Director of Sales and Use Tax Services. She oversees a network of 150 transaction tax professionals located in the North American tax practice of Ernst & Young LLP and 50 compliance professionals at the Ernst & Young Global Talent Hub in Bangalore, India. She has advised a wide range of companies on sales/use, income/franchise, and process improvement matters.
Ms. Naghavi has been a speaker at numerous state and local tax forums, including various programs sponsored by the Institute for Professionals in Taxation, Tax Executive Institute, Counsel for State Taxation, Paul J. Hartman SALT Forum and Georgetown Law Center Advance State and Local Tax Institute.
Ms. Naghavi has been an active member and past Chair of the AICPA State and Local Tax Resource Panel. She is currently a member of the Streamlined Sales Tax Business Advisory Committee Board of Directors and serves as the Chair of the Audit Liaison Sub-committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation. Within Ernst & Young, Ms. Naghavi leads and serves on a number of Ernst & Young Inclusiveness Committees. She also serves as a volunteer at a number of organizations including Habitat for Humanity, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Ms. Naghavi has been published in various tax periodicals, including Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, The Tax Adviser, and Business Entities.
Ms. Naghavi holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Accounting from Louisiana State University.
Justine Cromer has participated in VASO for 5 years – as a parent, coach, and staff volunteer – and was elected to the Board in 2011. While she’s managed a number of projects, she’s focused primarily on engineering-event training and recruitment – though shifting her 2012 focus on VASO grants.
Justine is a former aviator in the United States Air Force and is currently stationed at the Pentagon in International Affairs. She oversees Foreign Military Sales of aircraft and weapon systems for 7 countries in Southeast Asia. She also has 8-years experience in industry, launching high-tech startups, with expertise in marketing and strategic business planning. Teaching is her other passion – having taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and executive leadership programs and still teaches Business Communications at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina.
Justine holds a BS degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of California at Davis and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She also holds several military certificates and awards from her professional military education and training and is a decorated Gulf War aviator/veteran.
Justine resides with her two, teenage sons, Nick and Alex – who are active participants in VASO. She enjoys writing, entrepreneurship, coaching, and travel.