AMP Key Staff

AMP is led by an eight member Management Team of experienced individuals with a wealth of industry knowledge. They are supported by a team of approximately 160 qualified, experienced staff members devoted to Psychometrics, Operations, Management Services, Technology, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Executive Support and Facilities Support.

Gary A. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer

On January 1, 2002, Mr. Smith became President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as the Executive Director of AMP’s parent company, the National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. (NBRC). With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Smith is widely respected in the certification profession. He served three years as chairman of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and was later elected president of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) in 2003. Mr. Smith led the effort to establish the national network of AMP Assessment Centers, as well as creating online application processing, testing appointment scheduling and examination administration software that was the industry’s first truly integrated test development and delivery system.

Lori M. Tinkler, MBA, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President

Lori M. Tinkler has been with AMP its parent company, the National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. (NBRC) since 1991, serving in various capacities including general manager, director of candidate services and project manager for the development of the computer-testing network. Ms. Tinkler serves as chief operating officer of AMP and the associate executive director of the NBRC. As chief operating officer of AMP, Ms. Tinkler is a key member of the management team and contracting officer, implementing strategic decisions and creating and monitoring benchmarks for improvement. She has extensive experience in the development and management of certification programs and has a strong background in organizational change and development, as well as planning and implementing client programs. Lori holds a BA with a double major in business and political science from Hope College and an MBA with a concentration in executive management from Rockhurst University.

Scott M. Hermansen, CPA, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance

Scott M. Hermansen worked 10 years in public accounting before joining NBRC/AMP in 1989. While in public accounting, he worked with a variety of organizations including medical, governmental, non-profit and manufacturing entities. He was responsible for supervising these accounts, setting up accounting systems and providing business and tax planning. At AMP, Mr. Hermansen designed the company’s internal computerized accounting system. This system allows AMP to monitor each project separately and to set up a separate department to record the activity of a major project. In addition, Mr. Hermansen is responsible for overseeing the maintenance of the accounting records of all AMP management clients, including setting-up financial report formats, developing internal control policies and preparing tax returns.

Lawrence J. Fabrey, PhD, Senior Vice President of Psychometrics

Dr. Fabrey received his doctorate degree in educational psychology from Pennsylvania State University, with an emphasis in measurement, statistics and human learning. Since joining the AMP staff, he has served as a measurement consultant for various AMP client organizations, including the real estate licensing examination programs and nursing certification programs. Dr. Fabrey is a past chair and voting psychometrician for the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). Prior to joining the AMP staff in 1989, he was the director of measurement services for the American Nurses’ Association (ANA), where he was responsible for all psychometric aspects of ANA’s 19 certification programs. Dr. Fabrey has also served on the staff of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), where he provided measurement expertise for certification clients. While at NBME, he also conducted and participated in various large-scale research projects investigating alternative assessment techniques.

Steven S. Nettles, EdD, Senior Vice President of Psychometrics

Dr. Nettles received his doctorate degree from Rutgers University in educational statistics and measurement. He serves as a measurement consultant to AMP clients in the development of multiple-choice examinations, patient-management problems and other simulations, as well as the conduct of related applied research studies. He has performed professional assessment and applied research since 1972. While working for state and federal governments, he performed numerous job analyses, developed and validated many examinations, and participated in several personnel research projects. While associated with Educational Testing Service (ETS), he continued his research and development work by conducting several national job analyses and validation studies for numerous credentialing and government agencies. At Assessment Systems, Inc. (ASI), he was responsible for the technical accuracy of all client examination programs.

Deidre Gish-Panjada, MBA, Senior Vice President of Management Services

Deidre Gish-Panjada, MBA, has directed AMP’s Management Services division since 1988. A University of Kansas graduate with a concentration in strategic planning and organizational change and development, Ms. Gish-Panjada is experienced in all aspects of association and professional society management, particularly health care associations. Her responsibilities include directing and working with the executive directors and staff teams that plan and complete the day-to-day tasks and long term projects for our clients. Ms. Gish-Panjada oversees all association management activities and their interface with other AMP functional areas to ensure effective completion of projects. She works closely with senior staff and volunteers to provide leadership development, consultation, public relations activities, strategic planning and organizational development activities, critical thinking and problem solving skills, training coalition building, effective organization and conducts board and committee meetings, financial statement analysis, budgeting for actual financial performance and cash flow projections. Ms. Gish-Panjada is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and ASAE’s Association Management Companies Forum.

Julius E. (Rhett) Tindall, Jr., Chief Information Officer

Rhett Tindall serves both as the Chief Information Officer of AMP and the President of AMP’s Logic eXtension Resources (LXR) division. Mr. Tindall is the creator of LXR*TEST-a leading software product used in over 30,000 educational, commercial and governmental assessment programs world-wide. Mr. Tindall founded LXR in 1981 and pioneered one of the first commercial electronic mail packages for mini and microcomputers (INTECOM and USERMAIL). He subsequently designed, developed and marketed a complete office suite (multiMAIL, multiCALC and multiWRITE) for the multi-user THEOS/OASIS operating systems. In 1985, Mr. Tindall created measureUP, a test generation package for the new, graphically-oriented Macintosh computers. In 1987, measureUP was renamed LXR*TEST and released in English and French with versions for both Macintosh and Windows systems. Prior to founding LXR, Mr. Tindall was the Director of Information Systems for Data Design Laboratories and was responsible for the automation of major personnel testing and training components for the US Navy’s Polaris, Poseidon and Trident Nuclear Submarines. Rhett holds a BSEE from the University of South Carolina.

Patrick Gallagher, Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Patrick Gallagher has been part of the AMP team since 1993 and has held several positions within the Sales & Marketing department. He currently serves as Vice President of Sales & Marketing and his responsibilities include managing the marketing staff and operations, setting and tracking marketing goals and initiatives, and meeting specific company goals for new business development. Patrick earned his master of business administration degree from MidAmerica Nazarene University and his bachelor of arts degree is in management and human relations.