Lecturer Biographical Information
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Assistant Chief of Department Edward Kilduff
Edward Kilduff has been a member of the FDNY for 31 years. Promoted to Deputy Chief in 2001, he was assigned to Division 3 in mid-town Manhattan, where he worked following the attack on the World Trade Center. During the initial weeks of the WTC operation, Chief Kilduff served as a night tour commander, coordinating rescue, recovery and inter-agency operations at the site.
On his promotion to Deputy Assistant Chief in 2002, he was named the Deputy Borough Commander of Brooklyn and in 2004 he was promoted to Assistant Chief, Brooklyn Borough Commander, where he oversees 90 units staffed by 2,000 officers and firefighters.
He serves as one of three Incident Commanders for the FDNY Incident Management Team. He was Deputy IC for the historic deployment of FDNY members to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and in 2008, commanded the IMT deployed to Baton Rouge, La. for Hurricane Gustav.
He has been involved in several FDNY projects, including the formation of the Department’s Strategic Plan and the development of the Risk Assessment Program. He is an instructor in several FDNY professional development courses for officers.
He is a graduate of Marist College.
Assistant Chief of Department Michael Weinlein
Michael Weinlein is a 27-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department. He is currently assigned as the Manhattan Borough Commander. His last two assignments were the Assistant Chief of Operations and the Chief of Special Operations.
In November of 2001 he was given the opportunity to serve on the New York Metropolitan Counter-Terrorism Task Force. The task force was composed of 50 city, state and federal agencies and took a look at a regional approach to protect New York City and the surrounding communities from terrorist threats. He was asked to co-chair the subcommittee on Incident Response.
Chief Weinlein was chosen to be the Incident Commander of the first full deployment of the FDNY Incident Management Team to New Orleans after the floods caused by Hurricane Katrina. The team consisted of 35 firefighter and officers and coordinated multiple a fire department response to fires and emergencies in New Orleans through the daily implementation of an Incident Action Plan.
He attended Queens College where he earned a BA in Biology in 1979. In June of 2004, Chief Weinlein was awarded a Master of Arts Degree in Security Studies (Homeland Security and Defense). This program, a Department of Homeland Security sponsored activity, was held at the Naval Postgraduate School. Chief Weinlein and 12 others were chosen for the first class from a swath of officials in State local and Federal agencies across the nation. Chief Weinlein has also graduated from the Fire Officers Management Institute, a certificate program in Management taught for FDNY by Columbia University.
Deputy Assistant of Department Chief John Sudnik
John Sudnik is a 23 year veteran of the Fire Department of New York. He currently holds the rank of Deputy Assistant Chief and is assigned as the Queens Borough Commander. During a typical tour of duty, he can expect to be the Incident Commander at any major fire or emergency occurring in the borough of Queens, including its surrounding waterways. Ascending through the ranks, he has worked in Midtown Manhattan; Jamaica, Queens; and Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy and East New York sections.
John served for five years (2004-08) as President of the New York City Fire Chiefs Association, a professional and fraternal organization with a membership of over 900 active and retired Chief Officers. He is also employed as a part-time instructor for Fire Tech, a preparatory course designed to assist those candidates studying for upcoming promotional exams. A graduate of the City University of New York (CUNY) Baruch College, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics. In March, 2006, he earned a Master’s degree in Security Studies (Homeland Security) from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
Deputy Assistant of Department Chief Richard Tobin
Richard Tobin is 30 year veteran of the FDNY. He is a Facilitator/ Mentor for FDNY/ West Point Counter Terrorism Training Course. He has completed the FOMI / Columbia University Certificate Program. He has completed the Graduate National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program Certified by the 93rd Congress as an Executive Fire Officer.
He has been cited by the Board of Merit on 6 occasions.
He has an Honorable Discharge from the USMC. He has a BS, Magna Cum Laude, Iona College, New Rochelle NY and an MPA Columbia University NYC
Division Chief James P. Booth
James P. Booth of FDNY EMS Operations has 25 years of EMS experience. He has extensive experience in EMS operations at multiple causality incidents and has previously served with New York City's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force as well the FDNY Incident Management Team.
Deputy Chief James D. Daly, Jr.
James Daly Jr. is a 23 year veteran of the FDNY, of which 7 years have been as a Chief Officer. He is currently assigned as the Division Commander of Lower Manhattan's Division 1. He formerly was assigned as the Chief of Rescue Operations in the FDNY's Special Operations Command and as a Deputy Chief in Midtown Manhattan's Division 3. He was a Battalion Chief in the Rescue Battalion as well as Battalion 44 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and a Captain in Harlem, a Lieutenant in Brooklyn, and a Firefighter in the Bronx.
Deputy Chief James Hodgens
James Hodgens has been a member of the FDNY for 26 years. He is presently assigned to Division 3. He has represented the FDNY on the means of egress committee for the International Code Council. He is a member of the FDNY Emergency Action Plan Committee. This committee established the certification process for the Emergency Action Plan Director as required by Local law 26. He graduated form the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology.
Deputy Chief Jack Mooney
Jack Mooney is a 30 year veteran of the FDNY. Assigned to Division 1 in lower Manhattan, he is currently detailed to the Bureau of Training as the Executive Officer of Training. He holds a BS Degree in Marketing from St. John’s University.
He is a graduate of the Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEPP) from the EMI, Emmitsburg, MD and the Fire Officers Management Institute program (FOMI) from the Columbia University School of Business. He has developed and executed many tabletop, functional and full scale exercises for FDNY since 9/11, covering locations such as Grand Central Terminal, the United Nations Complex in Manhattan, Penn Station, the Met Life building and the Citicorp Building in Manhattan, and the Long Island Railroad Flatbush Avenue Terminal in Brooklyn.
He was the FDNY project coordinator of a major research project in 2007 on the effects of wind at fires in fireproofs multiple dwellings which was conducted on Governor’s Island in NYC harbor.
He is an instructor at the FDNY Training Academy on Randall’s Island where he teaches High Rise Building operations in the Battalion Chief’s Command Course, and Communications for the IC in the Deputy Chief’s Command Course.
He has coauthored two articles in the WNYF magazine on communications and has worked on the editing and revisions of many FDNY procedural bulletins, including high rise operations and communications.
Battalion Chief George K. Healy
George K. Healy is an 18 year veteran of the FDNY. He is presently assigned to Battalion 51. Prior assignments; Firefighter Ladder 3 and Rescue 1, Lieutenant Ladder 174, Captain Division 14 and Special Operations Command. He was the Operations Section Chief for the Governor’s Island burn testing. He is a member of the Wind Driven Fires committee. He is a Fire Service Instructor I level, teaching the FDNY Battalion Chief Command Course.
Battalion Chief Thomas Meara
Thomas Meara has served for 19 years in the FDNY, mostly in Manhattan's 1st and 3rd Divisions. He is currently assigned as a Battalion Chief in Battalion 9 in midtown Manhattan. He has worked for 4 years as a fire protection engineer prior to the FDNY. He earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College and a MS in Management from Polytechnic University. He has also worked for 4 years as a fire protection engineer prior to joining the FDNY.
Battalion Chief Jerry Tracy
Jerry Tracy has been with the New York City Fire Department for the past 31 years. He is currently assigned to the 49 Battalion in North Queens County. Adjunct instructor for the FDNY’s training academy. He has developed numerous training programs for the ranks of firefighter to Chief Officer. He has also been instrumental in keeping strategy and procedural operations current for the department. He has published articles in the FDNY training magazine WNYF and the publication Fire Engineering.
Lt. John Ceriello
John Ceriello is a 20 year veteran, assigned to Squad Co. 252 in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. His previous assignments include Eng. 225, Squad Co. 18, and Rescue Co. # 1. He is an instructor at the Special Operation’s Technical Rescue School and SOC Support Ladder’s Mobile Training Team; he is also a member of FEMA’s USAR NYTF#1.
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