The NACME officers team is comprised of individuals with outstanding careers in education, science, research, publishing, marketing, finance, and financial aid management.

Irving Pressley McPhail was named the sixth president and Chief Executive Officer of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME) on September 1, 2009 (www.nacme.org). He joined NACME in 2007 as executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he founded and served as principal of The McPhail Group LLC. He served 15 years as a college president or chancellor at The Community College of Baltimore County, St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, and LeMoyne-Owen College. Dr. McPhail also served as Chief Operating Officer of the Baltimore City Public Schools. He has held tenured full professorships at three colleges and universities, and served as an affiliate or visiting professor at the University of Maryland at College Park, the University of Pennsylvania, and Morgan State University. Working at the nexus of practice, policy, and research in literacy education, post-secondary student success, community college leadership, and STEM education, Dr. McPhail is the co-editor of Teaching African American Learners to Read: Perspectives and Practices, and the author of more than 50 journal articles, chapters, monographs, and technical reports. He earned a bachelor’s degree in development sociology at Cornell University, a master’s degree in reading at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a doctorate in reading/language arts at the University of Pennsylvania.

He completed the Presidents Academy Summer Institute at the American Association of Community Colleges and the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.

Dr. McPhail serves on the board of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation and the National Council on Black American Affairs/ Northeast Region [an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges].

Michael Pan joined NACME in July 2008 as Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer. In this capacity, he is responsible for all aspects of NACME’s financial management, human resources, real estate and technology functions. Mr. Pan works closely with the President/CEO on fiscal control, and is a focal point for all Program and Development executives on funding matters. He is the liaison to the NACME Finance Committee and Board of Directors in presenting financial results, budgets, forecasts and the financial implications of strategic plans. He interacts frequently with the banking and investment communities and manages the NACME investment portfolio. In addition, he oversees all HR processes and activities including staff training and development. 

Mr. Pan came to NACME from a career in the technology industry and expertise in financial and strategic planning, pricing, business controls and operation efficiencies.  He has over 25 years of experience at IBM, including seven years internationally as CFO of the IBM Greater China Group. As the region’s CFO based in Beijing, he led the financial operations with $2 billion of revenues in the hardware, software, services, and financing businesses. As the CFO of Hong Kong, Mr. Pan improved both financial performance and staff morale there during a period of changing economic and political environment.  He drove key initiatives to fund the initial growth in China by redeploying resources to Beijing, and led real estate consolidations that resulted in substantial savings. 

Mr. Pan also held a number of executive and management positions at IBM Corporate Headquarters, the Hardware and Global Services Divisions, Manufacturing, and in the Latin America Group, with responsibilities for budgeting, planning, pricing, treasury, financial analysis, and cost efficiencies.

Mr. Pan is a graduate of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with an M.B.A. in Finance and Management and a B.S. in Economics.

Aileen Walter 
Vice President, University Programs
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Walter began her second stint at NACME as vice president, scholar management. In this capacity, she is responsible for the management and direction of all NACME scholarship programs and scholarship management services. In 2003, Walter helped lead NACME's Student Support Strategy. This strategy has expanded formal partnerships with academic institutions. She also was responsible for laying the groundwork for NACME's NASA partnership and alumni outreach activities. The most recent addition to Walter's responsibilities is management and outreach for the Alfred P. Sloan Minority Ph.D. program. In 1994, she received an “Outstanding Contribution” award for her work. She left the organization briefly for a position as University Diversity Consultant at Merck, a NACME board-member company.

Walter has more than 20 years of experience in scholarship management, having served as director of financial aid at the Stevens Institute of Technology prior to joining NACME.

She has been a member of the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators, and has served on the boards of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

She holds a B.A. degree in English literature from Montclair State College and a M.A. degree in higher education administration from New York University.

Walter and her husband live in Montclair, New Jersey. They have one daughter.