NEW YORK - On the opening day of the New York International Auto Show, INFINITI announced Sebastian Vettel, INFINITI Red Bull Racing driver and triple Formula One World Champion, as Director of Performance for the premium automotive brand.
This latest announcement extends and enhances Vettel's relationship with INFINITI which formally began in 2011. In this capacity, Vettel already has played a crucial role in developing INFINITI's vehicle line-up, starting with the exclusive INFINITI FX Vettel Edition and most recently with the all-new INFINITI Q50.
Making the announcement, INFINITI President Johan de Nysschen said: "Sebastian's talent and ability behind the wheel is unquestionable and his role in developing INFINITI vehicles has already proven invaluable. How many premium automotive brands can honestly say its vehicles have been developed alongside a triple World Champion? As our technical collaboration with INFINITI Red Bull Racing continues to deepen, so does our relationship with Sebastian who will be crucial to the development of our future vehicle line-up, ensuring INFINITI stands for passion and performance in a brand that challenges the status quo."
Vettel has been central to the development of the new INFINITI Q50 from its early stages. He spent time with INFINITI engineers in Japan, providing them with his world-class chassis dynamics, performance and handling feedback. He was then involved in testing early models alongside INFINITI Red Bull Racing Test and Reserve driver Sebastien Buemi in Japan, around the famed Nrburgring in Germany, and at the Formula One pre-season test at the Spanish Circuit de Catalunya in early March.
As Title and Vehicle Performance Partner of INFINITI Red Bull Racing from the start of the 2013 Formula One season, INFINITI has deepened its technical relationship with the Team. This announcement ensures that Vettel will become involved in the development of more future INFINITI vehicles.
"I am really happy to extend my relationship with INFINITI and become their Director of Performance," said Sebastian Vettel. "Helping to develop the INFINITI Q50 was a very different type of driving duty for me but I approached it in exactly the same way as I do my Formula One car. I am looking forward to working closely with INFINITI in developing more of their road cars into the future."
About INFINITI in Formula One
INFINITI, the premium automotive brand, starts the 2013 season as Title Partner and Vehicle Performance Partner of INFINITI Red Bull Racing. With a deepened technical collaboration across people, process and technologies, an 'open door' approach is enabling both sides to access a pool of innovation, new technologies and R&D resources in the shared pursuit of precision and performance.
Since the partnership's inception in 2011 it has already seen the launch of the INFINITI FX Vettel Edition and product development input from Sebastian Vettel and test driver Sebastien Buemi for the all-new INFINITI Q50 premium sports saloon. INFINITI continues to be the most visible automotive brand in Formula One, and the deepened partnership will ensure closer alignment on an increasing number of future team collaborations.
Started as a gourmet peanut brittle business that quickly gained an international clientele, Miss Laurie's Gourmet Kitchen shifted focus in 2010 to teaching cooking classes for adults and children. She has built the business into a platform to raise awareness for feeding the hungry and engaging children in giving back. She has worked with many agencies and schools to spearhead food drives and on service projects that address issues related to hunger and food insecurity.
Committed to her community and to philanthropy, in 2017 she chaired the United Way of Indiana County fundraising campaign, exceeding her fundraising goal of $717,000. She successfully raised more than $680,000 as the 2016 United Way campaign co-chair and continues to serve in several roles on the United Way Board of Directors, including on the Community Impact Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Personnel Committee, and Allocations Committee.
She is the co-founder of Al Angels, an angel group that brings together the world's leading committed industry experts with some of the nation's best early-stage, high-growth Al companies to transform the way society uses Al as a tool toward successful outcomes.
She is the co-founder of the Kuzneski Innovation Cup, a pitch competition held annually in conjunction with the Innovation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. To date, a total of $40,000 has been awarded to six student-faculty entrepreneurial teams to advance commercialization.
She also serves on the Rising Tide Fund, a pilot program that seeks to narrow the gender gap in angel investing by providing 100 women a unique learning opportunity that allowed them to build a diversified portfolio of investments, receive mentoring by women who are experienced angel investors, and an education and training program around angel investing. To date, the fund as deployed more than $1 million and invested in 10 women-led companies.
During her tenure on the board of directors of the YMCA of Indiana County, she raised more than $30,000 during the annual fund kick-off event from 2014 to 2018. She also formerly served on the IUP Museum Board of Directors, where she raised more than $33,000 as chair of the Gala fundraising event. She has also served on the board of directors of the Indiana County Small Business Incubator.
He joined Exxon Company, USA in 1975 as a geophysicist in Houston, before moving in 1981 to New Orleans, where he became district geophysicist and later senior exploration supervisor. Cejka held a number of technical and management positions in Exxon Company, USA and Exxon Corporation before being named vice president of Exxon Ventures, Inc. in 1993. Cejka, who earned his master's degree at the University of Texas at Austin, became vice president for Geoscience for the Caspian and Middle East regions for ExxonMobil Exploration Company in 1999.
Awarded the IUP Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006, he also received an honorary doctoral degree from IUP. He and his wife, Deb Phillips Cejka, a 1973 graduate, serve as co-chairs of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics component of the IUP Imagine Unlimited $75-million comprehensive campaign, and he is a member of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Advancement Council. The couple live in Latrobe and Houston.
Susan Delaney was appointed by the governor as a member of the IUP Council of Trustees on October 7, 1987. Delaney served as chairperson of the IUP Council of Trustees from 2012 until 2016. She also served as chairperson from May 2001 to May 2006. She was vice chair of the Council of Trustees and chair of the council's Academic Affairs Committee from May 2006 until May 2012. She served on the PACT (Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees) Executive Committee until May 2016 and was president of PACT from 1999 to 2001. . Delaney graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana State College with a BS in Home Economics Education.
Delaney has served on the IUP Research Institute Board of Directors as secretary since its inception. She also served on the IUP Middle States Accreditation Steering Committee and on four presidential search committees and has been liaison to the Foundation for IUP Board of Directors. She is president of the Indiana area Meals on Wheels program. Delaney is currently a member of the Indiana County Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice board, and she has served as the community liaison to the IUP/Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Respiratory Care advisory committee since 1978. She served on the boards of Indiana Healthcare Corporation and Indiana Hospital Properties. She also served the Clairvaux Commons senior living facility as secretary of its board for over 20 years.
For more than 35 years, Mark Holman has served as a senior manager and advisor within the state and federal governments. His comprehensive experience, which includes positions within both the federal legislative and executive branches, state executive branch, and senior positions in eight political campaigns, provides him with a comprehensive understanding of government and a unique perspective that few of his peers enjoy. Holman uses these experiences to provide strategic insight and consultation to his clients at the Ridge Policy Group.
Immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Holman served President George W. Bush and Governor Ridge as deputy assistant to the President in the White House Office of Homeland Security. Working in the White House during a time of war greatly enhanced his understanding of the importance of executive action. During his tenure in the White House, Holman assisted with policymaking that ultimately led to the historic creation of the nation's first Department of Homeland Security.
Within the state government, Holman served as Governor Ridge's chief of staff from 1995 to 2000. As a chief architect to the one of Pennsylvania's most successful administrations in recent history, he led efforts to significantly enhance the state's transportation infrastructure. He also assisted with negotiations that ultimately revitalized the Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia and brought four new major sports stadiums to Pennsylvania.
He has also worked in both branches of Congress. Beginning his public career with the late Senator John Heinz, Holman gained first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing legislators and the competing priorities between the House and the Senate. These lessons served him well during his nine-year tenure as chief of staff to then-Congressman Tom Ridge.
Understanding the intersection of policy and politics is essential to a successful public advocacy strategy. Over the course of his career, he has developed extensive campaign experience. He managed Governor Ridge's first campaign for Congress in 1982 and later managed his first gubernatorial campaign. He served on President George H.W. Bush's campaign committee in 1980 and 1988, as well as President Reagan's 1980 campaign. In total, he has worked on eight full-time campaign efforts at all levels. At the national level, Holman has served on the Republican Governors Association Finance Committee for over a decade, providing insight and access to state executive branches across the country.
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