The headlines scream about one disaster after another where few seem to have given adequate thought or effort to unanticipated consequences. Whether finance, evil intent or natural events—modeling and simulation can and should play a part in innovative and effective solutions. It is not enough to have a good plan or even adequate execution. We need to ask hard questions and apply extraordinary skills to our decision making and action. As a community, we need to create opportunities to apply our imagination, technology, rigorous effort and, systematic attention to risk whether long-term or immediate. Apollo 13, 9/11, the financial crisis, the oil spill n the Gulf of Mexico and tomorrow’s headlines remind us of the need for uncommon common sense as do our everyday opportunities to change the world.

Priscilla Elfrey chairs the GC/MS:ICCRE. At the Kennedy Space Center, she supports simulation for space exploration , especially lifecycle innovation, outreach, international research opportunities and work to establish the Human-Centered Design and Learning Institute. She is leading the NASA STEM PLACE at I/ITSEC and represents KSC on SimSummit. She managed training at NYU and Yale, was a founder of 2 off-off Broadway theaters, founder and project manager of what is now the National Center for Simulation, produced award winning videos for NASA and wrote The Hidden Agenda published by John Wiley and numerous conference papers and articles on technology, careers, storytelling and the arts. Educated in NYC (Barnard, Columbia, Moreno Institute and Cornell) and the first woman Associate Dean of Yale College and former Fellow of Calhoun College- and Florida Atlantic University Center for Electronic Communication, she is SCS liaison on the SISO Conference Committee, director of Liophant and a Fellow of the MISS, Savona, Italy