JIM SLATER
TEAM LEADER
Born and bred in Perth, Scotland, Jim graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 1974 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1977. After a number of years working in Scotland, England and Luxembourg, Jim set up his own practice. In 1996 he joined forces with a long time friend to form M&S Accountancy and Taxation, based in the Fife town of Dunfermline. Over the last twelve and a half years the firm has grown to four partners and around 14 full and part time staff.
As a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), Jim served for a number of years as an exam marker and tutor, and he is currently a member of the VAT committee.
Jim joined the Rotary Club of Dunfermline Carnegie in 2002 when the club was being formed. In common with most of the members Jim finds a breakfast club is ideal. After serving as fund raising chair for three years Jim became Junior Vice President of the club in 2007. Now nearing the end of his year as Senior Vice President Jim is looking forward to leading the club in 2009/10.
For many Jim and his wife, Judith, have lived in the village of Dunning, which is 10 miles from Perth and 25 miles from Dunfermline. In his spare time Jim’s hobbies are Volleyball, Tai Chi, cooking and music. He is a founder member of the organising committee of the Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament, which this year celebrates its 25th year. Jim continues to play Volleyball, but purely for recreation. Jim and Judith have recently taken up Tai Chi, attending weekly classes run by the Taoist Tai Chi Society.
When asked why he wanted to lead a GSE team Jim said that if he had had the opportunity to be a team member when he was young enough to be eligible, he would have jumped at it. As that is no longer possible, the next best thing is to be team leader and help to make the experience rewarding and memorable for the team members. He also hopes to see as much of Pennsylvania as he can and share social and cultural experiences with fellow Rotarians and their families.
CHRIS WILES
Sponsored by Elgin Rotary Club
Chris Wiles was born and raised in Elgin in Moray, Scotland. He completed his first degree at the University of Aberdeen in 1991, leaving with a BSc in Psychology (Hons). He then completed three years in a variety of care and educational placements before working as an Assistant Psychologist in a hospital for adults with learning difficulties. From this post he successfully gained entry into the Clinical Psychology training course at the University of Glasgow. During this three year Doctorate course, Chris completed placements with a variety of clinical groups as well as completing a rigorous academic programme and a publishable doctorate thesis on the believability of children’s eyewitness testimony.
Chris has worked as a Clinical Psychologist since completing his training in 1997 and is currently employed by the National Health Service in Grampian being based in the Rowan Centre, a specialist child and adolescent mental heath service for Moray. Chris is currently responsible for the assessment and treatment of children, young people and their families who are experiencing a wide range of developmental psychological, emotional and mental health difficulties.
Chris lives on the outskirts of Elgin which has a population of approximately 20,000 and is the capital of Moray which extends from the North Sea coast and up into the Cairngorms to the South. Moray has a population of approximately 96,000 and is famous for its rich history of whisky producing, with over 46 distilleries. Moray is also famed for its farming and fishing and in more recent times has supplied both manpower and industry for the oil production in the North Sea.
Chris enjoys a rich and busy family life with his wife Karen, a solicitor for the Moray Council and has two children, Lewis aged 9 and Daisy aged 6. Chris’s hobbies include training his son’s football team, cycling and a very rare game of golf. He also enjoys reading, listening to music and plays guitar and has been known to encourage a sing-along of variable quality! He also enjoys socialising with friends and regularly supports his local football team from Aberdeen FC with both his son and his father.
During the Exchange in Pennsylvania Chris would be keen to visit a variety of child and adolescent mental health services and gain a better understanding of how these services are provided. He is also interested in understanding more about mental health services in general as well as experiencing how the education system supports children and young people. Chris is also interested in how social services supports and provides for children, young people and their families.
Chris hopes to try and maintain some fitness during the exchange and would welcome opportunities to cycle, go to the gym and play some golf.
ROGER BOND
Sponsored by Dunfermline Rotary Club
Roger is 36 years of age and works in Dunfermline, Fife. He is married to Sandra and has two young children, Kieran and Ruby aged 6 and 2 respectfully.
Roger has been a Police Officer for 14 years. His Police career started in Grampian where he worked various divisions and departments including Road Policing and Security Escort duties. He was promoted to The Scottish Police College as an Advanced Car and Motorcycle Instructor teaching student’s from throughout Scotland. Roger then transferred to Fife Constabulary where he is currently responsible for identifying and addressing local crime trends.
Roger’s main hobbies include motorcycling, cycling, squash and athletics. He is currently teaching his son off-road motorcycling, plays squash for the Police team and is a member of a local cycling club.
Roger is looking forward to seeing at first hand the workings and training of Police in Pennsylvania as-well as making new friends.
As part of the Group Study Exchange Roger would appreciate the opportunity to shadow both Uniform and Community Sergeants. This would assist him in seeing how the Police in Pennsylvania operate individually and jointly with neighbouring States to address immediate and routine calls. He would also be interested to learn about their own partnership working within the communities to address issues such as anti social behaviour, diversity and learn how they work together to alleviate the effects of crime. Learning about crime initiatives, which crimes are dealt with most regularly and why, what crime prevention methods are currently utilized would be very beneficial in his current role. He recently addressed and in the short term alleviated a vandalism issue within the local community, however his technique, in his own words, proved very labour intensive. He would be interested to establish the success or otherwise of similar projects undertaken in Pennsylvania.
Due to his training background Roger would also be interested in visiting a local recruiting and training department to see the selection standards implemented within Pennsylvania State Police. He believes that the opportunity to discuss general Policing issues with officers from Pennsylvania would be fascinating and highly advantageous in his current role, with the potential to develope similar successful operations back in Fife.
ERIC DAVIDSON
Sponsored by Loch Ness Rotary Club
Eric S. Davidson was born and raised in the Highland Capital of Inverness, Scotland. He was first awarded a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Quantity Surveying from Inverness College in 2002 before attaining his undergraduate Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc Hons) from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen in 2006. He is currently undertaking the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Assessment of Practical Competence (APC) in order to become a fully fledged member of the RICS.
Eric has worked as a Quantity Surveyor (Cost/Value Consultant) for some 10 years and is currently employed with a firm of Chartered Surveyors that operate throughout Scotland via their offices in Inverness, Dundee and Edinburgh. Eric is currently responsible for a number of construction projects within the Highlands these ranging from office accommodation and rural primary school refurbishments to new large scale housing and infrastructure works.
Eric lives in the Scottish Highland capital of Inverness which has a population of some 66,576 and is perhaps more commonly known for being situated close to Loch Ness and its legendary Monster and Culloden Battle field, where the last battle on British soil was fought. Eric’s hobbies include participating in the local amateur football (soccer) leagues, working out in the gym, taking part in local endurance duathlons, cycling, running and golf. He also enjoys travelling to and experiencing new places, socialising with friends and family on a regular basis and more recently cookery.
While in Pennsylvania Eric would be grateful to visit some construction sites to learn and gain an insight into how the construction industry in the United States operates. He is also interested to visit some construction related manufacturing companies. Should the opportunity arise Eric would enjoy the odd round of golf as well as touring the state of Pennsylvania.
CALLUM RAMSAY
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dunfermline Carnegie
Callum Ramsay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city in July 1983 and lives just outside the city in the town of South Queensferry, famous for its 2 bridges which cross the River Forth. Callum studied architecture at the University of Edinburgh, joining in 2001 and emerging 6 years later with a Master of Arts degree in Architectural design and becoming a fully fledged architect did not end there and Callum is currently taking exams, which will hopefully allow him to bear the title architect in March of 2009.
Callum has worked for a number of architectural practices in Edinburgh during his studies and currently practices architecture with a small company called Centreline Solutions, which is based just across the water from his home, in North Queensferry. One of only three members of full time staff, Callum gets to work on all aspects of the projects Centreline Solutions is engaged in, which includes healthcare, commercial and domestic projects. He has just completed his first project as lead consultant, which involved doubling in size a health centre in Buckhaven, Fife.
When not working or studying, Callum can often be found lying underneath a car, most often his ex-army Land Rover, which receives an undue share of attention. He can also be found out cycling with friends in the hills around Edinburgh, local trail centres and other cycling destinations in Scotland. Unable to resist anything oily, he also enjoys building and maintaining his increasing fleet of bikes.
During the group study exchange in Pennsylvania, Callum looks forward to learning about architectural practice in the United States and would appreciate the opportunity to visit some architects offices and construction sites. He would also very much hope for the opportunity to visit one of his favourite pieces of 20th Century architecture, Frank Lloyd Wrights Falling Water, located near Uniontown.
