James F. Schneider
Executive Director

James Schneider graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 1984 with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. From then until 1997 he worked as a Project Manager for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at its national headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. At the NRC Mr. Schneider worked with scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to review designs for storing spent nuclear fuel which will remain dangerous for over 500,000 years. His work took him to several nuclear plants as well as various sites throughout the country.

James Schneider Belarus Embassy June 30, 2006

Mr. Schneider believes that it is important for citizens to be involved in their local political process. Eternal vigilance is the price to pay for maintaining freedom in a Jeffersonian Republic. He is concerned about the future of Europe. There are many long-term trends that should cause concern, but most of today's leaders are very shortsighted and only care about their image rather than the future of their people. These concerns lead him to seek the office of Montgomery County Executive in 1998. (See a short video of Jim Schneider on Newsnight Maryland.) He won his parties nomination and managed to get 27% of the votes in a final election against a popular incumbent. In 2002 Mr. Schneider published his first novel, which explained the foolish nature of politics in a style comparable to Mark Twain and Franz Kafka.

James Schneider founded the Center for Perpetual Diversity in 2003. He likes to travel and learn about other cultures and cares very much about the risk of nations losing their cultural identity. He has met businessmen and government officials on some of his trips to Brazil, Cuba, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Thailand, and Ukraine. During a trip to Ukraine in 2005 he was inspired to start a scholarship program for the East Ukrainian National University. Scholarships were awarded to three students who wrote the best papers explaining whether or not Ukraine should join the European Union. The lower right photo shows Mr. Schneider meeting with the head of the University in Lugansk, Ukraine.