Meet the President and Vice President

James Carlisle retired honorably from the US Army in 2015 as a Lieutenant Colonel after 26 years of service. He is married to The Honorable Karen H. Carlisle, Director, Soldier and Family Legal Services Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) and together they have two adult children. James has traveled the world, jumped out of perfectly good airplanes, brokered peace agreements and run ultra-marathons. He grew up in South Florida, graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile Alabama in the 1980s and earned his Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 2010. In 2016 he joined Teach For America and moved to Walterboro, SC to teach 5th Grade Math and Science  for four years. He now lives in Fairfax Virginia and teaches 4th Grade. In his free time, he is a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider Coach, an Official for USA Cycling, the Secretary of a National Motorcycle Club for First Responders and Military, the President of a mid-sized nonprofit, a  writer for various  magazines, and an Ambassador for Teach for America. He loves to travel, read books, work on old cars and motorcycles, and learn new skills.

The Vice President of our Foundation is Meredith A. Rynkiewicz. As a young college student in Maryland, Meredith deployed in conjunction with James Carlisle to Iraq at the very beginning of Desert Storm. Within just a few days she made a strong impression with her Chain of Command that developed into a long-term working relationship with James. Meredith is now the proud  mother of three beautiful children, one of whom has been challenged by cancer for her entire life. As a result, Meredith has had to learn the ropes of establishing and managing a 501(c)3 organization. For the past several years, Young Scientists of South Carolina have been fortunate to have Meredith involved with the business development, sales and marketing fronts of our Foundation.