Presidential Lecture Series

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  Jonathan Capehart - Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist

  Wright State University

  Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jonathan Capehart is a member of The Washington Post editorial board and writes about politics and social issues for the PostPartisan blog. He is an MSNBC contributor, regularly seen on Hardball and Morning Joe, and has served as a substitute anchor on UP, Hardball, Way Too Early, and other MSNBC programs.

  Capehart has also been a member of the reporters’ roundtable on the ABC News program This Week with George Stephanopoulos. As a substitute host on The Brian Lehrer Show and The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC New York Public Radio, Capehart has interviewed a wide variety of newsmakers and artists, from Attorney General Eric Holder and former Secretary of State James Baker to jazz great Nancy Wilson and actor Christoph Walz.

  In September 2014, the Advocate magazine ranked Capehart ninth among its 50 most influential LGBT people in media. In December 2014, Mediaite named him one of the Top 9 Rising Stars of Cable News.

  Capehart was deputy editorial page editor of the New York Daily News from 2002 to 2004 and served on that paper's editorial board from 1993 to 2000. In 1999, his 16-month editorial campaign to save the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem earned him and the board the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Capehart left the Daily News in July 2000 to become the national affairs columnist at Bloomberg News. He took a leave from that position in February 2001 to serve as a policy adviser to Michael Bloomberg in his first successful campaign for New York City mayor.

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  Dan Rather - Award-Winning Broadcast Journalist

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Honors Institute

  For more than 50 years, former CBS News anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Dan Rather has been the embodiment of the intrepid broadcast journalist. From the Kennedy assassination—where he was the first to break the news that the president had been killed—to the Indian Ocean tsunami, he has covered every major story of our time with distinction and a fierce dedication to hard news. For his unparalleled devotion to his craft, he was named the 2012 recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.

  Rather’s datelines have been as far-ranging as Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Russia, and Cuba. He was the last reporter on the air when the Chinese Army moved in with force during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest. He has interviewed Mikhail Gorbachev in Red Square and Fidel Castro in Cuba.

  On the domestic front, Rather has covered every presidential campaign since 1952. He was White House correspondent for CBS News during the administrations of Presidents Johnson and Nixon. During the 1960s, as chief of the CBS southwest bureau, he reported on the Civil Rights struggle in the South.

  He stayed on the air for 18 consecutive hours following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

  Rather was the first American network anchor to report from Iraq after the fall of Baghdad. He broke the shocking story in 2004 of the Abu Ghraib prison abuses, for which he was recognized in 2005 with the prestigious Peabody and Sigma Delta Chi awards. In 2011, he received the CPJ Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for his work as an original supporter in defending independent reporting.

  After leaving CBS News, Rather pioneered a cable news magazine program that produced more than 300 hours of award-winning news and documentary programming. His production company has developed projects that include an interview program, documentaries, and digital video content.

  Most recently, Rather was played by Robert Redford in the critically acclaimed drama Truth, released in theatres in October 2015.

  Rather is a prolific author, having written, co-written, or contributed to several books. His entertaining memoir, Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News, was published in 2012.

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  Margaret O'Mara - Author, Pivotal Tuesdays

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Common Text Committee

  Margaret O’Mara is an associate professor of history at the University of Washington, where she writes and teaches about the economic and political history of the modern United States.

  She is the author of Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley (Princeton, 2005), which showed how politics and culture shaped the metropolitan geography of high technology, as well as other articles and essays about Silicon Valley and other high-tech regions around the world.

  Her most recent book, Pivotal Tuesdays: Four Elections That Shaped the Twentieth Century (Penn, 2015), explores the personalities, events, and issues of the presidential elections of 1912, 1932, 1968, and 1992. O’Mara’s current book project is Silicon Age: High Technology and the Reinvention of the United States (under contract with Penguin Press).

  Her research has received fellowships and awards from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Mellon Foundation, and the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities. She is an OAH Distinguished Lecturer and a past fellow of the National Forum on the Future of Liberal Education.

  O’Mara earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. from Northwestern University. Prior to her academic career, she worked in the Clinton White House and served as a contributing researcher at the Brookings Institution.

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  Mock Debate - Moderated by Alexander Heffner, The Open Mind (PBS)

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Student Government

  Alexander Heffner is the host of The Open Mind on PBS. He has covered American politics, civic life, and millennials since the 2008 presidential campaign.

  His work has been profiled in Variety, Medium, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and on NBC News, C-SPAN, NY1, HuffPost Live and BBC, among other media outlets.

  His essays, reviews, and op-eds have appeared in Reuters, RealClearPolitics, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The Root, among other publications.

  He has lectured and moderated panels for the National Constitution Center, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine Studies at Drake University, Quello Center for Telecommunication and Law at Michigan State University, College of Journalism and Mass Communications at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, School of Political Management at George Washington University, Office of Academic Affairs at University of New Mexico, School of Social Sciences at University of California–Irvine and New Media Project at Bryn Mawr College. He was the political director for WHRB 95.3 FM and host of The Political Arena. A native New Yorker, he is a graduate of Andover and Harvard.

  Learn more at alexanderheffner.com

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  Maysoon Zayid - Actress, Professional Standup Comedian, and Writer

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Honors Institute and Office of Disability Services

  Maysoon Zayid earned a bachelor’s in acting at Arizona State University and is the co-founder/co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival. Zayid was a full-time on-air contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann and has recently appeared on The Queen Latifah Show and Huffington Post Live.

  Zayid is a recurring columnist at The Daily Beast and was a speaker at TEDWomen 2013. She has appeared on Comedy Central, PBS, CNN, HBO, MTV, ABC, and BBC, and had a feature role in Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. As a professional comedian, Zayid has performed in top New York clubs and toured extensively at home and abroad. She was a headliner on the Arabs Gone Wild Comedy Tour and The Muslims Are Coming Tour. Her screenplay, LAW, was chosen for the Sundance Middle Eastern Screenwriters Lab.

  She was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention and named one of 21 leaders of the 21st century by Women’s Enews. Zayid is the founder of Maysoon’s Kids, an education and wellness program for disabled and wounded refugee children. She was delighted to be a 2013 honoree of the United Cerebral Palsy of NYC Women Who Care Awards and currently sits on that organization’s planning committee.

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  Amy Purdy - Model, Actress, Dancer, Paralympic Bronze Medalist

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Adventure Summit and Office of Disability Services

  At 19, after experiencing flu-like symptoms, Amy Purdy was rushed to the hospital in a state of septic shock. En route, she experienced respiratory and multiple organ failure that caused her to lose circulation to her extremities. When she entered the hospital, Purdy was put on life support, placed into a coma, and given less than a 2-percent chance of survival, After multiple blood transfusions and the removal of her ruptured spleen, doctors diagnosed Amy with meningococcal meningitis, a vaccine-preventable bacterial infection. Due to the lack of circulation she had suffered, doctors amputated her legs below the knee. Purdy later received a donated kidney from her father a week before her 21st birthday.

  Just three months after her kidney transplant, Purdy entered the USASA National Snowboarding Championship, where she won medals in three events. Today she is one of the top-ranked adaptive snowboarders in the world and was the 2014 Paralympic bronze medalist. Purdy is the only double leg amputee competing at the world-class level.

  She was featured in a Madonna music video, won a lead actress role in an award-winning independent film, and has participated in multiple creative modeling projects. One was a photo shoot with musician and artist Nikki Sixx where Purdy’s legs were custom made from steel to look like ice picks.

  Purdy has become a powerful inspirational and motivational speaker whose story and images have been featured in numerous national and international publications. In 2012, she and longtime boyfriend (now husband) Daniel Gale raced around the world on The Amazing Race. In the spring of 2014, Purdy inspired millions of fans with her stunning performances on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, eventually becoming the show’s runnerup. She followed that by sharing her remarkable story on a national tour alongside Oprah Winfrey as part of Oprah’s The Life You Want Tour.

  Next up was the release of her memoir, On My Own Two Feet, which quickly became a New York Times Best Seller and has since been published in numerous languages around the world.

  Purdy was featured in a critically acclaimed 2015 Super Bowl commercial with Muhammad Ali on behalf of Toyota and, later that year, drove the pace car at the Daytona 500. She is now in the process of launching her own clothing line, the Amy Purdy Collection, due out this spring in partnership with Element Eden.

  She is most proud of co-founding Adaptive Action Sports, a nonprofit organization that helps those with permanent disabilities get involved in action sports.

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  Tom Harkin - United States Senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015 and Author, Americans with Disabilities Act

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Office of Disability Services

  Tom Harkin was elected to Congress from Iowa’s Fifth District in 1974. After serving 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, he challenged an incumbent senator and won. Iowans returned him to the Senate in 1990, 1996 and 2002. In 2008, Harkin made history by becoming the first Iowa Democrat to win a fifth term in the Senate. He retired in January 2015.

  Senator Ted Kennedy tasked a young Senator Harkin with crafting legislation to protect the civil rights of millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. Harkin knew firsthand about the challenges facing people with disabilities. His late brother, Frank, had been deaf from an early age. What emerged from that process would later become Harkin’s signature legislative achievement—The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

  The ADA legislation changed the landscape of America by requiring buildings and transportation to be wheelchair accessible, and to provide workplace accommodations for people with disabilities. Harkin and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the 2008 ADA Amendments bill to ensure continuing protections.

  Harkin has also worked to advance collaborative research in paralysis and improve quality of life for those living with paralysis, including creating a Clinical Trials Network to measure the effectiveness of rehabilitation therapies. His Christopher and Dana Reeve Act, named after the actor and his wife, became law in March 2009.

  As chairman of the Senate panel that funds medical research, Harkin led the effort between 1998 and 2003 (in tandem with Sen. Arlen Specter) to double funding for research into cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases. As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, he crafted the prevention and wellness title of the health reform bill, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Harkin became chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in September 2009, following Kennedy’s death.

  Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa (pop. 150), on November 19, 1939, the son of an Iowa coal miner father and a Slovenian immigrant mother. He still lives in the house in Cumming where he was born. In 1968, He married Ruth Raduenz. The Harkins have two daughters, Amy and Jenny, and three grandchildren.

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  Temple Grandin - Professor of Animal Science, Best-selling Author, and Autism Activist

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Office of Disability Services

  Temple Grandin, Ph.D., didn’t talk until she was three and a half years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping, and humming. In 1950, she was diagnosed with autism and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. Grandin tells her story of “groping her way from the far side of darkness” in her book that stunned the world, Emergence: Labeled Autistic. Until its publication, many professionals and parents assumed an autism diagnosis was a virtual death sentence to achievement and productivity.

  Though considered “weird” during her young school years, she eventually found a mentor who recognized her interests and abilities. Grandin later developed her talents into a successful career as one of the world’s very few livestock-handling equipment designers. She has designed the facilities in which half the cattle in the United States are handled, consulting for firms such as Burger King, McDonald’s, Swift, and others.

  Grandin earned a B.A. from Franklin Pierce College, an M.S. in animal science from Arizona State University, and a Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois. She is currently a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, teaching courses that focus on livestock behavior and facility design. She has authored more than 400 articles about animal handling, welfare, and facility design in scientific journals and livestock periodicals.

  She has been featured on National Public Radio, major television programs such as the BBC special The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow, ABC’s Primetime Live, The Today Show, Larry King Live, 48 Hours, and 20/20, and has been written about in national publications such as Time, People, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and The New York Times. Bravo Cable broadcast a profile and she was featured in the book Anthropologist from Mars.

  Grandin’s current bestselling book on autism is The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger’s. She also authored Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships, Animals Make Us Human, Animals in Translation, Thinking in Pictures, Emergence: Labeled Autistic, and has produced several DVDs.

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  Steve Baskis - Advocate for Disability by Adventure Exploration and Adaptive Recreation

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Veteran & Military Center and Office of Disability Services

  Steve Baskis is a blind veteran, adventurer, speaker, and advocate for disability awareness through adventure exploration and adaptive recreation. Blindness instilled in Baskis a drive to test his own potential and push the boundaries of what disabled people are perceived capable of doing.

  His desire to serve in the military, as his father and grandfather did, led Baskis to enlist in the U.S. Army. Just eight months into his first deployment, in 2008, a roadside bomb in Iraq left him permanently blinded.

  One year later, Baskis climbed with the first U.S., Canada, and Mexico blind team to the top of the eighth tallest peak in North America. He later joined a group of disabled veterans to climb 20,000-foot Mount Lobuche in the Himalayas. That Soldiers to Summits trip was recorded for the documentary film High Ground.

  Baskis has ascended to new heights every year and developed a love and passion for competitive sports and outdoor recreation. He has also:

  • Climbed or attempted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Russia’s Mount Elbrus, a Mexican volcano, a 14,000-foot Rocky Mountain peak, and Colorado’s Bastille Crack

  • Navigated whitewater rapids on the Yellowstone River

  • Trained with the U.S. Paralympic cycling team

  • Participated in:

  • Nordic skiing

  • Biathlons

  • Marathons

  • Triathlons

  • Scuba diving

  • Snowshoeing

  Steve Baskis has challenged and shattered people’s perception of blindness through his advocacy as well as his example.

  From grade school assemblies to corporate events, Baskis has given motivational and informative presentations to a wide range of organizations. He is excited to inspire and raise awareness through adventure and exploration.

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  Steve Wozniak - Apple co-founder, designer of the Apple I and Apple II

  Wright State University

  Steve Wozniak, a Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for three decades, helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products—the Apple I and II, which influenced the popular Macintosh.

  Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. in 1976 with Wozniak's Apple I personal computer. The following year, Wozniak introduced his Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive. The Apple II was integral in launching the personal computer industry.

  Wozniak returned to the University of California–Berkeley in 1981 and finished his degree in electrical engineering and computer science. He was awarded the 1985 National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States for his achievements at Apple Computer, the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators.

  In 2000, Wozniak was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment for “single-handedly designing the first personal computer and for then redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachers.”

  After leaving Apple in 1985, Wozniak was involved in various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and encouraging creativity for students. Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education, he “adopted” the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet, and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

  Wozniak currently serves as chief scientist for Fusion-io. Norton Publishing released his New York Times bestselling autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon in September 2006. Wozniak’s television appearances include reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and Season 8 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

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  Laverne Cox - Emmy-nominated Actress, Television Producer, Transgender Advocate

  Wright State University

  Laverne Cox is a critically acclaimed actress who currently appears in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black, playing the groundbreaking role of Sophia Burset, an incarcerated African American transgender woman. She is the first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show and was the first trans actress to be nominated for an Emmy award, for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

  She is a recipient of the Dorian Rising Star Award. Time magazine listed Sophia Burset No. 4 on its most influential fictional characters of 2013.

  In addition to her critically acclaimed work as an actress, Cox is in demand as a speaker, encouraging others to move beyond gender expectations and live more authentically. Her insights have been featured on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NPR, HLN, VH1, Fox News Latino, and other national TV and radio networks.

  In 2013, she won Best Supporting Actress at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival for her work in the praised film Musical Chairs, directed by Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan). Cox’s other acting credits include Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, HBO’s Bored to Death, and the independent films Carla and The Exhibitionists. She also has roles in the forthcoming films 36 Saints and Grand Street.

  Cox is the first trans woman of color to produce and star in her own television show, VH1’s TRANSForm Me, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. She is also the first trans woman of color to appear on an American reality television program, VH1’s I Wanna Work for Diddy, for which she accepted the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Reality Program. Cox was named one of Out magazine’s “Out 100,” one of the country’s top 50 trans icons by The Huffington Post, and one of Metro Source magazine’s “55 People We Love.” Her critical writings have appeared in The Advocate and The Huffington Post. A graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, Cox holds a degree in fine arts.

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  Nairoby Otero - Broadway Actress, Writer, Producer, Promoting Solidarity among Women

  Wright State University

  Co-sponsored with Office of Latino Affairs

  Solidarity in the Face of Divisive Sexist Attitudes

  Nairoby Otero is an actress, writer, producer, speaker, and proud first-generation Cuban-American. She has been called “...an absolute delight…” by critics. Her work has been praised in various publications, including the New York Daily News.

  The company she founded, YOLO! Productions, aims to enhance women’s visibility in theater. Otero will perform as Roberta in John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea this fall. She recently starred in The Coven as Mandy while balancing her company and a successful speaking career.

  Otero’s speaking career began after she campaigned nationwide for Hillary Clinton, then John McCain in 2008. She witnessed firsthand the poor way both Clinton and Sarah Palin were treated by the media. This motivated her to speak out against sexism and hatred that discourage young women from achieving success.

  While on the campaign trail, she thought of her girlfriends, her sister, her abuela, and her mother, who escaped from Cuba during the 1971 “Freedom Flights.” Otero grew up in a family where the women were both respected and in charge. Speaking on sisterhood is her way of making sure people, especially young women, know that respect for women isn’t a fantasy; it can be a vital reality.

  Otero is the youngest board member of The New Agenda, a national organization that strives to improve the lives of women and girls by bringing about systemic change in the media, at the workplace, at school, and at home. Its work has been featured on Politico, CNBC, CNN, and NPR. Otero gained attention through The New Agenda’s blog, eliciting hundreds of emails and sharing on social media for her writing.

  Otero moved to New York City after high school to pursue a career in acting. She attended the prestigious Marymount Manhattan College, earning a degree in theatre performance.

  The New Orleans native is well known for her solo show, 'Til Sunday, written and performed by Otero and directed by Michelle Tattenbaum. Otero has performed in ensemble theater and film from regional to off-Broadway’s own Cherry Lane Theatre.

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  Michio Kaku - American Futurist, Theoretical Physicist and Popularizer of Science

  Wright State University

  Physics of the Future

  Michio Kaku, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized authority in two areas. The first is Einstein’s unified field theory, which Kaku is attempting to complete. The other is predicting trends affecting business, commerce, and finance based on the latest research in science. He is one of the world's most widely recognized science figures. He currently holds the Henry Semat Chair in Theoretical Physics at the City University of New York (CUNY) and has been a professor at CUNY for almost 30 years. His goal is to complete Einstein’s dream of a “theory of everything,” to derive an equation, perhaps no more than one inch long, which will summarize all the physical laws of the universe. He is the co-founder of string theory, which is the leading candidate today for the theory of everything.

  He is the author of several international best-sellers, Hyperspace and Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century. Visions is the most authoritative and authentic understanding of the world of the future. His book, Parallel Worlds, about the latest in cosmology, was a finalist for the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in the UK and a finalist for the Aventist Science Book Award. His New York Times bestselling book, Physics of the Impossible, was the number-one science book in the United States. His latest book is entitled, Physics of the Future, was also on the New York Times bestseller list.

  Kaku frequently speaks on international radio and television. He has appeared on Nightline, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, CNN, ABC-TV News, Fox News, BBC-TV, BBC-Radio, PBS and has appeared on numerous science specials. He also hosts his own national weekly radio program which airs in 130 cities in the US called Science Fantastic. It is the largest nationally syndicated science radio show on commercial radio in the United States, and perhaps the world. He has also written for Time magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Discover Magazine, New Scientist Magazine, Astronomy Magazine and Wired magazine among others.

  He frequently keynotes major business conferences about the next 20 years in computers, finance, banking, and commerce. He has also keynoted major conferences for major corporations.

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  LeRoy Butler - Former NFL Player with Green Bay Packers, Advocate for Disadvantaged Youth

  Wright State University

  Be a leader, Not a Follower

  LeRoy Butler is a former NFL player who played strong safety for his entire career with the Green Bay Packers (1990-2001). Since retiring, he has become a vocal advocate for underprivileged youth. Butler has helped raise money for women, men, and families affected by breast cancer.

  Born on July 19, 1968, Butler spent his childhood in Jacksonville, Florida. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and his mother, Eunice, supported Butler and his four siblings by working first as a secretary and later as a nurse. The family lived in a small apartment in the crime-infested Blodgett Homes housing project on Jacksonville’s west side.

  As a child, Butler’s problems went beyond poverty and crime. He was born so pigeon-toed that doctors had to break bones in both of his feet when he was only eight months old to correct the problem. Walking was a major challenge for Butler, who spent much of his early youth in a wheelchair. Between the ages of six and eight, he had to wear leg braces. He spent much of his early childhood watching other children play in ways that he could not. At the time, doctors predicted that Butler would be lucky if he ever walked normally. Certainly, the notion of becoming a professional athlete was not in his foreseeable future.

  As fate would have it, when he was eight years old, Butler discovered he no longer needed his leg braces—quite by accident. When his older sister raced out of the apartment one day, she inadvertently knocked Butler out of his wheelchair, sending his leg braces flying as well. Picking himself up, Butler discovered that he could not only walk normally, but he could also run pretty well. He immediately ran outside and joined in a kickball game. With this amazing turn of events, Butler discovered that he could not only run, but soon he could run faster than most of the kids in the neighborhood. The rest, as they say, is history.

  By the time he was 10 years old, Butler was starring on the neighborhood football team. And, after junior high, he was recruited by football powerhouse Robert E. Lee High School on the other side of town. Butler earned seven varsity letters in all—three in football and two each in basketball and track. When he was a high school senior, Butler was a unanimous All-America pick, and he was heavily recruited by colleges all across the country. After accepting a football scholarship to Florida State University, Butler shared the defensive backfield for two years with two-sport superstar Deion Sanders.

  Butler was selected by the Packers in the second round of the 1990 draft. He played in 181 games, earned a Super Bowl ring after the 1996 season, selected All-Pro 5 times, and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times (1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998). He was named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and later inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 2007.

  During his 12 seasons with the Packers, Butler recorded 953 tackles, 38 interceptions, 553 return yards, 12 fumble recoveries, 3 defensive touchdowns and 20 1/2 sacks. He led or tied for the team lead in interceptions in five different seasons. He was the first defensive back in NFL history to gain entrance in the 20 Sack/20 Interception Club.

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  David Frum - Conservative Author, Former Presidential Speechwriter

  Wright State University

  David Frum is best known as an advocate for the reform and modernization of the Republican party. He is a contributing editor for Newsweek and The Daily Beast and is also a CNN contributor. Frum serves on the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition and as vice chairman and an associate fellow of the R Street Institute.

  Frum is the author of eight books including most recently the e-book, Why Romney Lost, and his first novel, Patriots. From 2001 to 2002, Frum served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. From 2007 to 2008, he was a senior policy adviser to the Giuliani-for-president campaign. Frum is Canadian-American but was a citizen of Canada when he joined the Bush administration.

  Not afraid to challenge his own party, Frum expressed intense dissatisfaction with supply-siders, evangelicals, and nearly all Republican politicians in his 1994 book Dead Right. In a 2009 Newsweek column entitled Why Rush Is Wrong, Frum defended his conservatism and challenged the country’s most vocal conservative broadcaster. His editorial columns have appeared in a variety of Canadian and American magazines and newspapers, including the National Post and The Week.

  A volunteer for the Reagan campaign in 1980, Frum is proud that he’s attended every Republican convention since 1988, was president of the Federalist Society chapter of his law school, and worked as editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal from 1989 to 1992. Frum graduated from Yale University in 1982 with simultaneous Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in history.

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  Rocsi Diaz - Entertainment Host, Reporter and model

  Wright State University

  It Takes a Village

  Cultivating Common Ground through Community Engagement and Civic Responsibility

  Rocsi Diaz was born in Honduras. Having moved to New Orleans with her family when she was young, the bilingual television host claims the Bayou State as home. Immersed in the eclectic culture, Diaz became well versed in many genres of music, but hip-hop was always her main ingredient. “Hip-hop is in my blood; it’s programmed into my DNA,” she says. After graduating from college, she deejayed her way into the tough Texas and Boston radio markets before making her home at Chicago’s Power 92 FM.

  During her successful run in Chicago, she auditioned for Black Entertainment Television (BET)’s New Faces search and was selected as an on-air host, beating out more than 5,000 other competitors in the process.

  From 2006 to 2012, Rocsi co-anchored (along with Terrence J), 106 & Park, BET’s flagship show. Seen in 85 million households across the globe including Japan and Africa; the show is one of television’s most influential programs with the ability to open a film or make an album reach #1.

  In 2012, Rocsi joined Entertainment Tonight as an on-site reporter.

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  Van Jones - American environmental advocate, civil rights activist, and attorney

  Wright State University

  President and Co-Founder of Rebuild the Dream, Champion of People Power and the “Green Collar Economy”

  This event will be streamed live at www.wright.edu/streaming. We will also be recording Van Jones' lecture, to be viewed at the P L Dunbar Library. The live streaming begins at 7 p.m.

  Van Jones is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for bottom-up, people-powered innovations to help fix the U.S. economy.

  A Yale-educated attorney, Jones has written two New York Times bestsellers: The Green Collar Economy, the definitive book on green jobs, and Rebuild the Dream, a roadmap for progressives in 2012 and beyond. Jones is currently a CNN contributor.

  In 2009, Jones worked as the green-jobs advisor to the Obama White House. There, he helped run the interagency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending.

  Van Jones’s awards and honors include:

  • Visiting Fellow in Collaborative Economics at Presidio Graduate School
  • Member of the international Ashoka Fellowship
  • Rolling Stones’ 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done in 2012
  • A 2005 World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader”
  • One of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2009
  • One of Fast Company’s 12 Most Creative Minds on Earth
  • One of Essence magazine’s 25 Most Inspiring African Americans in 2008
  • One of Ebony magazine’s 2011 Power 150
  • Former distinguished visiting professor at Princeton University
  • Former Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and American Progress Action Fund
  • A leader in the clean-energy economy, Jones is the founder of Green For All, a national organization working to get green jobs to disadvantaged communities. He was the main advocate for the Green Jobs Act; signed into law by George W. Bush in 2007, the Act was the first piece of federal legislation to codify the term “green jobs.” Under the Obama administration, it has resulted in $500 million for green job training nationally.

  While best known as a pioneer in the environmental movement, Jones has been hard at work in social justice for nearly two decades, fashioning solutions to some of urban America’s toughest problems. He is the co-founder of two social justice organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change.

  Jones is on the board of several organizations and nonprofits, including National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Presidio, and Demos.

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  Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysicist and Director of the Hayden Planetarium

  Wright State University

  Ten Things You Need to Know about the Universe

  Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City, where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his B.A. in physics from Harvard and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Columbia.

  Tyson’s professional research interests are broad, but include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way.

  In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on a 12-member commission that studied the future of the U.S. aerospace industry. The final report was published in 2002 and contained recommendations (for Congress and for the major agencies of the government) that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security.

  In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a nine-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the Moon, Mars, and Beyond commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which will help guide NASA through its perennial need to fit its ambitious vision into its restricted budget.

  In addition to dozens of professional publications, Tyson has written and continues to write for the public. From 1995 to 2005, Tyson was a monthly essayist for Natural History magazine under the title Universe. And among Tyson’s 10 books is his memoir The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist; and Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, co-written with Donald Goldsmith. Origins is the companion book to the PBS-NOVA four-part mini-series Origins, in which Tyson served as on-camera host. The program premiered on September 28 and 29, 2004.

  Two of Tyson’s recent books are the playful and informative Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, which was a New York Times bestseller, and The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet, chronicling his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status. The PBS/NOVA documentary The Pluto Files, based on the book, premiered in March 2010.

  For five seasons, beginning in the fall of 2006, Tyson appeared as the on-camera host of PBS-NOVA’s spinoff program NOVA ScienceNOW, which is an accessible look at the frontier of all the science that shapes the understanding of our place in the universe.

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  David Hodge - President of Miami University

  Wright State University

  Since arriving in July 2006 as Miami University’s 21st president, David Hodge has been a visible presence among students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Emphasizing the unique qualities of the Miami Experience during his first year, Hodge has actively supported the transformation of teaching and learning in higher education through his work on developing the “student as scholar” model.

  Hodge came to Miami following his 31-year tenure at the University of Washington, where he served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1998 to 2006, the largest college at the UW, with 40 departments, 900 faculty, and 500 staff who serve more than 24,000 students.

  Joining the UW faculty in 1975, Hodge held the appointment of professor of geography and adjunct professor of civil engineering. In 1990, he earned the prestigious University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award. Prior to his appointment as dean, he served as chair of the geography department (1995–97) and divisional dean for computing, facilities, and research (1996–98).

  His research, which has attracted grant support from the National Science Foundation and other federal, state, and local agencies, focuses on urban and transportation geography with special interest in the impact of telecommunications. Hodge served as program director at the National Science Foundation in 1993–94 and was editor of The Professional Geographer from 1994 to 1997.

  Additionally, he has served on numerous Seattle and Washington committees and boards dealing with issues of community development and transportation.

  A native of Minnesota, Hodge earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in geography from Macalester College in 1970 and went on to earn his master’s degree (1973) and Ph.D. (1975) in geography from Pennsylvania State University. From 2000 to 2006, he served on Macalester’s Board of Trustees. Prior to this, he also served on the Macalester Alumni Board. An NCAA All-American, he is a member of the Macalester College Athletics Hall of Fame and remains the school’s outdoor track and field record holder in the 880 (now 800 meters) with a time of 1:50.2.

  President Hodge and his wife, Valerie, have two children: Gene, a graduate of the University of Washington, and Meriem, a graduate of Miami.

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  E. Gordon Gee - President, The Ohio State University

  Wright State University

  E. Gordon Gee is president of The Ohio State University, a world-class public research institution and one of the nation’s most distinguished land-grant universities. As chief executive officer, he oversees Ohio State’s six campuses, 65,000 students, and 48,000 faculty and staff. Gee is among the most highly experienced and respected leaders in higher education, having been named in 2009 by Time magazine as one of the top 10 university presidents in the United States. Prior to his service at Ohio State, he led Vanderbilt University (2001–2007), Brown University (1998–2000), The Ohio State University (1990–97), the University of Colorado (1985–90), and West Virginia University (1981–85).

  Born in Vernal, Utah, Gee graduated from the University of Utah with an honors degree in history and earned his J.D. and Ed.D. degrees from Columbia University. He clerked under Chief Justice David T. Lewis of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before being named a judicial fellow and staff assistant to the U.S. Supreme Court. In this role, he worked for Chief Justice Warren Burger on administrative and legal problems of the court and federal judiciary. Gee returned to Utah as an associate professor and associate dean in the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, and was granted full professorship in 1978. One year later, he was named dean of the West Virginia University Law School, and, in 1981, was appointed to that university’s presidency.

  Gee is a member of several education-governance organizations and committees, including the Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents, the Inter-University Council of Ohio, the Business-Higher Education Forum, and the American Association of Universities. He is chair of the American Council on Education’s Commission on Higher Education Attainment and serves as co-chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Energy Advisory Committee. In 2009, Gee was invited to join the International Advisory Board of King Adbulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. Active in a number of national professional and service organizations, he also serves on the boards for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc., Limited Brands, and the National 4-H Council. In 2011, Gee was appointed to serve as secretary on the Board of Directors of Ohio’s economic development program, JobsOhio.

  Gee has received a number of honorary degrees, awards, fellowships, and recognitions. He is a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest science organization. In 1994, Gee received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Utah, as well as from Teachers College of Columbia University. He is the co-author of 11 books, including the recentLaw, Policy and Higher Education, which is currently in press. He is also the author of numerous papers and articles on law and education.

  Gee’s daughter, Rebekah, is the director of the Louisiana Birth Outcomes Project, and an assistant professor of Public Health and Medicine at Louisiana State University. She is also a Norman F. Gant/American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology/IOM Anniversary Fellow.

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  Genevieve Chase - Founder and Executive Director of American Women Veterans

  Wright State University

  Serve. Honor. Empower: A Conversation with Genevieve Chase

  Genevieve Chase is the founder and executive director of American Women Veterans and a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom VII. After enlisting in the U.S. Army Reserve in 2003, Chase volunteered to serve with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). While deployed to Afghanistan as a sergeant in 2006, her vehicle was attacked by a suicide vehicle–borne improvised explosive device. The passengers survived the attack, but suffered varying degrees of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress. To counter various symptoms of TBI and PTS, Chase dedicated herself to veterans advocacy.

  Since returning from active duty service, Chase has worked tirelessly to bring to light the issues faced by today’s veterans. While advocating on their behalf, she discovered a need for a focus on women veterans and their families from all eras and branches of service. To fill that void, Chase created American Women Veterans and began, in earnest, the 21st century women veterans’ movement.

  A recipient of the Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, Chase has testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee about her experiences in Afghanistan as well as the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee concerning women’s health care. She serves as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, in addition to her role as executive director of American Women Veterans. The U.S. Army selected her as a 2010 All American Soldier Hero for her outstanding work both in and out of uniform. Recognized as an advocate for female veterans and for her knowledge and experiences in Afghanistan, Chase acts as a media consultant to major media outlets and publications.

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  Daniel Hernandez - First Responder for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

  Wright State University

  How Student Advocacy and Activism Helped Me Give to My Community

  Daniel Hernandez was a congressional intern for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona's eighth congressional district when, on January 8, 2011, the congresswoman was shot along with 18 others by a gunman at a Tucson constituent event. Hernandez sprang into action, and his medical training, quick thinking, and brave actions on that day have been widely credited with saving Giffords' life.

  Many now celebrate Hernandez as a true American hero, though he humbly rejects that title. Still, he was an honored guest of the President and First Lady during the 2011 State of the Union address, and he addressed President Obama and a crowd of more than 27,000 people and nearly 500 media outlets at the "Tucson: Together We Thrive" memorial on January 12, 2011.

  Daniel has conducted more than 500 media interviews in English and Spanish with local, state, national, and international outlets, with appearances on the three major TV networks and on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show, The Fox Report, and Univision's Al Punto.

  The 21-year-old Tucson native is a student at the University of Arizona studying political science. Hernandez is dedicated to student advocacy and political activism. He served as a director on the Arizona Students' Association's Board of Directors and advocated for affordable and accessible higher education for all Arizonans. He began his political activism in 2007 working on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and in Giffords' 2008 congressional campaign. He has also served on the City of Tucson Commission on GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) issues.

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  Mark Johnson - Grammy®-Winning Producer/Engineer

  Wright State University

  The Power of Music to Inspire Positive Change

  Grammy® Award–winning producer/engineer Mark Johnson has worked with some of the most renowned musicians and producers in music, film, and television over the past decade. Johnson is the co-founder of Playing for Change, which gained the public's awareness in 2009 when their version of the song "Stand By Me" accumulated over 30 million views on YouTube.

  Through these inspiring global music videos, Mark sparked a worldwide movement aimed at breaking down social, economic, and political barriers through music. "Stand by Me" laid the foundation for the best selling CD/DVD set Playing for Change: Songs Around the World, which debuted at #10 on Billboard’s Pop Chart in April of 2009. In May 2011, Playing for Change released their second album PFC 2: Songs Around the World, which debuted at #1 on Billboard's World Music Charts. Mark is the founding board member of the Playing for Change Foundation, where he works with the nonprofit to build music schools for children around the world. Johnson has also been a keynote speaker at the United Nations, TED Global, the World Economic Forum in Davos, University of Michigan Martin Luther King Day Celebration, as well as the Million Dollar Round Table.

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  Robert Ballard - Deep-Sea Explorer and Discoverer of the Titanic

  Wright State University

  Adventures in Deep Sea Exploration: Living the Dream

  Best known for his 1985 discovery of the Titanic, Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D., has succeeded in tracking down numerous other shipwrecks, including the German battleship Bismarck, the U.S. aircraft carrier Yorktown, and John F. Kennedy’s boat, PT 109.

  "I grew up wanting to be Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Ballard notes. He has lived up to that aspiration with more than 100 deep-sea expeditions, using both manned and unmanned vehicles. Beginning in 1973, Ballard participated in his first international expedition, Project FAMOUS (French-American Mid-Ocean Undersea Study), the first manned exploration of the Mid-Ocean Ridge, which helped to confirm the newly emerging theory of Plate Tectonics. By 1979, Ballard was scientist-in-charge of the exploration program that discovered the first "Black Smokers"—smoking chimneys of almost pure crystalline zinc sulfide that create a mineral-rich environment to support unique evolutionary variants of common fish and snails.

  Ballard has discovered some of the oldest shipwrecks ever found, including two ancient Phoenician ships off the coast of Israel and four 1,500-year-old wooden ships (one almost perfectly preserved) in the Black Sea. He is a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence and a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, as well as the founder and president of the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium in Connecticut. In addition to his Ph.D. in marine geology and geophysics, Ballard has 13 honorary degrees and six military awards, and in 1996 he received the National Geographic Society's prestigious Hubbard Medal for "extraordinary accomplishments in coaxing secrets from the world's oceans and engaging students in the wonder of science."

  Please also join us on Friday, March 2, for the Wright State University Honors Institute Symposium on Exploring the Ocean.

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  Arlene B. Mayerson - National Expert on Disability Rights Law

  Wright State University

  An Eyewitness Report: Disability Then and Now

  Presented in partnership with the Office of Disability Services

  Arlene B. Mayerson, J.D., LL.M., one of the nation's leading experts in disability rights law, has been a key advisor to both Congress and the disability community on the major disability rights legislation for the past two decades, including the Handicapped Children's Protection Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At the request of members of Congress, Mayerson supplied expert testimony before several committees of Congress when they were debating the ADA. She filed comments on the ADA regulations for more than 500 disability rights organizations. She has also advised on other legislation ensuring the special education rights of students with disabilities. Mayerson has devoted her career exclusively to disability rights practice, representing clients in a wide array of issues. She has provided representation, consultation to counsel, and coordination of amicus briefs on pivotal disability rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to the Civil Rights Reviewing Authority, responsible for reviewing the department's civil rights decisions.

  Mayerson has been the directing attorney of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund since 1981. She is also a lecturer in disability law at the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, from which she earned her J.D. Mayerson has published many articles on disability rights and is the author of a comprehensive three-volume treatise, The ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act Annotated-Legislative History, Regulations & Commentary (Clark Boardman Callaghan, 1994), which sets forth the legislative history and regulations for each provision of the ADA.

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  Barbara Holland - Community Transformation Expert

  Wright State University

  Changing Community by Changing the University

  Barbara Holland, Ph.D., is internationally recognized for her expertise in community engagement, service-learning, university-community partnerships, and organizational change in higher education. She recently returned to the U.S. after four years as a university executive in Australia, where she helped build a national association for community engagement and advised state and federal leaders on community engagement policy and practice.

  Prior leadership roles in the U.S. include director of the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, director of Office of University Partnerships at HUD headquarters, and senior administrator at Portland State University and Northern Kentucky University.

  She is editor or co-editor of three journals on community engagement and is a founding board member and incoming chair of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. Holland is a senior scholar at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis and an affiliated professor at University of Sydney and Portland State University.

  She earned her bachelor's and master's of journalism at University of Missouri and a Ph.D. in higher education policy from the University of Maryland. She resides near Portland, Oregon.

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  Jim Hightower - America's #1 Populist

  Wright State University

  Middle-Class Warfare and the New Populist Revolution

  National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go with the Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought to Be—consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. Believing that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to bottom, Hightower has become a leading national voice for the 80 percent of the public who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of the Washington and Wall Street powers at the top.

  A native Texan who was twice elected Texas agriculture commissioner, Hightower now broadcasts daily radio commentaries that are carried on more than 150 commercial and public stations, as well as on the web and on Radio for Peace International. Each month, 135,000 subscribers read his political newsletter The Hightower Lowdown, which has won both the Alternative Press Award and Independent Press Association Award.

  Hightower is a New York Times bestselling author whose seven books include Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen Our Country and It's Time to Take It Back; If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates; and There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos. His newspaper column is distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate. And despite all that writing, the populist road warrior still finds time to deliver more than 100 speeches a year to all kinds of groups.

  Political columnist Molly Ivins said it best: "If Will Rogers and Mother Jones had a baby, Jim Hightower would be that rambunctious child—mad as hell, with a sense of humor."

  Presented in partnership with the American Association of University Professors

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  Kate Bornstein - Author, Artist, and Advocate for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws

  Wright State University

  Sex, Bullies, and You

  Kate Bornstein is an author, playwright, and performance artist whose work to date has been in service to sex positivity, gender anarchy, and to building a coalition of those who live on cultural margins. Hir work recently earned hir an award from the Stonewall Democrats of New York City, and two citations from New York City Council members. Hir latest book is Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws. Other published works include the books Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us; My Gender Workbook; and the cyber-romance-action novel Nearly Roadkill, with co-author Caitlin Sullivan. Kate's plays and performance pieces include Strangers in Paradox; Hidden: A Gender; The Opposite Sex Is Neither; Virtually Yours; and y2kate: gender virus 2000. Hir memoir, Kate Bornstein Is a Queer and Pleasant Danger, is due out in 2011.

  Kate's books are taught in over 150 colleges and universities around the world; and ze has performed hir work live on college campuses and in theaters and performance spaces across the United States, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria. Ze is currently touring colleges, youth conferences, and high schools, speaking and leading workshops on the subjects of sex, gender, and alternatives to teen suicide. According to daily email and Twitter, the book is still helping people stay alive.

  Kate was born outside of Fargo, North Dakota. Hir father was a Lutheran minister, and hir mother was Miss Betty Crocker, 1939. Kate has lived in the queer ghettos of Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. Ze currently lives with hir partner—sex pioneer, writer, and performance artist Barbara Carrellas—in New York City, along with their pug, three cats, and turtle.

  Bornstein's interests include iTunes, Photoshop, traveling, death, and anything Mac.

  Editor's Note: Kate Bornstein, a self-described "gender outlaw," uses gender-neutral pronouns in her bio. In keeping with her wishes, we have retained her use of "ze" instead of "she" and "hir" instead of "her" in the following bio.

  Co-sponsored by the Rainbow Alliance