(alphabetical order since 2014)
Spencer Abraham served as the Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush. He is also one of the founders of the Federalist Society and the co-founder of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.
Spoke at the 2017 Series on Environmental Challenges to the Global Community
Alan Bersin served as the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2010 and 2011. He served as the Assistant Secretary of International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer for the Department of Homeland Security from 2012 to 2017. He is also a former Secretary of Education for California.
Spoke at the 2020 Series on Democracy, Trade, and Migration
Benedetta Berti is an Eisenhower Global Fellow and TED senior fellow. She is also an Associate Researcher at the Institute for European Studies at Vrije Universiteit Brussels. In the past, she held positions at West Point, the Institute for National Security Studies, and Tel Aviv University.
Spoke at the 2016 Series on Politics at Home and Abroad
Michael Bociurkiw is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He is a two time TEDx speaker and independent global affairs analyst. For over a decade he has worked in the humanitarian aid space for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization.
Spoke at the 2023 Series on Russia’s War Against Ukraine
Vitaly Chernetsky is a professor of Slavic and Eurasian Languages & Literatures at the University of Kansas. He has done research surrounding Russian literature and culture, East and Central European literatures and cultures, Central Asian literatures and cultures, the intellectual history of Russia and Ukraine, and dozens of other topics.
Spoke at the 2023 Series on Russia’s War Against Ukraine
General Wesley Clark is a retired United States Army officer, having served 34 years in the military. He is a recipient of many military decorations, honorary knighthoods, and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He currently owns his own consulting firm (Wesley K. Clark and Associates) and is chairman and CEO of Enverra.
Spoke at the 2015 Series on International Affairs
Eleanor Clift is an American political journalist, television pundit, and author. She has previously worked as a contributor to MSNBC and a blogger for The Daily Beast, though she is best known for being a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group. Currently, she is acting as a board member at the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Spoke at the 2016 Series on Politics at Home and Abroad
E.J. Dionne Jr. has been a contributor to the Washington Post since 1990, beginning as a political reporter and going on to become a political columnist. Previously, he spent 14 years covering politics for the New York Times. He has been named one of the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal.
Spoke at the 2018 Series on Resurgent Nationalism and Borderless Problems
Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells is the current CEO of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, having held the position since 2017. She is also the Region 5 representative on the National Association of Clean Water Agencies Board of Trustees and Chair of the District One Natural Resources Assistance Council for the Ohio Public Works Commission’s Clean Ohio Conservation Program.
Spoke at the 2022 Series on Global Sustainable Development
Steven Emerson is an award-winning investigative journalist and author currently serving as the Executive Director of The Investigative Project. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts on terrorism in the world.
Spoke at the 2015 Series on International Affairs
Skye Fitzgerald is a cinematographer, producer, director, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a two time Academy Award Nominee and one time Oscar Shortlist. In the past, he has worked with the Sundance Institute, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the State Department and Mountainfilm.
Spoke at the 2020 Series on Democracy, Trade, and Migration
Laura Galante is the Intelligence Community’s Cyber Executive and Director of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center for the Office of the Director for National Intelligence. She is perhaps best known for her 2017 TED Talk on How (and why) Russia hacked the US Election.
Spoke at the 2018 Series on Resurgent Nationalism and Borderless Problems
Mark Hertling is a former United States Army Officer. He served as the Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army in 2011 and 2012. After retiring from the Army, he became a Senior Vice President for the Florida Hospital Organization in Orlando.
Spoke at the 2023 Series on Russia’s War Against Ukraine
Jeff Hoffman is a global entrepreneur, motivational speaker, bestselling author, Hollywood producer, and Executive producer and star of the TV series GOING PUBLIC. He has also contributed to many successful start-ups, such as Booking.com and uBid.com.
Spoke at the 2017 Series on Environmental Challenges to the Global Community
Nina Jankowicz is the former Executive Director of the Disinformation Governance Board of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Jankowicz is also the author of two books; How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News and the Future of Conflict in 2020 and How to be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment, and How to Fight Back in 2022.
Spoke at the 2024 Series on U.S. Foreign Policy in an Election Year
Dr. Diane Jorkasky is the first recipient of the “Women in Medicine” Award. She has held positions as the Renal Division Chief of the Department of Medicine at Presbyterian Medical Center and Vice President of Clinical Research and Clinical Pharmacology for SmithKline Beecham, as well as a position with Pfizer. She is currently acting as the Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, and Head of Development at Complexa Therapeutics, Inc.
Spoke at the 2019 Series on Global Health Issues
Angela Maria Kelley is a Senior Strategic Adviser for Immigration in the Open Society Foundations. She currently has nine videos in the C-SPAN library, with the first being a 1994 appearance as the Director for Policy in the National Immigration Forum.
Spoke at the 2018 Series on Resurgent Nationalism and Borderless Problems
Lawrence Korb is a senior fellow at American Progress and senior fellow and director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Spoke at the 2015 Series on International Affairs
Dr. Nicole Labor is currently serving as IBH the Addiction Recovery medical director. She also serves as medical director at One-Eighty in Wooster, Ohio and the Esper Treatment Center in Erie, Pennsylvania. She is also the director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship for Summa Health.
Spoke at the 2019 Series on Global Health Issues
Kirk Lippold is a former U.S. Navy commander, having served from 1981 to 2007. Since his retirement from the military, Lippold has acted as the Motivation Speaker for the Keppler Speakers Bureau, Vice President for Military Policy and Strategic Development of Phillip Stutts & Company, Inc., President of Lippold Strategies, LLC, and as an Adjunct Professor in the United States Naval Academy.
Spoke at the 2024 Series on U.S. Foreign Policy in an Election Year
Colin Mangham is the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Commercial Officer, Head of Client Relations, and Co-Founder of Morpho Energy. He is also a LEED Green Associate, Living Future Ambassador, certified Biomimicry Specialist, and certified optimization coach.
Spoke at the 2022 Series on Global Sustainable Development
Robert K. Musil has been the President and CEO of the Rachel Carson Council since 2014. He is also senior fellow and adjunct professor at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. He has also acted as a visiting scholar at the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy.
Spoke at the 2017 Series on Environmental Challenges to the Global Community
Cherilyn Jolly Nagel is a farmer, public speaker, and director. She aims to educate the masses about modern agricultural practices and has been named one of Canada’s Top50 Most Influential People in Agriculture.
Spoke at the 2020 Series on Democracy, Trade, and Migration
Jehane Noujaim is a documentary film writer and Harvard magna cum laude graduate. She is best known for her films Control Room, Startup.com, Pangea Day and The Square.
Spoke at the 2014 Series on Power and Empowerment
Eileen O’Connor is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications Policy, and Advocacy at the Rockefeller Foundation. Prior to this, she served as the principal at Garnet Group Public Affairs.
Spoke at the 2015 Series on International Affairs
Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker, and academic. He is currently a research professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School or Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. He regularly writes for The Guardian, is the author of seven books, and released a film titled The Ants and The Grasshopper in 2021.
Spoke at the 2017 Series on Environmental Challenges to the Global Community
José Ramos-Horta is a politician currently serving as the President of East Timor. Previously, he acted as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister. He is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for working “towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor”.
Spoke at the 2014 Series on Power and Empowerment
Larissa Rhodes is a producer and director, best known for her films The Social Dilemma, Chasing Coral, and Chasing Ice. She was a nominee for the BAFTA, Primetime Emmy, News & Documentary Emmy, PGA, and Chicago Indie Critics awards. She is also a winner of the News & Documentary Emmy and Music City Film Critics’ Association Awards.
Spoke at the 2018 Series on Resurgent Nationalism and Borderless Problems
David Sanger is the White House and National Security Correspondent for the New York Times. He is a Harvard Graduate, author of seven books, and a 30-year contributor to the New York Times.
Spoke at the 2014 Series on Power and Empowerment
Arturo Sarukhán is the former ambassador of Mexico to the United States. He is currently a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, a visiting professor at the Annenberg School of Public Diplomacy, and a global fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute.
Spoke at the 2020 Series on Democracy, Trade, and Migration
Jeremy Scahill is the author of the best-selling book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He is also the co-writer and producer of the documentary Dirty Wars.
Spoke at the 2015 Series on International Affairs
Jared P. Scott is an award-winning director, writer, and showrunner. He is known for his films that address pressing social and political issues, including his most popular, Requiem for the American Dream. He is an Emmy Award winner and New York Times Bestseller.
Spoke at the 2017 Series on Environmental Challenges to the Global Community
Ibra Sene is an Associate Professor of History and Global & International Studies Department Chair at the College of Wooster. He has contributed to An A-Z of African Studies on the Internet, a widely-cited online guide to African Studies.
Spoke at the 2024 Series on U.S. Foreign Policy in an Election Year
Dr. Peter Warren Singer is the Strategist and Senior Fellow at New America. He is the author of multiple best-selling, award-winning books. He has also been named by the Smithsonian as one of the nations’ 100 leading innovators and one of the 100 most influential people in defense issues by Defense News.
Spoke at the 2016 Series on Politics at Home and Abroad
Chris Temple is a director, producer, and cinematographer best known for directing and producing the documentaries Five Years North, Salam Neighbor, and Living on One Dollar. His work has helped raise $91 million for poverty alleviation and refugee support efforts.
Spoke at the 2016 Series on Politics at Home and Abroad
Judge Thomas Teodosio is a retired Judge sitting by assignment in Ohio Common Pleas and Municipal Courts. He is also the former judge of the Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals and Summit County Common Pleas Court. He studied at the University of Akron School of Law.
Spoke at the 2019 Series on Global Health Issues
John Trainor is an alumni of the College of Wooster, having graduated in 2016 with a BA in History and Film Studies. Trainor is the director of the 2022 film, Sound the Alarm, which focuses on the 1995 launching of a rocket from Norway that would falsely alert Russian forces of an incoming nuclear attack, leaving then president, Boris Yeltsin, with just few minutes to decide how to react.
Spoke at the 2024 Series on U.S. Foreign Policy in an Election Year
Sanho Tree is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and has acted as Director of its Drug Policy Project since 1998. He currently works to reform both international and domestic drug policies by promoting alternatives to the failed prohibitionist model.
Spoke at the 2019 Series on Global Health Issues
Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran is the global energy & climate innovation editor for The Economist. He previously served as both US Business Editor and China Business Editor. He is also a life member at the Council on Foreign Relations and an advisor on sustainability and innovation to the World Economic Forum at Davos.
Spoke at the 2022 Series on Global Sustainable Development
Ivan Vejvoda is a permanent fellow of the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Institute for Human Sciences). He has also served as the Senior Vice President for Programs at the German Marshall Fund.
Spoke at the 2014 Series on Power and Empowerment
Alex de Waal is the Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He has helped work towards a peaceful solution to the Second Sudanese Civil War and pointed out the intersections between HIV/AIDS, poverty, & drought. Since 1989 he has worked to publish 19 books, most of which focus on the fight for human rights.
Spoke at the 2024 Series on U.S. Foreign Policy in an Election Year
Nathan Wolfe is a virologist and founder and director of Global Viral. He is also the Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Human Biology at Stanford University. He also currently serves on the editorial board of EcoHealth and Scientific American and is a member of DARPA’s Defense Science Research Council.
Spoke at the 2019 Series on Global Health Issues
Ka Zeng is the Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of International and Global Studies at the University of Arkansas. Her research primarily focuses on China’s role in the global economy.
Spoke at the 2020 Series on Democracy, Trade, and Migration
