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Featured Guests

Laurie Baefsky

Executive Director, Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities

As executive director of ArtsEngine and the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) since August 2014, Laurie Baefsky works locally and nationally to support and strengthen the arts and transdisciplinary arts endeavors in higher education. Based at the University of Michigan, she works to define emerging fields that intersect with arts and design, demonstrating the value of the arts throughout the research university, and facilitating innovative arts partnerships.

 

She previously served as grants manager for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, and from 2007-11 Dr. Baefsky established the USU ArtsBridge program at Utah State University, an arts-based interdisciplinary engaged learning initiative. A skilled grant writer herself, she has raised over $5.3 million in arts funding, and is currently PI on the Mellon Foundation-supported a2ru research initiative, SPARC – Supporting Practice in the Arts, Research, and Curricula.

Laurie began her career as a classical flutist and music educator, with degrees in flute performance from Stony Brook University, University of Michigan, and California State University, Fullerton. She has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, Utah Symphony, New World Symphony, and as a tenured member of the Virginia Symphony. As a chamber artist, her performances have ranged from Symphony Space and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, NYC to northeastern Morocco and Umbria, Italy. Laurie previously taught music and interdisciplinary courses for eight summers at the Virginia Governor’s School for the Humanities and Visual & Performing Arts at University of Richmond, and served as applied music faculty at multiple colleges and universities throughout southeastern Virginia.

Manuel Bagorro

Program Manager, Musical Connections, Carnegie Hall

Having been engaged by Carnegie Hall as a consultant during the establishment of the Musical Connections program, Manuel Bagorro continues to be involved in strategic thinking and planning for a range of community-based projects linking people to diverse musical experiences. He takes a leading role in Carnegie Hall’s National Lullaby Project and has been involved in engaging national partnerships and supporting arts organizations as they prepare lullaby projects in their communities. He founded the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) in 1999; the event has become one of the most significant multi-disciplinary festivals in Southern Africa, weathering the social, political and economic turmoil in Zimbabwe. For the last four years, he has also served as the Artistic Director of Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine, where he has initiated a new approach to performance, education and community programming, attracting significant attention and support for this venerable music organization.

Ashley Bear

Program Officer, National Academy of Sciences

Ashley Bear is a Program Officer with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Before coming to the Academies, Dr. Bear was a Presidential Management Fellow with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Biological Infrastructure in the Directorate for Biological Sciences, where she managed a portfolio of mid-scale investments in scientific infrastructure and led analyses of the impact of NSF funding on the career trajectories of postdoctoral researchers. During her fellowship years, Dr. Bear also worked as a Science Policy Officer for the State Department’s Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, where she worked to promote science diplomacy and track emerging scientific trends with implications for foreign policy, managed programs to increase the scientific capacity of State Department and acted as the liaison to the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. 

 

Dr. Bear holds a Sc.B. in Neuroscience from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University. While working on her doctoral research on the developmental basis of courtship behavior in butterflies, Dr. Bear co-founded the Evolution Outreach Group, a volunteer organization composed of students and postdoctoral researchers that visit schools, museums, and camps in the greater New Haven, CT area to teach K-12 students about evolution through hands-on activities and demonstrations. Dr. Bear is passionate about science outreach to the public and about promoting diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

John Bennett

Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation Initiatives; Professor of Computer Science and Engineering; Director of Inworks, University of Colorado Denver

John Bennett is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation Initiatives at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Center, where he leads Inworks. Previously, Bennett was at CU Boulder, where he was the Archuleta Professor of Computer Science and the Director of the ATLAS Institute. Bennett holds MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of Washington Seattle, and BSEE and MEE degrees from Rice University. 

William Card (student respondent)

Student, University of Colorado Denver

William Card is a fourth year student at the University of Colorado Denver. Coming by way of South Dakota, William knew that where ever he would go for college, he wanted to be in a city ripe with potential, and opportunities. Denver was indeed, just that. Majoring in music business  with a minor in leadership studies was imperative for him because of his passionate insight to the latent capabilities that lays at the base of many creative communities. He has devoted much of his college career to finding and researching ways to understand the creative economy of the city Denver, and of his own campus community. Serving on the campus' student fee review committees, student government, and now reporting for the student-run newspaper, the CU Sentry, William is psyched to continue his work in and out of the university community to pinpoint means that’ll allow people to tap fully into their own creative potential. 

Randy Cohen

Vice President of Research and Policy, Americans for the Arts

Randy Cohen is Vice President of Research and Policy at Americans for the Arts, the nation's advocacy organization for the arts. A member of the staff since 1991, Randy stands out as a noted expert in the field of arts funding, research, policy, and using the arts to address community development issues. He recently published Americans Speak Out About the Arts, a national study about the public’s opinions and participation in the arts. He publishes The National Arts Index, the annual measure of the health and vitality of arts as well as the two premier economic studies of the arts industry—Arts & Economic Prosperity, the national impact study of nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences; and Creative Industries, an annual mapping study of the nation’s 703,000 arts establishments and their employees. Randy led the development of the National Arts Policy Roundtable, an annual convening of leaders who focus on the advancement of American culture, launched in 2006 in partnership with Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute. His 10 Reasons to Support the Arts Blog recently received the Gold Award from the Association of Media & Publishing—their top honor for best blog post of the year. In the late 1990’s, Randy collaborated with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities to create Coming Up Taller, the White House report on arts programs for youth-at-risk; and the U.S.Department of Justice to produce the YouthARTS Project, the first national study to statistically document the impact of arts programs on at-risk youth. A sought after speaker, Randy has given speeches in 49 states, and regularly appears in the news media—including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and on C-SPAN, CNN, CNBC, and NPR.

Randy has been a policy specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts, founded the San Diego Theatre for Young Audiences and served as its managing director, as well as worked in medical research for Stanford University and Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. His board work includes the League of Historic American Theaters. He was Chairman of the Takoma Park Arts & Humanities Commission for three years, during which time the Commission completed a cultural plan, established the city’s Poet Laureate and public art programs, and a million dollar conversion of the city council chambers into a performing arts space.

Nick Dawson

Executive Director, Johns-Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub; Chair-Elect, Stanford Medicine X

Nick is the Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub. Nick is a proponent of design thinking in healthcare as a way to create a health system which is more desirable, compassionate and advanced. In the Innovation Hub, he helps lead a human-centered design team to tackle both simple and complex challenges for patients, staff and providers.

 

Nick is an Executive Board member for Stanford’s Medicine X program and is the president of the Society for Participatory Medicine. His past roles include hospital leadership of departments including strategy, finance and operations.

 

He skis in the winter, runs most days and is forever restoring his antique Land Rover.

Nick has participated in a variety of national-level healthcare discussions. Examples include facilitating the White House and USAID’s design challenge to improve protective equipment worn by ebola aid workers and participating in design events led by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information technology.

Ed Finn

Director, Center for Science and the Imagination; Assistant Professor, School of Arts, Media + Engineering; Assistant Professor, Department of English, Arizona State University

Ed Finn is the founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, where he is an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the Department of English. Ed’s research and teaching explore digital narratives, contemporary culture and the intersection of the humanities, arts and sciences. He is the co-editor of Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future (William Morrow, September 2014) and is currently working on a book about the changing nature of reading and writing in the age of algorithms.

He completed his PhD in English and American literature at Stanford University in 2011. Before graduate school Ed worked as a journalist at Time, Slate and Popular Science. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University in 2002 with a Comparative Literature major and certificates in Applications of Computing, Creative Writing and European Cultural Studies.

Lisa Gedgaudas

Program Administrator, Create Denver

Denver native, Lisa Gedgaudas has been recognized for her outstanding leadership in advancing arts and culture inthe city for over ten years.  Lisa currently serves as the Program Administrator for Create Denver, a City initiatedprogram with Denver Arts & Venues that showcases Denver’s talented and dynamic creative community, recognizesits role in making Denver vibrant and economically vital and catalyzes the sector to become cohesive andsustainable. Her role includes the enhancement of Denver’s quality of life through cultural programming, business development, art and cultural district development, research, policy and advocacy. 

Jerome Glenn

CEO, The Millennium Project

Jerome C. Glenn is the co-founder (1996) and CEO of The Millennium Project (on global futures research) and lead-author with Elizabeth Florescu, and The Millennium Project Team of the State of the Future reports of the Millennium Project for the past twenty years. He was the Washington, DC representative for the United Nations University as executive director of the American Council for the UNU 1988-2007.

 

He has over 40 years of Futures Research experience working for governments, international organizations, and private industry in Science & Technology Policy, Environmental Security, Economics, Education, Defense, Space, Futures Research Methodology, International Telecommunications, and Decision Support Systems with the Committee for the Future, Hudson Institute, Future Options Room, and the Millennium Project. He has addressed or keynoted conferences for over 300 government departments, universities, NGOs, UN organizations, and/or corporations around the world on a variety of future-oriented topics.

Recent research includes: Future Work/Technology 2050, Future Elements of the Next Global Economy, National Collective Intelligence System for Egypt, National Future Strategy Units, Global Energy Scenarios for 2020, the Future of Ethics, 2025 Science and Technology Scenarios, and Middle East Peace Scenarios. Glenn was the Deputy Director of Partnership for Productivity International, involved in national strategic planning, institutional design, training, and evaluation in economic development in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, and created CARINET in 1983 as the leading computer network in the developing world (subsequently bought by CGNet.) He has been an independent consultant for the World Bank, UNDP, UNU, UNESCO, FAO, UNEP, US/EPA, USAID, and several governments and corporations.

Jerome C. Glenn invented the "Futures Wheel" -- a futures assessment technique, Futuristic Curriculum Development, and concepts such as conscious-technology, transinstutions, tele-nations, management by understanding, definition of environmental security, feminine brain drain, just-in-time knowledge and learning, information warfare, feelysis, nodes as a management concept for interconnecting global and local views and actions, and coined the term futuring in 1973. Saturday Review named him among the most unusually gifted leaders of America for his pioneering work in Tropical Medicine (national Leprosy system while a Peace Corp Volunteer), Future-Oriented Education, and Participatory Decision Making Systems in 1974. He was instrumental in naming the first Space Shuttle the Enterprise and banning the first space weapon (FOBS) in SALT II.

He has published over 100 future-oriented articles in such as the Nikkei, ADWEEK, International Tribune, LEADERS, New York Times, McGraw-Hill's Contemporary Learning Series, Current, Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Journal, Foresight, Futures, Technological Forecasting, Futures Research Quarterly, andThe Futurist. He is co-editor of Futures Research Methodology version 3.0, author of Future Mind: Merging the Mystical and the Technological in the 21st Century (1989 & 1994), Linking the Future: Findhorn, Auroville, Arcosanti(1979), and co-author of Space Trek: The Endless Migration (1978 & 1979).

Glenn has a BA in philosophy from American University, an MA in Teaching Social Science - Futuristics from Antioch Graduate School of Education (now Antioch University New England), and was a doctoral candidate in general futures research at the University of Massachusetts. He received the Donella Meadows Metal, Kondratieff Metal, Emerald Citation of Excellence, honorary professorship and doctor's degrees from two universities in South America (Universidad Ricardo Palma and Universidad Franz Tamayo) and is a leading boomerang stunt man. 

Therese (Tess) Jones (moderator)

Associate Director, Center for Bioethics and Humanities; Director, Arts and Humanities in Healthcare, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Therese (Tess) Jones is Associate Director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities and Director of the Arts and Humanities in Healthcare Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of M edicine. Jones is the editor of the Journal of Medical Humanities and lead editor for the Health Humanities Reader, Rutgers University Press (2014). She teaches health humanities and disability studies in the Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy and the Physical Therapy and Physician Assistants Programs and developed the undergraduate Health Humanities Minor for the University of Colorado Denver.

 

Therese holds a Bachelor of Arts from Pittsburg State University in Theatre Arts and English, a Master of Arts from Pittsburg State University in English, a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Colorado Boulder in English—American Drama and Gender Studies; and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Medical Humanities.

 

Therese's interests include Humanities and Arts in Health Professions Education, Cultural Studies

of Medicine, Disability Studies, Film, and Literature.

Laurence Kaptain (moderator)

Dean, College of Arts and Media, University of Colorado Denver

Laurence Kaptian, Dean of the College of Arts and Media at the University of Colorado Denver, brings 16 years of higher education leadership experience at leading public and private universities to his assignment. He recently served as President of the Association for General and Liberal Studies, and is currently the Treasurer of the College Music Society. In 2014 he was named a Fellow in the Royal Society of the Arts. 

Dr. Kaptain served as the Director of Creative Initiatives in the Department of Research and Economic Development and Paula Manship Professor of Music, and prior to that, Dean of the College of Music and Dramatic Arts and Penniman Family Professor of Music at Louisiana State University from 2009-14. He holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan. 

Liz Lerman

Choreographer, Institute Professor, Arizona State University; MacArthur Fellow; Founding Artistic Director, Dance Exchange (1976-2011)

Liz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator, and speaker. From a piece about
her days as a go-go dancer in 1974 to a recent investigation of origins that included puttingdancers in the tunnels of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, she has spent the past four decadesmaking her artistic research personal, humorous and intellectually vivid. A key aspect of herartistry is opening her process to various publics from shipbuilders to physicists, constructionworkers to ballerinas, resulting in both research and outcomes that are participatory, relevant,urgent, and usable by others. Now she is pursuing new projects with fresh partnerships,including a recent semester at Harvard University as an artist-in-residence; initiating theNational Civil War Project which pairs theaters and universities to create new work and newresearch related to our civil war; the new work Healing Wars, an investigation of the impact ofwar on medicine (2014); the genre-twisting work Blood, Muscle, Bone with Jawole Willa JoZollar and Urban Bush Women; work in London with Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the Guildhall Schoolof Music and Drama, the National Theatre Studio, and the London Sinfonietta; and an onlineproject called “The Treadmill Tapes: Ideas on the Move.” In 2013 she curated WesleyanUniversity’s symposium “Innovations: Intersection of Art and Science,” bringing together teamsof artists and scientists from North America to present their methods and findings.Liz has been the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2002 MacArthur “Genius Grant”Fellowship, a 2011 United States Artists Ford Fellowship in Dance, and the 2014 Dance/USAHonor Award. Her work has been commissioned by Harvard Law School, the Lincoln Center,American Dance Festival, and the Kennedy Center among many others.

Charles Lilly (student respondent)

PhD Student, University of Texas at Dallas

Chaz Lilly is a PhD student in the School of Art, Technology, and Emerging Communications at the University of Texas at Dallas where he is researching experimental and emerging forms of scholarly publishing. Chaz has worked in various editorial capacities for a number of publications: Currently, he is managing editor of experimental publishing initiatives in the ArtSciLab at UT Dallas and editorial assistant of the journal “Visual Communication Quarterly.”  He is the former editor-in-chief of the literary journal, “Reunion: The Dallas Review.” Chaz was recently named a 2016 Society for Scholarly Publishing Fellow.  

Katie McCurdy

User Experience Designer and Researcher

Katie McCurdy is a User Experience Designer & Researcher focusing on healthcare, and she is also alongtime autoimmune patient. Her mission is to help patients tell their stories, help providers focus onthe work they love, and facilitate better communication between all healthcare stakeholders. She usesher powers of empathy, visualization, and collaboration to help accomplish these goals. Katie has recently consulted with the University of Vermont Medical Center, working to improve thepatient and provider experience using human-centered design and volunteering to bring art toinpatients. Prior to her hospital work, she designed apps and products for startups Medivo and Notabli,health data non-profit Open mHealth, and clients like LabCorp, Verizon and Johnson & Johnson.  As a patient Katie has dabbled with different ways of visualizing her health and symptoms, and shehas shared these experiments with her doctors, online, and at various conferences and events.  She holds a Masters of Science in Information with a specialization in Human-Computer Interactionfrom the University of Michigan School of Information. She is co-chair of the Medicine X DesignCouncil, and she lives, skis, hikes, eats chocolate, and organizes local healthcare events in Burlington,VT. You can learn more about Katie at www.katiemccurdy.com.

Dan Novy (student respondent)

PhD Student, Massachusetts Institue of Technology

Dan Novy (also known as NovySan) is a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab, where he works to decrease the alienation fostered by traditional passive media consumption; increase social interaction through transparent, interconnected and fluid media; and create enriched, active, and inspired immediate experiences. He is an Emmy- and Visual Effects Society Award-winning VFX Technical Supervisor, Transmedia Experience Designer, and Artist. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received a BFA in Theatre and an MA in Theatre History, with a double emphasis in the technical history of the theatre and shamanic ritual performance in pre-agrarian societies. He is the former Chair of the Visual Effects Society's Technology Committee, former Vising Scientist at Magic Leap, and Co-Instructor of the Media Lab's 'Science Fiction-Inspired Prototyping' and 'Indistinguishable From Magic' classes.

Tom Rudin

Director, Board on Higher Education and Workforce, National Academy of Sciences

Tom Rudin is the Director of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce (BHEW) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine —a position he assumed in mid-August 2014. Prior to joining the Academies, Mr. Rudin served as senior vice president for career readiness and senior vice president for advocacy, government relations and development at the College Board from 2006-2014. He was also vice president for government relations from 2004-2006 and executive director of grants planning and management from 1996-2004 at the College Board. Before joining the College Board, Mr. Rudin was a policy analyst at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

In 1991, Mr. Rudin taught courses in U.S. public policy, human rights, and organizational management as a visiting instructor at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. In the early 1980s, he directed the work of the Governor’s Task Force on Science and Technology for North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., where he was involved in several new state initiatives, such as the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Purdue University, and he holds master’s degrees in public administration and in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Peter Scupelli

Assistant Professor and Chair, Environments Track, Carnegie Mellon University

Peter Scupelli is an Assistant Professor in Interaction Design, Chair of the Environments track, and Director of the Learning Environments Lab. Peter’s current research focus is on learning environments. Peter teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses. He taught required courses such as: Environment Studio I: Form and Context, Senior Design Agility: Speak Lab, Basic Interaction, Interaction Design Seminar II, and Graduate Design Studio II. He developed and taugh the following elective courses: Design Ethos and Action, Introduction to Dexign the Future, Dexign the Future (with Arnold Wasserman), and is currently developing Dexign the Future Seminar (with Judy Brooks and Arnold Wasserman). 

 

Peter's training and career path link architecture, interaction design, and human-computer interaction research. He completed his Ph.D. at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. His dissertation focused on how the architecture of the built environment around large schedule displays and nursing control desks support coordination services in surgical suites.Peter has a master’s degree in interaction design from the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. His thesis essay explored the effect of affordances in communities of practice. His thesis project entailed making process work visible to design teams throughout a project in time-shared project rooms.His architecture degree is from the Universitá di Genova in Italy. His thesis “Strangers in the residual spaces of the contemporary city” focused on the role of obsolete parts of the city as community resources.While in Italy, he worked in architecture studios in Milan and was part of the A12 architecture collective. His interest in physical environments and information technology emerged while collaborating with new media artists on installations in museums and art galleries. He collaborated with A12 and Udo Noll on Parole, an online architecture glossary. Parole was in the VII Architecture Biennial of Venice, PS1 MOMA, New York, the São Paulo Contemporary Art Biennial, and other places. Other collaborations include: Urban Epidemics a city wide installation deployed in Turin, Italy for the Biennial of Young Artists from the Mediterranean; Mirrors, a few reflections on identity, an urban installation in Reggio Emilia, Italy; HUMBOT, at the ZKM museum of Karlsruhe, Germany; A description of the Equator and Øtherlands, at Galerie Schenk in Cologne, Germany, etc. 

Michael Seman

Director, Creative Industries Research and Policy, University of Colorado Denver

Michael Seman is Director of Creative Industries Research and Policy at the University of Colorado Denver College of Arts and Media. He received his doctorate in urban planning and public policy from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2014 and his work primarily examines the intersection of the creative economy, entrepreneurship, and economic development on the urban landscape. He has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and earned his B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University and his M.S. from the University of North Texas. Before joining the University of Colorado Denver, Michael spent several years at the University of North Texas Economics Research Group as a senior research associate while also managing daytime programming at the 35 Denton and Oaktopia music festivals.

Michael is currently writing a book about music scenes and how they can transform cities for the University of Texas Press. His co-edited volume concerning the production and consumption of music in the digital age was published by Routledge in 2016 as part of their Contemporary Human Geography Series. He is also a contributing writer covering music and cities for The Atlantic's CityLab. In addition, Michael's work can be found in many academic journals including Cities, Regional Science Policy and Practice, Applied Research in Economic Development, City, Culture and Society, Industrial Geographer, and most recently in Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts.

Michael was one of 22 globally invited to attend the Experience the Creative Economy conference at the University of Toronto's Martin Prosperity Institute in 2011. Along with appearances at academic conferences, he is often invited to speak at professional and civic events across the country. National Public Radio, Wired, The Washington Post, and many regional media outlets seek his perspective concerning the creative economy. Prior to completing his graduate work, Michael spent several years as an executive at Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills, California where he focused on internal marketing and project development. He is represented by the Creative Class Group for speaking engagements.

Todd Siler

Multimedia Artist, Author, 2011 Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts

Todd Siler received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Psychology and Art from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986, becoming the first visual artist to receive this doctoral degree at M.I.T He was also a Visiting Artist/Scientist at the Computer-Aided Design Labin the Department of Mechanical Engineering (1986-88 & 1991).He has been exhibiting hisartworks internationally in major museums and galleries for the past three decades. Hisartworks are in numerous private and public collections worldwide, including The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the WhitneyMuseum of American Art in New York City, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Pushkin FineArts Museum in Moscow, and the Belsar Verlag Print Archives in Stuttgart and Zurich.Siler is a recipient of an I.B.M. Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to Paris, France (1975-76), aFulbright Fellowship to India (1985-86), and a Meitec Fellowship (1989-91), awarded by theMeitec Intelligent Technology Corporation in Tokyo, among other fellowships and awards. In addition, he holds a number of patents on a wide range of inventions, including a computer-graphics input device and textile printing machinery.The World Cultural Council, who awarded him the 2011 Leonardo DaVinci World Award of Arts,recognized Siler’s lifelong practice of applying the “ArtScience” process to envision viablesolutions to real-world global challenges. He has a longstanding interest in exploring thepotential of alternative nuclear fusion energy systems that can help create a sustainable future.

Gary Steuer

President and CEO, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation

Gary Steuer joined the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation as President and CEO in 2013. Since that time he has focused on leveraging the voice and legacy of the Foundation to sustain and strengthen the arts and nonprofit leadership in our community. He is empowering the signature programs and initiatives of the Foundation to ensure they are advancing innovation, excellence, community and quality of life.

Prior to joining BSF, Gary served as the Chief Cultural Officer and Director of the Office of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy for the City of Philadelphia. He also served as Vice President of Private-Sector Affairs and Executive Director, Arts & Business Council for Americans for the Arts in New York. Gary also spent 12 years as President and CEO and Director of New York Programs for Arts and Business Council Inc. in New York, prior to its merger with Americans for the Arts.

 

Before his stint at the Arts and Business Council, Gary spent significant time in the theatre and cultural industry holding Director positions at the National Actors Theatre, New York State Council on the Arts and Vineyard Theatre. He holds a Bachelors of Arts from New York University, where he also completed studies for a Masters of Arts in Performing Arts Management, as well as studying at the Stern School of Business.

Gary has been a regular writer and speaker on topics such as cultural policy, philanthropy, creative economy and arts management. He has served on many boards and is a current director for Clyfford Still Museum and Grantmakers in the Arts.

JD Talasek

Director of Cultural Programs, National Academy of Sciences

John (JD) Talasek is the director of Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS), Washington, D.C., which is focused on the exploration of the intersections between science, medicine, technology, and visual culture.


Mr. Talasek is creator and moderator for a regular salon called DASER (DC Art Science Evening Rendezvous) held at the NAS and he organizes a similar salon in Austin, Texas (ATX LASER).  Additionally, Mr. Talasek serves on the Contemporary Art and Science Committee (CASC) at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.  He is the art advisor for Issues in Science and Technology Magazine (jointly published by the National Academies, University of Texas at Dallas and  Arizona State University) and is currently the Art and Design Advisor for the 2015 NAKFI Conference scheduled for November 2015 in Irvine, CA. Talasek is chair elect 2016 for Leonardo’s Art Education Forum.

He was the creator and organizer of two international on-line symposia on Visual Culture and Bioscience (2007) and Visual Culture and Evolution (2010). He has taught at the University of Delaware and Essex and Howard Community Colleges. Mr. Talasek has curated several exhibitions at the National Academy of Sciences, including: Imagining Deep Time; Visionary Anatomies; Absorption + Transmission: Work by Mike and Doug Starn; and Cycloids: Paintings by Michael Schultheis. At the University of Delaware, he organized and curated Observations in an Occupied Wilderness: Photographs by Terry Falke and LightBox: The Visual AIDS Archive Project.

He holds a B.S. in photography from East Texas State University, an M.F.A. in studio arts from the University of Delaware, an M.A. in museum studies from the University of Leicester.

Dr. Lisa Wong

Assistant Co-Director, Arts and Humanities Initiative, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Lisa Wong is a physician, musician, author and arts advocate dedicated to the healing arts of music and medicine.  She has been a pediatrician at Milton Pediatric Associates for over 30 years and is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She is a violinist and served president of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra for over twenty years. LSO is a Boston-based ensemble of health care providers that combines music, medicine and service. Lisa established the “Healing Art of Music Program” that raises awareness and funds for medical nonprofits in the community. 

Dr. Wong is a lifelong arts education advocate who currently serves on the boards of the Conservatory Lab Charter School, New England Foundation for the Arts, the Leadership Council of Boston Create, A Far Cry,  and the BPS Arts Initiative.   She is a co-founder and Co-Director of the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School  and the Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH).  

 

Dr. Wong received the 2010 Pinnacle Award from the Mattapan Community Health Center and 2013 Champion for the Arts Award from the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston and an honorary degree in education from Wheelock College in 2016.

 

In 2012, she published her first book, Scales to Scalpels: Doctors who practice the healing arts of Music and Medicine with writer Robert Viagas.

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