Juan Williams
May 1, 2009
The Latest From Washington – An Insider’s View
Juan Williams, one of America’s leading journalists, is a news analyst, appearing regularly on the newsmagazines Morning Edition and Day to Day. Knowledgeable and charismatic, Williams brings insight and depth — hallmarks of NPR programs — to a wide spectrum of issues and ideas.
From 2000-2001, Williams hosted NPR’s national call-in show Talk of the Nation. In that role, he brought the program to cities and towns across America for monthly radio “town hall” meetings before live audiences. The town hall meetings were a part of “The Changing Face of America,” a year-long NPR series focused on how Americans are dealing with rapid changes in society and culture as the United States enters the 21st century. The series, supported by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, involves monthly pieces airing on Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as Talk of the Nation.
Williams is the author of the critically acclaimed biography Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, which was released in paperback in February 2000. He is also the author of the nonfiction bestseller Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965, the companion volume to the critically acclaimed television series. This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience appeared in February 2003. This book was the basis for a six-part public broadcasting TV documentary that aired in June 2003. In 2004, Williams became involved with AARP’s Voices of Civil Rights project, leading a veteran team of reporters and editors in the production of My Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience. The book presents the harrowing and haunting eyewitness accounts of some 50 activists who served as foot soldiers and field generals in the Civil Rights Movement. In his 2006 book, Enough, Williams makes the case that while there is still racism, it is way past time for black Americans to open their eyes to the “culture of failure” that exists within their community.
During his 21-year career at The Washington Post, Williams served as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House reporter. He has won an Emmy award for TV documentary writing and won widespread critical acclaim for a series of documentaries including “Politics – The New Black Power.” Articles by Williams have appeared in magazines ranging from Newsweek, Fortune, and The Atlantic Monthly to Ebony, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, and The New Republic.
Williams continues to be a contributing political analyst for the Fox News Channel and a regular panelist on Fox News Sunday. He has also appeared on numerous television programs, including Nightline, Washington Week in Review, Oprah, CNN’s Crossfire (where he frequently served as co-host), and Capitol Gang Sunday.
Lance Izumi
April 9, 2009
It’s Not Just the Poor Kids: Why We Need to Worry About the Performance of Middle-Class Children
From charter schools to community colleges, Lance Izumi is an expert in education policy.
Referring to one of his studies, he has said: “living in a middle-class suburb does not necessarily guarantee a good education to children.”
A book he authored served as a guide for creating high-performing charter schools in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In January of this year, Izumi’s expertise landed him the role of board president for California’s community college system – the nation’s largest higher education system with more than 2.6 million students.
On April 7, 2009 Izumi, the director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, shares his experiences and insights at the Economic Club of Indiana luncheon.
Gordon Lloyd
March 26, 2009
Why Study the American Founders?
Dr. Gordon Lloyd earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science at McGill University. He completed all coursework toward a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago before receiving his master’s and PhD degrees in government at Claremont Graduate School. The coauthor of three books on the American founding and author of two forthcoming publications on political economy, he also has numerous articles and book reviews to his credit. His areas of research span the California constitution, common law, the New Deal, slavery and the Supreme Court, and the relationship between politics and economics. He has received many teaching, research, and leadership awards including admission to Phi Beta Kappa and an appointment as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar for the Oklahoma Scholarship Leadership Program.
Scott A. Hodge
Feburary 5, 2009
Taxes, Inequality and the Direction of America
Scott A. Hodge is widely recognized as an opinion leader and advocate for tax policy and government spending reform. During the 1990’s, he was an influential factor in major policy reform known as the “Contract with America.” Hodge is an accomplished author of three books and over 100 studies. He is an editorial and opinion contributor to nationally published newspapers and a regular guest on television news outlets such as CNN, Fox Network, C-SPAN and more.
PJ O’Rourke,
Member of the Board of Trustees, Freedom House
January 21, 2009
The Future of Freedom Agenda: Why the State of Global Democracy Matters to Americans
P.J. O’Rourke is a correspondent for The Atlantic and an H.L Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute. He is the author of twelve books and four bestsellers: Parliament of Whores, Give War a Chance, All the Trouble in the World and, most recently, On the Wealth of Nations. O’Rourke is the former editor-in-chief of the National Lampoon and was a foreign correspondent for Rolling Stone magazine for 15 years. He is a widely published freelance journalist and regular on the NPR news quiz “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Freedom House. Mr. O’Rourke graduated from Miami University and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to study English at Johns Hopkins University.
Rebecca Ryan
December 11, 2008
Brain Drain, Brain Gain
Rebecca Ryan is an energetic entrepreneur and the founder of Next Generation Consulting. In 2007, Rebecca became a 2EO, with responsibilities for sales, marketing and positioning. Ryan summarized her firm’s research in her 2007 book, Live First, Work Second: Getting Inside the Minds of the Next Generation. Dr. Richard Florida, author of the best-seller, The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class wrote the forward to Ms. Ryan’s book. He writes, “I am a HUGE Rebecca Ryan fan,” and considers “NGC one of the most reliable sources for CEO’s, mayors, legislators, economic developers and non-profit leaders who want to attract and retain the next generation of creative workers.” Rebecca was named the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the 2006 Communicator of the Year by Women in Communication.
Charles L. Evans
November 21, 2008
Discussion on the Current Economy
Charles L. Evans took office on September 1, 2007 as the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In that capacity, he serves on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve System’s most important monetary policymaking body.
Before becoming president, Evans was director of research and a senior vice president at the Chicago Fed. In that capacity he oversaw the Bank’s research in monetary policy, banking and financial markets, and regional economics. In addition, he had supervisory responsibility for the Bank’s Consumer and Community Affairs unit and the Public Affairs Department. Evans also served as an associate economist on the FOMC.
Prior to appointment as research director in July 2003, Evans served as vice president and senior economist in the economic research department with responsibility for the macroeconomics research group. His research has focused on measuring the effects of monetary policy on U.S. economic activity, inflation and financial market prices. His research has been published in the Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Journal of Monetary Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Handbook of Macroeconomics. In addition to his work at the Chicago Fed, he has taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the Chicago Fed in 1991, he was an assistant professor of economics at the University of South Carolina. Evans received a B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in economics from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
William Kristol
October 2008
American Politics Today
William (Bill) Kristol’s political stardom seems almost predestined. Bill, the son of a 1960s political icon, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in three years. After earning an advanced degree, he started his government career in the U.S. Department of Education during the Reagan years. He went on to work as chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle – a role in which numerous pundits to referred to him as the vice president’s brain. Kristol currently serves as editor-in-chief for political magazine The Weekly Standard. Additionally, he works as a political columnist and commentator for major media outlets, including Fox News and The New York Times.
John Lechleiter
September 24, 2008
The Cure For What Ails Us
Newly installed as president and CEO of Eli Lilly, John Lechleiter, was once more accustomed to a lab coat than a business suit. His extensive knowledge of the entire drug creation process – from the laboratory through FDA approval – sets him apart in an already elite fraternity of major pharmaceutical company CEOs. A former National Science Foundation Fellow at Harvard with a PhD in organic chemistry, Lechleiter has spent much of his career practicing the hard science of pharmaceutical drugs. Eli Lilly, the state of Indiana and the entire industry will surely benefit from the unique perspectives his experience provides.
