Edward M. Kennedy was the third longest-serving member of the United States Senate in American history. Voters of Massachusetts elected him to the Senate nine times: a record matched by only one other Senator. The scholar Thomas Mann said his time in the Senate was "an amazing and endurable presence. You want to go back to the 19th century to find parallels, but you won't find parallels." President Barak Obama has described his breathtaking span of accomplishment: "For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health, and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts." He fought for and won battles on voting rights, education, immigration reform, the minimum wage, national service, the nation's first major legislation to combat AIDS, and equality for minorities, women, the disabled and gay Americans. He called health care "the cause of my life", and succeeded in bringing quality and affordable health care for countless Americans, including children, seniors and Americans with disabilities. Until the end he was working tirelessly to achieve historic national health reform. He was an opponent of the Vietnam War and an early champion of the war's refugees. He was a powerful yet lonely voice from the beginning against the invasion of Iraq. He stood for human rights abroad (from Chile to the former Soviet Union) and was a leader in the cause of poverty relief for the poorest nations of Africa and the world. He believed in a strong national defense and he also unceasingly pursued and advanced the work of nuclear arms control. He was considered the conscience of his party, and also the Senate's master of forging compromise with the other party. Known as the 'Lion of the Senate', Senator Kennedy was widely respected on both sides of the aisle for his commitment to progress and his ability to legislate. Senator Kennedy was Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Previously he was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and served on that committee for many years. He also served on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. He was a leader of the Congressional Friends of Ireland and helped lead the way toward peace on that island. He was a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Virginia Law School. He lived in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, with his wife Vicki. He is survived by her and their five children Kara, Edward Jr., and Patrick Kennedy, and Curran and Caroline Raclin, and his sister Jean Kennedy Smith

Mary Kelley helps organizations, cities and towns with strategic planning and project design/implementation. She brings years of professional experience in leadership positions in the performing arts in New York City and New England including eleven years as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency supporting cultural organizations, artists and schools in the Commonwealth. Mary previously served as the founding Executive Director of The Music Hall in Portsmouth NH; Director of Marketing and General Manager of The Big Apple Circus; and Production Associate at Warner Theatre Productions which produced or co produced 22 Broadway and off-Broadway productions. For Tom Field Associates, Mary created the Westbeth Theatre Center in New York from the old Bell Sound Laboratories on Bank Street in New York. From incorporation of the Center to hiring the theatre architect and designer, she oversaw the operations of this Off-Off Broadway theatre complex during its formative years. She was General Manager at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and ETC Theatre Company. She also served as New York State Director of Hands Across America, a project of USA for Africa and managed the South American tour of EVITA.

Roger Rees is a five-year veteran of the Williamstown Theatre Festival where he has directed Jon Robin Baitz's *The Film Society*, *The Rivals* by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, *The Late Middle Classes* by Simon Gray, and Shakespeare's *The Taming of the Shrew* in which he also played Petruchio opposite Bebe Neuwirth. He appeared in WTF's 2004 production of *Cabaret & Main*, and took part in the Festival's 50th Anniversary Celebration, As Dreams Are Made On, this past August.

Since 1994, Anne Brengle has brought her considerable management and curatorial skills and her far-reaching vision to her position as Executive Director of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. She received her B.A. from New York University and completed coursework for an M.A. in Museum Studies at Lesley College Graduate School. She holds certificates from the Getty Leadership Institute, the Museum Management Program, University of Colorado; Project Management, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Executive Summer Institute and Center for Creative Leadership, Jessie Ball duPont Fund Institute; Summer Institute-American Arts and the American Experience, Boston University, Museum of Fine Arts, and Yale University. Ms. Brengle served as Executive Director of the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, New Bedford, 1991-94. Her awards include: New Bedford Standard Times Woman of the Year, 1999; Official Citation, State Senate of Massachusetts for Bringing a sense of dignity and culture to the city of New Bedford, 1998; Community Leader of the Year, New Bedford Chamber of Commerce, 1997; Official Citation, City of New Bedford for Significant contribution to the city's arts and culture, 1996. Ms. Brengle currently is Vice President of the Council of American Maritime Museums, and serves on the boards of the New Bedford Historic Commission, Waterfront Historic Area League, and the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities.