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Ben Shahn was one of the foremost Social Realist artists of the 1930s. Shahn was born in 1898 in Kovno, Lithuania, the first of five children of a traditional Orthodox Jewish family. His father was a woodcarver and cabinetmaker. As Eastern European Jews during the period, they faced discrimination and violence everywhere they turned. When the Russian Revolution of 1917 declared war on all forms of anti-Semitism, Jews instinctively turned toward the new government.

Robert Penn Warren was born in Guthrie, Todd County, Kentucky, on April 24, 1905. He entered Vanderbilt University in 1921, where he became the youngest member of the group of Southern poets called the Fugitives, which included John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, Donald Davidson, and Merrill Moore. Warren's first poems were published in *The Fugitive*, a magazine which the group published from 1922 to 1925. The Fugitives were advocates of the rural Southern agrarian tradition and based their poetry and critical perspective on classical aesthetic ideals. Though regarded as one of the best poets of his generation, Warren was better known as a novelist and received tremendous recognition for *All the King's Men*, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1947. Warren's poetry became less formal and more expansive, garnering even higher critical acclaim: his *Promises: Poems, 1954-1956* won the Sidney Hillman Award, the Edna St. Vincent Millay Memorial Award, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1979 he earned a third Pulitzer Prize, this time for *Now and Then: Poems, 1976-1978*. Warren served as a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets from 1972 until 1988, and was selected as a MacArthur Fellow in 1981. On February 26, 1986, Warren was named the first U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. He died September 15, 1989.

Walter Piston was an American composer and music theorist. Among Piston's many awards and honors were three New York Music Critic's Circle Awards for his Symphony No. 2, Viola Concerto, and String Quartet No. 5, two Pulitzers, and eight honorary doctorates. He was elected to the American Institute and Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A recent series of recordings has precipitated a revival of interest in Piston's work.

Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, Sheehan graduated from Battle Creek College and received his master's and Ph.D. degrees in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan. He began a 31-year teaching career at MIT in 1946. Sheehan's inventiveness extended beyond medical science. At the beginning of World War II, he and W.E. Bachmann of the University of Michigan devised a new and practical method of manufacturing the important military high explosive RDX (cyclonite), which replaced TNT as the basic explosive for rocket, bomb, and torpedo warheads. In 1953 and 1954 he served as a scientific liaison officer with the American Embassy in London for the Office of Naval Research. He was later a scientific adviser to presidents Kennedy and Johnson. During his lifetime he was awarded more than 40 patents.

As a mathematics student at Jesus College, Cambridge, Bronowski co-edited with William Empson the literary periodical *Experiment*, which first appeared in 1928. Bronowski would pursue this sort of dual activity, in both the mathematical and literary worlds, throughout his professional life. He was also a strong chess player, earning a half-blue while at Cambridge and composing numerous chess problems for the British Chess Magazine between 1926 and 1970. He received a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1935, writing a dissertation in algebraic geometry. From 1934 to 1942 he taught mathematics at the University College of Hull. Bronowski was an associate director of the Salk Institute from 1964.

Margaret Mead (1901-78) taught generations of Americans about the value of looking carefully and openly at other cultures to better understand the complexities of being human. Scientist, explorer, writer, and teacher, Mead, who worked in the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1926 until her death, brought the serious work of anthropology into the public consciousness. In addition to her work at the Museum, Margaret Mead taught, wrote more best-selling books, contributed a regular column to Redbook magazine, lectured, and was frequently interviewed on radio and television. A deeply committed activist, Mead often testified on social issues before the United States Congress and other government agencies. She hoped that through all of these efforts others would learn about themselves and work toward a more humane and socially responsible society.

Mason has been the Executive Director of WCNE since 1980; he is also the head naturalist at Capt. Bill and Son's Whale Watch, the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the American Cetacean Society, the Chair of Massachusetts Coastal Advocacy Network, a member of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, and a technical advisor to New England's Large Whale Recovery Team. He has published many articles, both popular and scientific, about the whales of New England. He is the primary captain of our research vessel, Mysticete. He holds a B.S. in Zoology from Cornell University.

John Calambokidis is a Research Biologist and co-founder of Cascadia Research (in 1979). He has served as the Principal Investigator of more than 50 research studies on marine mammals, marine birds, and pollution. He has supervised a staff of up to 20 researchers. He has co-authored over 50 papers in scientific journals and two books: the award-winning *Guide to Marine Mammals of Greater Puget Sound* (Island Publishers, with R. Osborne and E.M. Dorsey) and *Blue Whales* (Voyageur Press, with G.H. Steiger). He is a charter member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, as well as a number of other scientific societies, and periodically teaches a Marine Mammal Biology course as an Adjunct Faculty Member of The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Derrick Ashong, also known as "DNA", (born 1975 in Accra, Ghana), is a musician, artist, activist, and entrepreneur. He is currently studying for a PhD in Ethnomusicology and Afro-American studies. Ashong was a founding member of the Harvard Black Alumni Society. Ashong's musical career started while at Harvard. He produced a musical entitled Songs We Can't Sing, for which he won awards, before forming a band called "Black Rose". The band latter became known as Soulfge. Ashong has worked with such established artists as Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, & Bobby McFerrin, and is MC and leader of the pan-African band Soulfge, under the name "DNA", producing works that have aired globally via outlets including MTV Africa, MNet Africa and BBC World Service. In 1997, Ashong had a role in the Steven Spielberg-produced movie Amistad, playing the character Buakei, a role he gained through attending an open audition in New York. He also appeared in a 2006 documentary about the Angola 3, entitled 3 Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation. Ashong founded a talent agency, ASAFO Productions.

KiKi Breevlife took the reigns on her own to begin performing at local open mics, entering and winning numerous freestyle battles along the city as well as in her hometown of New York City. In 1998 she became the sole female member within the group Genetix, which then changed the name to MSC. She created and co-founded R.A.W E.A.R.T.H, (Real Artistic Women Entering Any Realm Trying to Hinder) in March of 1999 with Shay D Atoms. Later, Lexi Driva and Wizdom joined the crew and together they started a female rap trio. Raw Earth grew to be the most influential female conglomerate in Boston with influences of Wu-Tanga and Boot Camp Click. Raw Earth offered young women resources for success in the rap game by showcasing their individual talent. Raw Earth consisted of young female actresses, rappers, singers, and a STEP team. In 2006 Kiki Breevlife was nominated at M.I.C's Hip Hop Music Awards and Urban Music Awards for Best Female Rap.