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Alex de Waal is the Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation. Considered one of the foremost experts on Sudan and the Horn of Africa, his scholarly work and practice has also probed humanitarian crisis and response, human rights, HIV/AIDS and governance in Africa, and conflict and peace-building. His latest book is Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine (Polity Press 2017). He is also the author of The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa (Polity Press, 2015). Following a fellowship with the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard (2004-06), he worked with the Social Science Research Council as Director of the program on HIV/AIDS and Social Transformation, and led projects on conflict and humanitarian crises in Africa (2006-09). During 2005-06, de Waal was seconded to the African Union mediation team for Darfur and from 2009-11 served as senior adviser to the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan, where he took on a number of roles in the negotiations leading to the independence of South Sudan. He was on the list of Foreign Policy’s 100 most influential public intellectuals in 2008 and Atlantic Monthly’s 27 “brave thinkers” in 2009.

David Grinspoon is principal scientist in the Department of Space Studies at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, CO. He is funded by NASA to study the evolution of earthlike worlds. His new book is *Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life*.

Earl Pomeroy is an American lawyer and politician from the state of North Dakota. A member of the North Dakota Democratic Non Partisan League Party, Pomeroy has been the sole member of the United States House of Representatives from North Dakota since 1993.

Recognized as a national and party leader on national security, health care and stem cell research, Congressman Jim Langevin has dedicated his many years of public service at the federal and state levels to the hard-working citizens of Rhode Island. As part of the Democratic Leadership team, Langevin serves as both a Democratic Regional Whip for New England and a member of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn's Senior Whip Team. In these roles, he is responsible for educating other Democratic members on key issues and helping to craft the party's strategy and legislative agenda. As the co-founder and co-chairman of the bipartisan House Cybersecurity Caucus, he has taken on a leadership role in raising awareness of cyber security issues in Congress and fostering dialogue and debate on the critical questions surrounding this topic. In addition, advancing the science of stem cell research continues to be another of Langevin's top priorities. Langevin championed the passage of H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, and its predecessor H.R. 810, which call for expansion of the federal policy on embryonic stem cell research. He proudly joined President Obama in early 2009 as he signed an Executive lifting the Bush Administration's restrictions on embryonic stem cell funding and will continue to work with his colleagues in Congress to give the President's order the force of law. Born April 22, 1964, Langevin is the first quadriplegic to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the age of 16, Langevin was injured while working with the Warwick Police Department in the Boy Scout Explorer program. A gun accidentally discharged and a bullet struck Langevin, leaving him paralyzed. The tremendous outpouring of support from his community inspired Langevin to give something back and enter public service. He graduated from Rhode Island College and earned a Master's Degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott began serving his ninth term as a Member of Congress on January 6, 2009. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Scott served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1978 to 1983 and in the Senate of Virginia from 1983 to 1993. Rep. Scott's Official Portrait. During his 15-year tenure in the Virginia General Assembly, Rep. Scott successfully sponsored laws that are critical to Virginians in healthcare, education, employment, economic development, crime prevention, social services and consumer protection. His legislative successes included laws that improved healthcare benefits for women, infants and children, increased the Virginia minimum wage and created the Governor's Employment and Training Council. In November 1992, Rep. Scott was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Through this election, Rep. Scott made history by becoming the first African American elected to Congress from Virginia since Reconstruction and only the second African American elected to Congress in Virginia's history. Rep. Scott was born on April 30, 1947 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Newport News, Virginia. He is a graduate of Harvard University and Boston College Law School. After graduating from law school, he returned to Newport News and practiced law from 1973 to 1991. He received an honorable discharge for his service in the Massachusetts National Guard and the United States Army Reserve.

U.S Senator Edward J. Markey, a national leader on energy and the environment, chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Since Speaker Pelosi appointed Sen. Markey chairman in 2007 to 2010, the Select Committee has held more than 50 hearings and contributed to the advancement of smarter energy and climate policies, including the first increase in fuel economy standards in three decades, which Sen. Markey authored, which will increase fuel economy standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Sen. Markey's career of activism and effectiveness spans three decades, since he was first elected to represent Massachusetts' seventh Congressional district in 1976. He is the principal House author of the 2007 fuel economy law, In addition to chairing key energy and environment panels, Sen. Markey is a senior member of the Natural Resources Committee. He also served for 20 years as Chair or Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and was a senior Democratic member of the House Homeland Security Committee. In addition, he is the co chair of bipartisan Caucuses on Nonproliferation, on Privacy, on Alzheimer's disease, and on Cystic Fibrosis. He is a fighter for the welfare of his constituents in the blue-collar and high-tech communities of his district north and west of downtown Boston and, as a previous dean of the Massachusetts delegation in the House, he also worked to harness the energy and influence of his colleagues on behalf of the entire Commonwealth. Ed Markey was born in Malden, Massachusetts, on July 11, 1946. He attended Boston College (B.A., 1968) and Boston College Law School (J.D., 1972). He served in the U.S. Army Reserve and was elected to the Massachusetts State House where he served two terms representing Malden and Melrose. He is married to Dr. Susan Blumenthal.

Lane Allen Evans, a Representative from Illinois was born in Rock Island, Rock Island County, Illinois on August 4, 1951. He received his B.A. from Augustana College, Rock Island, IL in 1974 and received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. in 1977. He was elected as a Democrat to Congresses (January 3, 1983-January 3, 2007).

Chris Dodd was born May 27, 1944, in Willimantic, Connecticut, to the late Senator Thomas J. Dodd and Grace Murphy Dodd. From his childhood, he was taught the virtue of public service, of service to country; Chris' father was one of the lead prosecutors during the Nuremberg Nazi war crimes tribunals that set the standard for America's moral authority. In 1958, Thomas Dodd was elected from Connecticut to the United States Senate. Three of Chris Dodds aunts were well-known public school teachers in small communities. Forty-six years ago, Chris stood on the East Front of the Capitol and heard John Kennedy's inaugural address which called upon all Americans to become a part of something greater than themselves, which famously challenged us to ask what we could do for our nation. After graduating from Providence College, Chris joined the United States Peace Corps in 1966 and moved to the Dominican Republic where he built a school and a maternity clinic in rural communities, became fluent in Spanish, and saw what the world could achieve when America leads. Upon fulfilling his two-year commitment to the Peace Corps, Chris returned home to enlist in the Army National Guard, later serving in the US Army Reserves. In 1972, earning his law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law, Chris returned to Connecticut, building a law practice in New London. Soon, however, like his father before him, he was called to public service. Elected to Congress in 1974, Chris served three terms in the House of Representatives on behalf of Connecticut's Second District. He was elected to the US Senate in 1980.