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Lisa Madigan has brought a high level of activism to the Office of Illinois Attorney General. From her first days in office, she has demonstrated principled leadership, putting policy before politics and focusing her work as the state's top legal advocate on protecting the people and communities of Illinois. Madigan has dedicated the energy and resources of her office to protecting women and children from the dangers of predators on our streets and on the Internet.

Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for works such as "Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century", a scholarly and literary essay that places rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism. Marcus was born in San Francisco. He earned an undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also did graduate work in political science. He has been a rock critic and columnist for *Rolling Stone* (where he was the first reviews editor, at $30 a week) and other publications, including *Creem*, *The Village Voice*, and *Artforum*.

Scott Alarik has been the principal folk music writer for *The Boston Globe* since 1986. He is also a frequent contributor to *Sing Out!* the Folk Music Magazine, and was folk critic for the public radio program "Here and Now" for seven years. From 1991-97, he was editor and chief writer for the *New England Folk Almanac*. With the release of a new CD *All That Is True* and the launching of a long-awaited website, scottalarik.com, Alarik hopes to more closely connect his long careers as music journalist and folk singer. Before moving to Boston in the early 80s, Alarik spent nearly 15 years as a folk singer and songwriter. He released three albums and appeared regularly on the public radio hit "A Prairie Home Companion." During that time, writing overshadowed performing for Alarik. In 1991, the *Globe* briefly minimized the attention it paid to folk music, and Alarik, in partnership with the Folk Arts Network, founded the *New England Folk Almanac* to fill the breach in print media coverage. From 1991-97, it grew from a regional music calendar into a nationally respected magazine. At the peak of its popularity in 1997, an internal struggle within the sponsoring organization forced Alarik to leave the Almanac. It went out of business a year later.

Marc W. Kirschner is founding chair of the Department of Systems Biology. He is co-author of Cells, Embryos, and Evolution (Blackwell, 1997) and a newly published book, The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma (Yale University Press, 2005). Kirschner was elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London and as a Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea in 1999. He was the 2001 recipient of the William C. Rose Award, presented by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Later that year, he received a 2001 International Award by the Gairdner Foundation of Toronto. He was awarded the Rabbi Shai Shacknai Lectureship Prize for 2003 at the Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In December 2003, Kirschner received the EB Wilson Medal, the American Society of Cell Biology's highest scientific honor named for an early 20th century pioneer of American biology who advocated the chromosomal theory of inheritance, is awarded by scientific peers to those who have made significant and far reaching contributions to cell biology over the course of a career. He received the Dickson Prize for Science from Carnegie Mellon University for his outstanding contributions to science in 2004. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health and as President of the American Society for Cell Biology. Kirschner's laboratory investigates three broad, diverse areas: regulation of the cell cycle, the role of cytoskeleton in cell morphogenesis, and mechanisms of establishing the basic vertebrate body plan.

Andrew Norman Wilson, is an English writer, known for his critical biographies, novels and works of popular and cultural history. He is also a columnist for *the London Evening Standard* and was an occasional contributor to *the Daily Mail*, *Times Literary Supplement*, *New Statesman*, *The Spectator* and *The Observer*. A. N. Wilson was born in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he has held a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is an award winning biographer and a celebrated novelist, winning prizes for much of his fiction. He lives in North London.

Mike Eskew serves as chairman and chief executive officer for UPS, the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services. Under Eskew's direction, UPS is expanding its capabilities into new lines of business that complement the company's global package delivery operations. A native of Vincennes, Ind., Eskew graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business. Eskew began his UPS career in 1972 as an industrial engineering manager in Indiana. Eskew has served as a member of the UPS Board of Directors since 1998.In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Eskew is a Trustee of The UPS Foundation and The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is the country's largest foundation dedicated to disadvantaged youth. In 2003, Eskew was appointed to the President's Export Council and was elected chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council in 2004. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the 3M Corporation and is a member of the Business Roundtable

Television and radio personality Robert Aubry Davis is a native Washingtonian and an active member of the area's cultural community. Davis is the creator and host of "Millennium of Music," a program dedicated to music from the thousand years before Bach. The program is carried by more than 100 public radio stations nationwide. He has been host and moderator of WETA TV 26's Emmy Award-winning weekly arts discussion program, "Around Town," since its inception in 1986. Davis can also be heard on Vox, XM Satellite Radio's opera and classical vocal music channel. His education in literature and art history at both Duke University and American University and his broad knowledge of and participation in the arts make him a well-respected and visible member of Washington's cultural community. He is a regular lecturer at a variety of area seminars and performances, including concerts with the Folger Consort, the Baltimore Consort, the Early Music Series at the University of Maryland, the Dumbarton Oaks Concert Series and the Smithsonian Early Music Series.

A.E. Hotchner is an American author and graduate of Washington University (LA and JD, 1940) who briefly practiced law in St. Louis. In 1942 he joined the United States Air Force and directed the London and Paris bureau of The Air Force Magazine from 1946 to 1948. After a period of freelance work in Paris from 1949 to 1950, Hotchner went to work for Cosmopolitan magazine as a feature writer from 1950 until 1954. He then returned to serious freelancing and sold stories and articles to well circulated magazines. Hotchner later wrote for television and the stage. A full length novel, The Dangerous American, was published in 1958, and his plays such as The White House were produced in New York. In 1955, he began various adaptations for stage and television of work by Ernest Hemingway. The two were friends until Hemingway's death in 1961. Papa Hemingway, Hotchner's controversial memoir, was published in 1966 by Random House.

Robert P. Gittens is an attorney who serves as Vice President for Public Affairs at Northeastern University. His extensive public sector experience includes service as Cabinet Secretary for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, First Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County, Chairman of the Massachusetts Parole Board, and Deputy Chief Legal Counsel to the Office of the Governors Legal Counsel. Mr. Gittens is a member of the Court Management Advisory Board.