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Leonard P. Guarente is an American biologist best known for his research on life span extension in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. He is currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is Novartis Professor of Biology. Guarente is recognized as the leading proponent of the hypothesis that caloric restriction slows aging by activation of Sirtuins. Leonard Guarente has written an autobiography titled *Ageless Quest: One Scientist's Search for Genes That Prolong Youth*. The book was published in 2003 by Cold Spring Harbor Press.

George F. R. Ellis, FRS, (born August 11, 1939) is the Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He co-authored *The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time* with University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking, published in 1973, and is considered one of the world's leading theorists in cosmology. He is an active Quaker and in 2004 he won the Templeton Prize. From 1989 to 1992 he served as President of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. Currently he is President of the International Society for Science and Religion. Ellis was a vocal opponent of apartheid during the National Party reign in the 1970s and 1980s, and it is during this period that Ellis' research has focused on the more philosophical aspects of cosmology, for which he won the Templeton Prize. He was also awarded the Order of the Star of South Africa by Nelson Mandela, in 1999. On May 18, 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the British Royal Society. In 2005 Ellis appeared as a guest speaker at the Nobel Conference in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Holmes Rolston is University Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. He has written six books, acclaimed in critical notice in both professional journals and the national press. The more recent are: *Genes, Genesis and God* (1999), *Science and Religion: A Critical Survey*, *Philosophy Gone Wild*, *Environmental Ethics*, and *Conserving Natural Value*. He has edited *Biology, Ethics, and the Origins of Life*. He has also written chapters in eighty other books and over one hundred articles. Scholars have cited and discussed in print Rolston's work over two thousand times. His articles have been reprinted and anthologized one hundred times. His books have been used as texts in a hundred and fifty colleges and universities. His work is published in Australian, Canadian, British, German, Scandinavian, Slovenian, South African, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian presses and journals, translated, reviewed, or cited in journals and books in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Finnish, Danish, Czechoslovakian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovenian, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese. Environmental Ethics, Philosophy Gone Wild, and Genes, Genesis and God are in Chinese translation. Rolston was awarded the Templeton Prize in Religion in 2003, awarded by H.R.H. Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace. He was awarded the Mendel Medal by Villanova University in 2005. Rolston has spoken as distinguished lecturer on all seven continents. He gave the opening conference address to the Royal Institute of Philosophy annual conference, Cardiff, Wales, 1993. He was Distinguished Lecturer in Beijing, China, at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Philosophy. He participated by invitation in pre-conferences and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, 1992, where he was an official observer. He spoke at the World Congress of Philosophy, Moscow, 1993, and again in Boston, 1998. He was distinguished Visiting Professor of Bioethics, Yale University, 2005-2006. Rolston's work has received critical notice in *The Christian Science Monitor*, *The Los Angeles Times*, and other national papers. He has published in *The Denver Post*, The *Philadelphia Inquirer*, and *New York Newsday. *

Dan Rhodes was born in 1972. He studied Humanities at the University of Glamorgan and later returned there for an MA in Writing, which he completed in 1997. He has worked on a fruit and vegetable farm, in the stockroom of a book shop, behind the bar of his parents' pub, as a teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, and, sporadically, as a full-time writer. He has published two collections of short fiction: *Anthropology: And a Hundred Other Stories* (2000), which contains very short, darkly humorous stories about romantic relationships, and *Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love *(2001), which consists of seven longer stories on a similar theme. His first novel,* Timoleon Vieta Come Home: A Sentimental Journey*, was published in April 2003, and is about a dog's travels across Italy. This was followed by *Little White Car* (2004). Dan Rhodes was recently named by *Granta *magazine as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists'. His latest novel is *Gold* (2007), shortlisted for the 2008 Catherine Maclean Prize.

Benedita Souza da Silva Sampaio, was born on April 26, 1943 in Praia do Pinto, in Rio de Janeiro to Ovidia da Silva out of wedlock, despite the fact that Ovidia was married to someone other than Benedita's father. Benedita da Silva is also known as Bene' and is an African-Brazilian politician. Throughout her life, Benedita faced prejudice and racism for her humble and African origins, but she has overcome those barriers by becoming the first female and black governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva nominated her Secretary of State as well.

Emmanuel N. Obiechina is a distinguished scholar and literary critic known for his keen and thoughtful interpretations of African literature and the African diaspora. Born in 1933 in Nigeria, Obiechina received his BA in English from University College in Ibadan, Nigeria, an affiliate of the University of London in 1961 and his PhD in English from the University of Cambridge in 1967. With 20 years of teaching experience, Obiechina has taught students at universities in both the US and Africa. From 2002 to 2003, Obiechina was a Visiting Scholar in the department of African and African American studies at Harvard University. He was also a fellow in the Du Bois Institute where he presented research work entitled "Slavery and the Fall of Africa: Textualizing a Historic Tragedy" as part of an ongoing book project. His honors include being awarded a festschrift, entitled Meditations on African Literature edited by Dubem Okafor and awards for "Humanistic Perspectives on Contemporary Society" from the Ford Foundation. Additional prizes include several NEH Summer Institute appointments as well as fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, the University of Cambridge and a Fulbright Travel Fellowship for Senior African Scholars.

Manning Marable is M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor of African-American Studies, and Professor of Public Affairs, History and Political Science at Colombia University in New York City. Marable has written, edited or contributed to twenty-seven books, including *How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America* (1983), *Black American Politics* (1985), *Black Leadership* (1998), *The Great Wells of Democracy* (2002), and *Living Black History* (2006). He is currently completing a major new biography of Malcolm X.

Dwight Andrews, composer, musician, educator, and minister, joined the Emory College faculty in 1987. Dr. Andrews is an Associate Professor of Music Theory and African American Music at Emory University and Senior Minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Atlanta. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music from the University of Michigan. He continued his studies at Yale University, receiving a Master of Divinity degree and a PhD in Music Theory. While at Yale, Andrews served as Associate Pastor of Christ's Church and was on the faculty of the Music Department and African American Studies Program for over ten years. He also served as the Resident Music Director (1979-1986) at the Yale Repertory Theater under Lloyd Richards. It was during this period that his fruitful association with playwright August Wilson began. As a result, Andrews served as music director for the Broadway Productions of *August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom*, *Joe Turner's Come and Gone*, *Fences*, *The Piano Lesson*, and *Seven Guitars*. He also served as Music Director for the Broadway revival production of *Ma Rainey* starring Charles S. Dutton and Whoopi Goldberg and collaborated with Director Kenny Leon on the Broadway production of *A Raisin in the Sun*, starring Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad. His work has been presented at professional theatres throughout the United States and Great Britain. He is presently working on a study of Black Music and Race based on his Harvard lectures and a manuscript on spirituality in the works of John Coltrane, Mary Lou Williams, Sun Ra, Dave Brubeck, and Albert Ayler.

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, contributing profiles, columns, Reporter at Large, Talk of the Town, and Popular Chronicles on subjects ranging from umbrella inventors to figure skater Tonya Harding to clowns. Prior to joining The New Yorker, Orlean was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and at Vogue and has also written for Esquire, Smithsonian, and New York Times Magazine. In addition to her magazine work, Orlean is the author of seven books, including My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere; The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters with Extraordinary People; Saturday Night; and Lazy Little Loafers. In 1999, she published The Orchid Thief, a best-selling narrative about orchid poachers in Florida. The Orchid Thief was made into the movie Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.

Anita Diamant is an award-winning journalist and author of five books about contemporary Jewish life including *The New Jewish Wedding* and *Choosing a Jewish Life: Guidebook for People Converting to Judaism and for their Family and Friends.* She lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter.