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  • Marcelo Gleiser is a Brazilian physicist and astronomer. Gleiser received his bachelor's degree in 1981 from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, his M.Sc. degree in 1982 from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and his Ph.D. in 1986 from King's College London. He worked as a postdoc at Fermilab until 1988 and from then until 1991 at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. Since 1991, he has taught at Dartmouth College, where he was awarded the Appleton Professorship of Natural Philosophy in 1999, and is currently a professor of physics and astronomy. Gleiser's research interests include the physics of the early Universe, the properties of solitons in quantum field theories, and questions related to the origin of life on Earth and elsewhere in the Universe. He is the author of over eighty papers in peer-reviewed journals, and several popular books on cosmology and religion including: *A Tear at the Edge of Creation* (2010), *The Prophet and the Astronomer* (2002), and *The Dancing Universe* (1997).
  • Donald B. Redford is a Canadian Egyptologist and archaeologist, currently Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Professor Redford has directed a number of important excavations in Egypt, notably at Karnak and Mendes. He received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D all from the University of Toronto, and was an Assistant/Associate Professor (1962 - 1969) and full Professor (1969 - 1998) at the same university. He moved to Pennsylvania State University in 1998.
  • Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher widely regarded as one of the most influential living philosophers, particularly for his contributions to the animal liberation movement. Born in Melbourne to parents who fled the German annexation of Austria, Singer was educated at Preshil and Scotch College. He studied law, history, and philosophy at the University of Melbourne, and earned his B.Phil. from Oxford in 1971. Singer's master's thesis was entitled, "Why Should I Be Good?" In his touchstone work, *Animal Liberation*, Singer expanded on the question, arguing that the only measure of morality is the greatest good for the greatest number, popularizing the term "speciesism" as the practice of preferring humans over other animals. Other works, such as *Practice Ethics*, develop his ethical standpoint, the preference utilitarian perspective.
  • John Hare is the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School. He is most widely known for his 1996 book *The Moral Gap*, in which he analyzes a gap between ethical duty and ability noted in Kant's philosophical writings. Hare argues that this moral gap cannot be bridged apart from religion. The son of influential British utilitarian philosopher R. M. Hare, John Hare received his B.A. from Balliol College, Oxford, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1975. After teaching at Lehigh University and Calvin College, he moved to Yale, where he has been a professor of theology since 2003.
  • Wouter G. Werner graduated cum laude at the Utrecht University of applied sciences (specialization law and economics) as well as at Twente University (with a specialization legal theory). After receiving his Ph.D. in 1995, he started teaching public international law and legal methodology at Twente University. In 1999 he moved to Utrecht University where he became associate professor public international law. Currently, Wouter G. Werner is full professor Public International Law at VU University, Amsterdam. He is interested in international legal theory, the interplay between international law and international politics and the international legal regime on the use of force. One of the focal points of his research is the turn to prevention and risk-management in contemporary security policies. In addition, Wouter Werner has been working on the rise of cosmopolitanism in international law, in cooperation with researchers from political philosophy and International Relations. Currently, he is involved in research projects on the concept of ‘humanity’ in discourses on international law and bio-ethics as well as a project on world legislation. Wouter Werner is director of the VU research group Boundaries of Law and Action Leader of a pan-European research network on the constitutionalization, fragmentation and politicization of international law. As editor of the Leiden Journal of International Law he is co-responsible for the so called ‘ periphery series’ (focusing on third world perspectives on international law) as well several special issues dealing in the area of international legal theory. Wouter Werner has co-initiated the interdisciplinary research group on critical approaches to IR and international law, which brings together scholars from IR, military studies, legal philosophy and international law. He is senior editor of the Leiden Journal of International Law, The Hague Justice Portal and the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, member of the Netherlands Advisory Committee on Issues of Public International Law.
  • Amy Stursberg is the executive director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. Since joining the Foundation, Stursberg has been responsible for the creation of a programmatic plan for the Foundation and the distribution of funds. Prior to joining The Blackstone Foundation in 2008, she served on the Spitzer administration transition team. She had been a consultant to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation managing the award of $35 million in cultural enhancement grants and $30 million in community grants in Lower Manhattan. Prior to that Stursberg worked at the September 11th Fund serving as a consultant to the Chair of the Board, Program Director for Economic Development and Revitalization, and then as the last Director of the Fund, overseeing its final distribution of funds. Stursberg has also held positions in the Office of Management and Budget for the NYC Mayors Office and at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington DC. She has also worked as a university administrator and foundation officer. Stursberg currently serves on the boards of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, Tectonic Theater Project, Children for Children and serves on the Divisional Board for Trauma and Domestic Violence for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. Stursberg received her BA from the University of Michigan with Honors and holds a Masters in Public Policy from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
  • Santokh S. Badesha is a Xerox Fellow and manager of open innovation for the Xerox Corporation. Badesha is responsible for leading inter-organizational efforts with both internal and external value chain partners, building academic and industrial partnerships, and providing critical technical support for product programs. These strategic partnerships design and execute front end research to design, develop and deliver functional materials, components, and marking subsystems. Badesha holds 168 U.S. Patents which have also been filed in multiple foreign countries. This makes him the most prolific inventor ever in the history of Xerox Corporation. He has an additional 45 U.S. patent applications on file with the U.S. Patent Office. In addition, he has over 55 peer reviewed key scientific publications and presentations in international scientific journals and professional society’s conferences. He was named Fellow by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Chartered Scientist by the Science Council of U.K., and received a proclamation from the Mayor of Rochester, N.Y. He received the Distinguished Inventor of the Year Award from the Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association and was named Chairman to the Board of the Center for Advanced Materials Processing, Clarkson University. Badesha is also a recipient of 2009 Chester F. Carlson Lifetime Achievement Award of the Society for Imaging Science and Technology for his technical contributions in the area of novel materials as integrated functional surfaces in electrophotographic surfaces. Recently, Dr. Badesha represented Xerox Corporation at the White House to receive the National Medal of Honor in Science and Technology from the President of United States.
  • Rob Pegoraro writes the Fast Forward column, a weekly look at computers, the Internet and consumer electronics, and the Help File Q&A feature. Online, he writes the Faster Forward blog, hosts Web chats and holds forth on Twitter. Pegoraro has been with the Post since 1993, in which time he has sorted mail and answered phones, written for many other sections (so far, his byline has appeared in National, Metro, Style, Sports, Health, Food, Home, Weekend, Real Estate, Outlook, Sunday Arts, Sunday Source, Travel, Book World and the Magazine), and made it on the front page twice.
  • Libby Spears is the director of film *Playground*. She conceived of the idea for *Playground* in 2001 while photographing a documentary in the Philippines and Central America about women’s sexual self-image. Spears’ background in social issue filmmaking and commercial production includes works for PSI in Nepal on water and sanitation, and IOM in Indonesia, on human trafficking and the aftermath of the tsunami. Spears’ film directing and producing credits include a film on the jazz band Medeski, Martin & Wood, Spring Forward, Bruno Coppola’s Rules of Love and Christopher Walken’s directorial debut for Showtime Television. Previously, Spears worked as the Film Festival Coordinator and Programmer for the Slamdance Film Festival. She has lectured at universities, world congresses, and trained young women and men on issues related to sexual exploitation and visual media.
  • Laurie Stein is an independent art historian and researcher for collection history and provenance. She has published extensively on subjects relating to the arts in Germany during the Nazi era and restitution issues and has held museum curatorial positions in Berlin and the U.S. She was founding director for the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis. Ms. Stein has conducted provenance research for such institutions as the Museum of Modern art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum (Cologne) and the Yale University Art Gallery. Her research on behalf of these and other museums has helped to determine the rightful ownership of works of art. In cases where her research has shown restitution claims to be legitimate, her work has led to the mutually agreed resolution of claims by museums and the heirs of prior owners.
  • Sidney Kirkpatrick is an award-winning filmmaker and international best-selling author. His critically acclaimed non-fiction books include *A Cast of Killers*, *Turning the Tide*, *Lords of Sipan*, *Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet*, and *The Revenge of Thomas Eakins*. His documentary film, *My Father the President*, about Theodore Roosevelt as seen through the eyes of his daughter, Ethel Roosevelt Derby, was a winner at the American Film Festival. HBO, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and the A & E Television Networks have all featured his work. Biographical profiles of Kirkpatrick have appeared in *The New York Times*, *Time* magazine, *The New Yorker*, and *Playboy*. He is a graduate of Hampshire College and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in Stony Brook, New York.
  • Lori is a young entrepreneur and educator who aspires to positively impact humanity by advocating personal improvement and accountability.