Past Distinguished Speakers

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Our Speaker in 5785

"From Bowling Alone to Bonding Together: Strengthening Community in the Face of Polarization"

Dr. Robert Putnam

Sunday, May 4 - 3:00 PM

Robert D. Putnam is the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the British Academy, and past president of the American Political Science Association, in 2006 he received the Skytte Prize, the world's highest accolade for a political scientist.

In 2012 Barack Obama awarded Bob the National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities. He has written fifteen books, translated into twenty languages, including Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Italy and Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, both among the most cited (and bestselling) social science works in nearly a century. He has consulted for Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama, as well as presidents and prime ministers from the UK, Ireland, and Finland to South Korea and Singapore.

His most recent book, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again (2020), is a widely praised study of broad 20th century American economic, social, political, and cultural trends.

Our Speaker in 5784

Mark Oppenheimer

Sunday, May 19 - 3:00 PM

Mark Oppenheimer has been covering American religion for 25 years. He holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale, and has taught at Stanford, Wesleyan, Wellesley, NYU, Boston College, and Yale.

From 2010 to 2016, he wrote the “Beliefs” column, about religion, for The New York Times, and he has also written for publications including The New Yorker, The Nation, Slate, and more. He created Unorthodox, the world’s most popular podcast about Jewish life and culture, with over 7 million downloads to date. More recently, he hosted an eight-part podcast called Gatecrashers, about the history of Jews and antisemitism at Ivy League schools.

He is the author of five books, including The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia and, most recently, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood; his next project is a biography of Judy Blume. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, four daughters, one son, and two dogs.

Our Speakers in 5783

Aswad Thomas

Healing through Action: The Journey From Gun Violence Victim to National Policy, Expert, Healer of Communities

Sunday, May 7 – 3:00 PM

Aswad Thomas, is the current Vice President of the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), National Director of ASJ’s flagship project, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) and the author of a book titled, “The Stars Represent You and Me.”

As an African American male, and a surviving victim of violence, Aswad is well aware of the impacts of trauma and loss that many, in communities across the country have experienced and continue to live with. In 2009, he became the first male in his family to graduate from college. He was just three weeks from going to Europe, to play professional basketball, when he became a victim of gun violence. Two near-fatal gunshots to his back, not only ended his basketball career, but nearly ended his life. Driven by this traumatic experience, and his passion for helping others learn to deal with their own trauma, Aswad has dedicated his life to organizing communities, and helping to elevate the voices of those victims and their families, through both state and federal policymaking debates. Aswad has become one of the country's leading policy experts on gun violence, criminal justice reform, and a leader in building coalitions across racial lines to advance safety. In his role, Aswad is dedicated to expanding ASJ’s national network of crime survivors, to include those most commonly affected by violence, most notably, young men of color.

Continue reading about Aswad Thomas

Aswad's story has been featured in the New York Times, Time Magazine, The Hill, New Yorker Magazine, NBC LX, NBC Nightly News, Huff Post, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo News, The Trace, Detroit Free Press, Hartford Courant, The Guardian, VICE, The Marshall Project, and dozens of other media outlets. He was recently named one of The Root’s 100 most influential African Americans of 2021. Aswad received a Master's of Social Work, with a concentration in Community Organizing, and a focused area of study on Urban Issues, from the University of Connecticut and a B.A., in Business Management from Elms College.

Senator Murphy

Every Mass Shooting Is A Moral Failure: The Righteous Actions We Can Take for a Better Future

Monday, May 8 – 12:00 PM

Chris Murphy, a United States Senator for Connecticut, has dedicated his career to public service as an advocate for Connecticut families. Senator Murphy has been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, sensible gun laws, and a forward-looking foreign policy.

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) Senator Murphy has worked to make college more affordable and ensure that our public education system works to serve all students. Senator Murphy also led a bipartisan effort to reform our mental health system, working across the aisle to craft the first comprehensive reform to our nation’s mental health laws in decades.

Senator Murphy has laid out a forward-thinking foreign policy vision for the United States. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been an outspoken proponent of diplomacy, international human rights and the need for clear-eyed American leadership abroad.

Following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, Senator Murphy became one of the leading proponents of commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence. He has championed a number of bipartisan bills aimed at expanding background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals

Continue reading about Senator Murphy

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murphy has fought to increase investments in Connecticut manufacturing and promote procurement of world-class national defense products made in the state. He has fought to expand American manufacturing and create jobs through his Buy American initiative, which urges the U.S. government to spend taxpayer dollars on American-made goods. Additionally, Senator Murphy has worked in partnership with local city and town leaders to rehabilitate former brownfields and factory sites so that they can be developed into new community spaces and businesses.

Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Murphy served Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in the House, Murphy worked to improve access to housing for homeless veterans, foster job creation and advocate for affordable healthcare for all Americans. Murphy authored the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act to revitalize housing programs for people with disabilities. The bill was signed into law by the president in 2010.

Before getting elected to Congress, Murphy served for eight years in the Connecticut General Assembly where he was the author of the state's historic stem cell investment legislation and the state's workplace smoking ban. Senator Murphy grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and attended Williams College in Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law and practiced real estate and banking law with the firm of Ruben, Johnson & Morgan in Hartford, Connecticut.

He is married to Catherine Holahan, an attorney. They have two sons, Owen and Rider, as well as two cats and two guinea pigs.

Our Speaker in 5782

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE

FOUNDER, JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE & UN MESSENGER OF PEACE

Sunday, March 13 - 3:00 PM

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and UN Messenger of Peace, is a world-renowned ethologist and activist inspiring greater understanding and action on behalf of the natural world.

Dr. Goodall is known for groundbreaking studies of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, which forever changed our understanding of our relationship to the rest of the animal kingdom. This transformative research continues today as the longest running wild chimpanzee study in the world. Jane’s work builds on scientific innovations, growing a lifetime of advocacy including trailblazing efforts through her international organization the Jane Goodall Institute which advances community-led conservation, animal welfare, science, and youth empowerment through JGI’s Roots & Shoots program.

Today, Jane continues to connect with worldwide audiences, despite the challenges of the pandemic, through ‘Virtual Jane’ including remote lectures, recordings, and her podcast, the “Jane Goodall Hopecast.” In 2021, Jane was the recipient of the Templeton Prize, and her newest book, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” was published.

Jane is a global icon spreading hope and turning it into meaningful positive impact to create a better world for people, other animals, and the planet we share.

Photo by the Jane Goodall Institute / Bill Wallauer

Our Speakers in 5781

Georges C. Benjamin

Reframing Healthcare: Bridging the Gap in an Unequal World

Wednesday, May 5 - 7:00 PM

Georges C. Benjamin, MD, is one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders, speaking passionately and eloquently about health issues having the most significant impact on our nation today.

Dr. Benjamin leads the American Public Health Association (APHA) and previously served as Secretary of Health the State of Maryland, and prior to that as Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Named one of the top executives in health care by Modern Healthcare Magazine, Dr. Benjamin has also been recognized for being among the 100 most influential people in healthcare. He is a member of the prestigious  Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and a former member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council.

Dr. Benjamin, who grew up in Chicago, is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Ezekiel Emanuel

American Healthcare and a Prescription for Change

Wednesday, June 2 - 7:00 PM

Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, is a leading practitioner shaping healthcare in the United States and around the world, with a record of experience at the highest levels of policymaking. Trained as an oncologist and a political scientist, Dr. Emanuel offers a uniquely thoughtful perspective on the most difficult issues in medicine today.

Dr. Emanuel is the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and the Diane S. and Robert M. Levy University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the former Chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center and currently serves as a Special Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Most recently, Dr. Emanuel was named to President-Elect Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board during the presidential transition.

He also served as a Special Advisor for Health Policy in the Obama Administration and on President Clinton's Health Care Reform Task Force.

Dr. Emanuel, a Chicago native, is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard University (MD / Ph.D.).