Society of Skeptics

2009-2010
All lectures are at 7:00 p.m. in Cowan Auditorium unless otherwise noted.

September 15
Doug Bandow
Cato Instituite
“How the US should deal with North Korea”

September 22
Ralph Jerome
Vice President of Research and Development for Mars Chocolate
“Is there a future for chocolate? And, why should you care?” (Armstrong Hipkins)

October 6
Charlie Gogolak
Former NFL kicking star
“From a family fleeing the Soviet’s crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution to National Football League success”
Read more.

October 13
Tad LaFountain
“The American Mesopotamia: Establishing America's Ideals in the Delaware/Raritan Arc”
(Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts)
Read more.

October 20
Reiko Aylesworth (starring in “24” and “ER” and “Lost”) and Emma O’Donnell (Irish Repertory Theater)
“The challenges facing would-be actors”
Read more.

October 27
Mark Crandall
“Creating a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Hoops4Hope to Make a Difference in Africa.”
Read more.

November 3
Awista Ayub
Author of However Tall the Mountain
Founder of Afghan Youth Sports Exchange
“The Issue of Freedom for Women in Afghanistan”
Read more.

November 10
Mike Weiner
Executive Director of Major League Baseball Players’ Association
“Sport Q & A: Open to any and all questions about major league baseball”
Read more.

November 16 (Special Monday Program)
Gov. Christie Todd Whitman
Former Governor of New Jersey and Former Head of Environmental Protection Agency
“Republican Politics”
(Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts)
Read more.

December 1
Quint Clarke ’87 and students
Talk/slides
“Trip to Kenyan schools and other learning experiences”
Read more.

December 8
Professor Alex Gallo ’96
“Strategic Look at Afghanistan: Understanding How External Actors are Shaping the Militant Landscape Inside Afghanistan”
Read more.

January 12
Annual Young Alumni Panel
Missy (Post) Clare ’01 – Trauma Room Nurse at Hackensack University Medical Center, NJ
Rebecca Sawyer ’02 – Marketing/Sales for Cartoon Network, in NYC.
Alan Brown ’98 – Dean of Student Life at Dwight Englewood School, NJ.
Aisha Gayle ’98 – Attorney at Kirkland & Ellis, LLP, in NYC.
Pat Arangio ’97 – Senior VP at CBRE Capital Markets, in NYC.
Read more.

January 18 (Special Monday Program)
Fred Morsell
Actor
Performance of his one-man show on the life of Frederick Douglass, the famed 19th century escaped slave, abolitionist, journalist and champion of equality.
(Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts)
Read more.

January 19
Dan Chamberlin
Teacher
Dan and other parishioners from the Trinity United Methodist Church of Hackettstown, N.J., were on a mission trip in Haiti when the earthquake occurred. Discusses what they initially found upon arrival in Haiti and what they experienced once the earthquake hit.
Read more.

TO BE RE-SCHEDULED
Marjorie Valbrun
Writer (The Washington Post, The Root.com)
“The New Black Manhood” 
    Valbrun is an award-winning reporter who writes often about the intersection of race and politics. She is a contributing writer for TheRoot.com and also blogs for The XX Factor at Slate.com. Her opinion articles have also appeared in The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Baltimore Sun, and Newsday, among other publications. She has done political commentary and analysis on National Public Radio, the British Broadcasting Corporation, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Black Entertainment Television, and the Al Arabiya News Channel. She lives in Washington, D.C. and teaches journalism at Howard University.

January 26
Eric Olsen
Skylands Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy
“Land Conservation in Northern NJ”
Read more.

February 9
Bill Pace
Human Rights Activist
Director General – World Federalist Movement
“Human Rights and International Law”
Read more.

February 16
Glenn LeBoeuf
Senior Vice-president, Freedom Capital Management
“The Rise of Lincoln: 1831-1860”
Read more.

February 23
Jean Hanff Korelitz
Author of Admission
Read more.

March 30
Marc Elliot
“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Noises”
Elliot has dealt with Tourette’s syndrome and an intestinal disorder which have taught him many lessons about tolerance. He returns to Blair after presenting a well-received Skeptics program last April.

April 6
The James Youngelson ’53 Lecture on Ethics and Responsibility
Panel discussion of ethics and responsibility featuring prominent New Jersey judges and focusing on a recent U.S. Supreme Court case. This lecture series honors alumnus Jim Youngelson ’53 – an attorney and former president of the Morris County (N.J.) Bar Association – for his service to others and seeks to inspire in young people the ideals of justice, responsibility and service.

April 20
Herman Hollerith Lecture on Entrepreneurship
David Sokol
Chairman of the Board and CEO of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
Mr. Sokol, a past Blair parent and Trustee, has held a number of positions in the independent power industry and founded a waste-to-energy company in the 1980s. He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. The Hollerith lecture series is named for entrepreneur and engineer Herman Hollerith.

April 27
Mark E. Moroge
Associate/Climate Initiative, Rainforest Alliance
“Working with the Nature Conservancy’s Brazilian Office: Carbon Project in Atlantic Forest”

Society of Skeptics speakers, please contact Marty Miller at 908-362-8828 or millem@blair.edu.

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