Previous Speakers
2006-07 Speakers

GENERAL COLIN L. POWELL, USA (RET.)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

General Powell was the 65th Secretary of State. Before becoming Secretary of State, he served as an aide to the Secretary of Defense and as National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He also served 35 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of Four-Star General and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During this time, he oversaw 28 crises including Operation Desert Storm. A fervent purveyor of democratic values, Colin Powell stressed that fighting the war on terrorism is not just a military but also a diplomatic task. He led the State Department in major efforts to solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world by using the power of diplomacy and the universal ideal of democracy to build trust, forge alliances and initiate change in unstable regions. General Powell is the recipient of numerous military and civilian awards including two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the French Legion of Honor and an honorary knighthood bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II.

 

CHINA: ITS RAPIDLY INCREASING INFLUENCE ON OUR WORLD
Expert Commentary by Admiral Joseph W. Prueher and Ted C. Fishman
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Admiral Prueher is a consulting Professor at Stanford University’s Institute of International Studies and Senior Advisor on The Preventive Defense Project. He served as Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from1999 to 2001 and was responsible for directing, coordinating and managing the activities of all United States Executive Branch activities in China. Admiral Prueher completed his thirty-five year career in the United States Navy as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command; the largest military command in the world spanning over half the earth’s surface and including more than 300,000 people.


Mr. Fishman’s bestselling book, China, Inc., How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World, has helped describe the effects of China’s momentous change on the lives and businesses of people everywhere. Mr. Fishman has testified before Congressional committees and commissions and consults on China with a wide range of government officials. His essays and reports appear in many of the world’s most prominent journals. Mr. Fishman’s writing is noted for taking seemingly vastly complex topics and making them understandable and meaningful for a general audience. Mr. Fishman is particularly interested in how big global economic trends bare on people’s everyday experience. A former floor trader and member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, he ran his own trading firm until 1992. Recently, his talks have focused on the emergence of China and its impact of the lives of Americans as consumers, workers, managers and citizens.

BILL MOYERS
Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Bill Moyers is the recipient of every major journalism award, including the coveted Gold Baton and more than 20 Emmy awards. Since establishing his independent production company, Public Affairs Television, Bill Moyers has created some of the most powerful and transforming pieces of our time. Well-known for his investigative documentaries and long conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers, Mr. Moyers has explored virtually every aspect of American political, economic and social life in his documentaries. A gifted storyteller through words and images, Mr. Moyers reveals to us the spiritual ,emotional and historical sides of our culture through his award-winning films and best-selling books.

GOVERNOR MARK WARNER
Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Governor Mark Warner’s administration inherited $6 billion in budget shortfalls and ended with a surplus that allowed investments in education, care for Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens and Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Mr. Warner did all this by cutting budgets, finding efficiencies and making business-like reforms. He took on a modernization of Virginia’s tax code to promote fairness, long-term fiscal integrity and the preservation of core services. He was named among Governing Magazine’s “Public Officials of the Year,” TIME Magazine’s “America’s 5 Best Governors” and Newsweek’s “Who’s Next” issue in 2006. In 2006, Mr. Warner was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine, which described him as “the bright new star in the constellation of would-be candidates” for President.