Westminster Town Hall Forum

Dr Martin E. Marty - The Larger Vision In American Religion - 05/29/82 by westminsterforum

Abraham Verghese was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and came to the U.S. in 1973. He attended medical school at East Tennessee State University, then accepted a position at Boston City Hospital conducting research. In 1985, he returned to Tennessee as an assistant professor at East Tennessee State University School of Medicine. In his role as an infectious disease specialist, he witnessed firsthand the rapid spread of AIDS. His book, My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, was selected by Time magazine as one of the top five books of 1994. In the book, he describes a community's reaction to AIDS, detailing one doctor's personal struggle to provide care to AIDS patients and their families. He currently serves as Professor of Medicine and Chief of Infectious Disease and Geriatrics at Texas Tech University in El Paso, Texas.

Jim Wallis is a public theologian, political activist, author and international commentator on ethics and public life. He is president and CEO of Sojourners, a network of people committed to spiritual renewal and social justice, and editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine. He teaches at Georgetown University and recently served on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He currently serves on the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum. He is the bestselling author of twelve books, including The (Un)Common Good and Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery. His latest book, America's Original Sin, is a personal and prophetic challenge to overcome the racism that persists in American society.

Andrew Bacevich is an historian, expert on national security, and former professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. Before serving on the faculty at Boston University, he taught at Johns Hopkins University and his alma mater, West Point. He holds a Ph.D. in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University. After serving in the U. S. Army in Vietnam, Germany, and the Persian Gulf, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 1990s. He is the bestselling author of Washington Rules, an examination of America's foreign policy and military strategy; The Limits of Power, a look at our gridlocked government, overstretched military, and struggling economy; and Breach of Trust, an exploration of the gap between America's soldiers and the society that sends them to war.

Jennifer Lawless is a professor of government at American University where she also serves as the director of the Women and Politics Institute. An expert on electoral politics, she received her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University. She is the author of several books, including Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office; It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office, and her recently published book, Running from Office: Why Young Americans Are Turned Off to Politics. Her scholarly analysis and political commentary have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, and on the CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, and MSNBC.

Patrick Kennedy served in the U.S. House of Representatives for sixteen years and is the son of Senator Ted Kennedy. While serving in Congress, he authored dozens of bills aimed at increasing the understanding and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. In particular, he was the lead sponsor of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which provided access to mental health treatment for tens of millions of Americans previously denied care. He is co-founder of One Mind for Research, a national coalition seeking new treatments for brain illness and injury, and founder of the Kennedy Forum on Community Mental Health, committed to increasing the availability and quality of care.

Dan Buettner is an explorer, educator, three-time world record holder for endurance bicycling, and the founder of Blue Zones, an organization committed to helping Americans live longer, healthier, and happier lives. He teamed with National Geographic and the world's best longevity researchers to identify lifestyle choices in specific parts of the globe where people live measurably longer lives. Their research has been published in his bestselling book The Blue Zones: Nine Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest and his recent book, Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People. In 2009, he brought his nine principles for longevity to the town of Albert Lea, MN, where participants in his program added an estimated 2.9 years to their average lifespan.

Tavis Smiley is an author, publisher, social justice advocate, and host of the late-night PBS television talk show, Tavis Smiley, and the public radio program, The Tavis Smiley Show. He has written or edited eighteen books, including The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto, co-authored with Cornel West; My Journey with Maya, a memoir of his friendship with Maya Angelou; Death of a King, an account of the final year of Dr. Martin Luther King's life, and Covenant with Black America, a collection of essays from a variety of authors addressing economic and social disparities. He is the founder of a nonprofit foundation committed to providing leadership training to young people and to alleviating endemic poverty across all sectors of our society.

Pete Docter is a film director, animator, screenwriter, and voice actor at Pixar Animation Studios. He contributed to the story and characters of Toy Story, Pixar's first full-length animated feature film, and served as the supervising animator for the film. He wrote story treatments for Toy Story 2 and Wall-E and directed Monsters, Inc., Up, and his latest release, Inside Out. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards and won Best Animated Feature Film for Up. Born and raised in Bloomington, MN, he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts where he received a Student Academy Award. In 1990, he was hired as Pixar Studio's third animator and began work on the day following his college graduation.

Pavel Litvinov is a leading Soviet intellectual, scientist, and dissident leader who was forced out of the Soviet Union for his activism on behalf of human rights and political prisoners. He is the grandson of Maxim Litvinov, Stalin's Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United States.