Fall 2006 Policy Salon with the National Zoological Park's Director, Mr. John Berry, Tuesday, October 17, 2006, on "The Next Ten Years at the National Zoo"

In 2004, Mr. Berry was selected to oversee both the 163-acre zoo in Rock Creek Park and the 3,200-acre Conservation Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia. Mr. Berry's career in Washington has included various responsibilities, including serving as assistant secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the Interior Department and the executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a Congressionally charged chartered non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the nation's wildlife resources. He had worked as a director of government relations and a senior policy advisor at the Smithsonian Institution under Secretary I. Michael Heyman.

Established in 1889 and admired by generations of Washington-area individuals, families, and tourists, the National Zoo employs approximately 300 people who care for 2,400 animals representing many rare and endangered species. The National Zoo welcomes more than two million visitors a year and engages in outreach, education, and family events held in the heart of the nation's capitol. The new multi-million dollar Asia Trail project, opened in October 2006, is just one of the many exciting developments undertaken to enhance the quality of animal care and to educate the public on the wonders of diverse species.

 

Fall 2006 Policy Salon with author and former Foreign Service Officer, Mr. John Brady Kiesling, Thursday, September 21, 2006, on "Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower."

 

Mr. John Brady Kiesling discussed his twenty year U.S. Foreign Service career serving in Israel, Morocco, Armenia, Washington and Greece, and his very public resignation in 2003 as political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Athens to protest the Bush Administration's impending invasion of Iraq. Since resigning his position, he has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and a frequent columnist and speaker on international political affairs. His recently published book, Diplomacy Lessons, elucidates Mr. Kiesling's conviction that foreign policy disasters like Iraq are foreseeable and preventable. He argues that the security and prosperity of the United States will be realized only through the re-invigoration of international law and strong multilateral institutions. His call for empathetic realism, and the recognition of limits to the use of military power to create social and political change, is important and compelling reading.

Winter 2006 Policy Salon with Ms. Pamela Constable, Deputy Foreign Editor, The Washington Post, February 16, 2006, on "From Kashmir to Kandahar: A Western Journalist Reflects on her Experiences in the Muslim World"

Ms. Constable served as The Post's Kabul Bureau Chief from 2002-2004, and has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tajikistan, South African, Haiti, and Cuba. Before joining The Post in 1994, Ms. Constable spent 12 years as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor at the Boston Globe. Ms. Constable is the author of a deeply moving and highly insightful 2004 memoir, Fragments of Grace: My Search for Meaning in the Strife of South Asia. She has written for numerous magazines and journals, including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Smithsonian, Current History and the Journal of Democracy.

In 2003, Ms. Constable was the Writer in Residence and an adjunct professor at the Pew International Journalism Program of Johns Hopkins University. She was the annual fellow of the American University's Writer as Witness program, and a journalism fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in 2005.

 

 

 

Fall 2005 Policy Salon with Professor Jane Bullock, Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor, Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management, George Washington University, and Mr. Ron Grimes, Legislative Director, Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), November 9, 2005, on "Risk, Emergency Management, and the Role of Government in Times of Crisis"

Professor Jane Bullock is the former Chief of Staff of James Lee Wit, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Clinton Administration. During her 22 year career at FEMA, Professor Bullock worked in nearly all of FEMA's principal disaster programs and served as an Agency spokesperson. She is the co-author of two textbooks, one on emergency management and one on homeland security.

Mr. Ron Grimes served as Legislative Assistant and then Legislative Director for Senator John Glenn (D-OH). Currently, he is the Legislative Director for Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) managing domestic policy, with a focus on appropriations and budget, transportation, and the environment. He was Director of Congressional and Legislative Affairs for FEMA under Director Witt.

 

 

 

 

Winter 2004 Policy Salon with Dr. Michael Goldstein, March 2, 2004, on "Election 2004: Media and Public Discourse"

Dr. Michael Goldstein has extensive experience in observing and commenting upon American politics and policy analysis. He is the author of the Congressional Quarterly's quadrennial Guide to the Presidential Election and writes extensively about election reform and the selection process. Dr. Goldstein is an expert on the Voting Rights Act and is a thoughtful monitor of civil rights legislation.

Dr. Goldstein has taught at Columbia, Cornell and Case Western Reserve Universities and at the Claremont Colleges. He has held significant positions as a political analyst and researcher at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in addition to managing his own public affairs firm.

Dr. Goldstein received his B. A. from University of California, Berkeley, and his M. A. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from Columbia University. He has received various honors and awards for his work on civil rights and race politics.

 

                                                

 

Fall 2003 Policy Salon with Ms. Barbara Ferris, November 18, 2003, on "Altering the Leadership Landscape"

Ms. Barbara Ferris is the founder and president of the International Women’s Democracy Center (IWDC), established to ensure that women worldwide have the necessary tools and skills to participate in politics, policy and decision-making within their own governments.

Prior to establishing IWDC, Ms. Ferris served as the Women in Development Director for the Peace Corps for five years where she designed, managed and evaluated economic development programs in over 90 countries with the goal of increasing access for women to the resources that the Peace Corps provides.

For three years, Ms. Ferris served as advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. In June 1990, she presented a paper at the First Sino-American Conference on Women’s Issues in Beijing. She has consulted in over 100 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East where she also designed financial management models for the public sector. She served as chair of the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Peace Corps, is the co-founder of The Peace Corps Fund, and President of Gilda’s Club Greater Washington.

Ms. Ferris holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the American University.

 

Spring 2003 Policy Salon with Professor Katherine Meyer, May 15, 2003, on "Changed Political Attitudes in the Middle East Following the 1990-1991 Gulf War: The Case of Kuwait"

Dr. Katherine Meyer joined Ohio State University’s Department of Sociology in 1974 and serves as the coordinator of the Comparative Social Change Program. She also holds the title of Adjunct Professor of the Rural Sociology Program in the Department of Human and Community Resource Development. Her research and teaching interests encompass social change and social movements, gender and the family, comparative religions, domestic and international rural sociology, and the Middle East, where she has traveled extensively.

Studies in these areas led her to gain a grant from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Development and Kuwait University to conduct research on the process of adaptation and change following the 1990-91 Gulf War. She has published and lectured broadly and on May 15th, we were delighted to share her important and timely insights with friends of the John Glenn Institute and Ohio State University.

Professor Meyer talked about the "Changed Political Attitudes in the Middle East Following the 1990-1991 Gulf War." She focused on Kuwait, where she conducted various surveys to obtain Kuwaiti citizens' attitudes toward Democracy, the West, and the about Regional and Arab Solidarity, throughout the 1990s. She shared the interesting results at this talk, as well as, explained the geography and cultural and ethnic make up of Kuwait.

Professor Meyer also answered questions about her survey methodology, the sample population, and her future plans about furthering her studies on political attitudes in the Middle East.

>> The Policy Salon was attended by current Glenn Fellows, as well as, program alumni residing and working in Washington, D.C., and, OSU alumni, and friends of the program and the John Glenn Institute.

 

 

Winter 2003 Policy Salon with Professor Peter Swire and Professor Jeffrey Rosen, February 20, 2003, on "Government Surveillance and Individual Liberty in the War on Terrorism"

Winter 2003 Policy Salon on was held at the University Club of Washington, D.C. with featured speakers Professor Peter Swire and Professor Jeffrey Rosen. Professor Peter Swire (left) from The Ohio State University School of Law, is the Director of the School's new Washington, D.C. Summer Program. From 1999 to early 2001, he served as the Clinton Administration's Chief Counselor for Privacy in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Jeffrey Rosen (right, with Institute Director, Deborah Merritt) is Professor of Law at George Washington University where he teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure, and the law of privacy. He is the legal affairs editor of The New Republic; his essays and book reviews appear in many publications, including The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker. He is also a frequent contributor to National Public Radio.

Professors Swire and Rosen are currently collaborating on research regarding surveillance, security and civil liberties in the post-September 11th world. They shared their findings and analysis with us in an evening devoted to a subject important to citizens and non-citizens alike.

 

 

 

Fall 2002 Policy Salon with Dr. Richard Russell, November 14, 2002, on "American Statecraft and the Iraq Dilemma"

Dr. Richard Russell is currently the Professor of Near East-South Asian Strategic Studies at the National Defense University and Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University. Dr. Russell's expertise in intelligence analysis and U.S. foreign and strategic policy is recognized widely; he has contributed significantly to the current debate on managing violence and assessing risks of war in the Middle East. He served 17 years as a political-military specialist at the Central Intelligence Agency where he analyzed security concerns in the Middle East and Europe; his research and assessments on the Persian Gulf and Kosovo wars earned CIA Exceptional Performance Award. Dr. Russell has published numerous works dealing with American foreign policy, strategic and security studies and the challenges inherent in intelligence collection and interpretation.

At this quarterly policy salon, Dr. Russell shared his analysis of U.S. and multilateral policy options toward the Middle East, with a focus on Iraq. He highlighted his research, addressed questions from our current Glenn Fellows and audience members, and carried out informal discussions during the reception that followed.

You can read two of Dr. Russell's recent articles on the U.S. options toward Iraq, and his other publications here.

 

Spring 2002 Policy Salon with Mr. Leonard Downie, Jr., May 14, 2002, on "The News About the News: American Journalism in Peril"

Mr. Leonard Downie, Jr. was named Executive Editor of The Washington Post on September 1, 1992, after serving as Managing Editor for seven years. He joined The Post as a summer intern in 1964 and soon became a well-known local investigative reporter in Washington, specializing in crime, courts, housing and urban affairs. This reporting won him two Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Front Page awards, The American Bar Association Gavel Award for legal reporting, and the John Hancock Award for excellent business and financial writing.

Mr. Downie worked on the Metropolitan staff as a reporter and editor for 15 years, and ran the staff as Assistant Managing Editor for Metropolitan news from 1974 until 1979. As Deputy Metropolitan Editor, he supervised The Post's Watergate coverage. He was named London Correspondent in 1979 and returned to Washington in 1982 as National Editor. In 1984, he became Managing Editor. Mr. Downie is a director of The Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service and a director of the International Herald Tribune.

Mr. Downie is the author of four books: Justice Denied (1971), Mortgage on America (1974), and The New Muckrakers (1976), a study of investigative reporting. He was also a major contributor to Ten Blocks from the White House: Anatomy of the Washington Riots of 1968, a Washington Post Book. His latest book (co-authored by Associate Editor, Robert G. Kaiser), The News About the News was published earlier this year.

Mr. Downie's love of newspapers began as a small boy in Cleveland when he took a job as a newspaper carrier. It was furthered at The Ohio State University where he worked on "The Lantern" and earned his BA and MA degrees in journalism and political science. This passion has continued throughout his life with The Washington Post. We were honored to host Mr. Downie as he shared insights from his career, reflections on public service, and his tenacious commitment to excellence in an era when the business of journalism often promotes a cult of celebrity, sensationalism, and scandal.

 

Winter 2002 Policy Salon with Dr. Leonard Haynes, III, February 28, 2002, on "Education Matters: Staying Focused in the Aftermath of September 11th"

The guest speaker at our second Policy Salon was Dr. Leonard Haynes, III. Secretary Paige appointed Dr. Haynes with the support of President George W. Bush on October 22,2001 as Special Assistant to the Secretary. Previously he has served as Acting President of Grambling State University, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Post secondary Education and Director of Academic Programs for the United States Information Agency under former President George H. W. Bush, Senior Assistant to the President of American University, Assistant Superintendent of Academic Programs for Louisiana's State Department of Education, and as Executive Vice President of the Southern University System. Dr. Haynes has been a member of the faculties of Howard, Ohio State, Maryland, Southern, the Brookings Institution, and George Washington University. He is recognized as an expert on the desegregation of public education. He has also made important contributions to the cause of international higher education by serving as head of the U.S. Delegation to the "North American Talks on Education Cooperation" involving Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. and through his work as USIA in developing the pilot academic exchange program between the U.S. and the European Community. Dr. Haynes received his B. A. degree in History from Southern University, M. A. degree in American History from Carnegie-Mellon University, and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from The Ohio State University. Dr. Haynes is well recognized for his many contributions and commitment to public service. He has received nine honorary degrees including one from The Ohio State University.

Dr. Haynes talked about the future of public education in the United States especially in the aftermath of September 11th. He stressed the need for the presence of young people as teachers in the class rooms of America. He shared many of his own life experiences, especially his College days in Ohio. In light of September 11th, he also stressed the need for teaching our youth about other religions and cultures. He talked about the problems in D.C. public schools and the importance of teaching children to read by third grade.

Fall 2001 Policy Salon with Dr. Jack Citrin, October 22, 2001, on "Crisis Or Opportunity?: September 11 and the Future Of Trust In American Government"

 

Professor Jack Citrin of the Department of Political Science , University of California, Berkeley, gave a talk on "Crisis or Opportunity?: September 11th and the Future of Trust in American Government." Using public opinion surveys and other materials, Professor Citrin attempted to address the fact that trust in American political institutions has declined steadily between 1964 and 2000. Yet September 11 confronts the nation with unprecedented challenges and thrusts government into new roles demanding public support. Can there be an enduring resurgence of trust in government and what are the implications for the effectiveness and legitimacy of our leaders? Will patriotism and bipartisanship survive the normal slings and arrows of events? His talk was followed by a cocktail reception.