2018-2019 SPEAKER SERIES
S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P E R F O R M I N G A R T S C E N T E R
Dear St. David’s Community and Friends, It is a central goal at St. David’s School to make available to students and families a complete school experience. What do we mean by complete? So often we hear from parents that they love St. David’s because our school is both community-oriented and it provides a well-rounded setting for children to flourish. That’s a pretty good summary of a complete school experience; and it is hard to argue with. As our headmaster, Jonathan Yonan, recently put it, “St. David’s is here to cultivate whole persons and to support families in enjoying whole lives.” The St. David’s Speaker Series is a natural outgrowth of these priorities. Our annual series helps ensure that our students have a well-rounded experience with direct access to some of the leading voices in our culture on major points of contemporary social debate. At St. David’s we understand that we are, in fact, training tomorrow’s cultural leaders. An enterprise of such importance requires that our students who are tomorrow’s leaders have the opportunity to speak with, learn from, and engage the leaders of this generation. Our goal is to provide a framework that allows for students, faculty, parents, and friends of St. David’s to do all of this together as a learning community. The 2018-19 St. David’s Speaker Series has been designed in an effort to offer a consistent and convenient monthly timeslot to hear from major public figures in both the regional and national scenes. There is much to read through in the pages that follow about each of our speakers and events. We hope that many of these events will capture your imagination and that we will see you often. With best wishes, Gil Greggs, Director of Academic Symposia and Upper School History Teacher Todd von Helms, Major Gifts Officer and Speaker Series Director
Today what we call the St. David’s Speaker Series actually began seven years ago with an invitation by Dr. Gil Greggs to UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp and Dr. Assad Meymandi to speak to St. David’s students in the Senior Seminar. Since then our series has grown into a much-anticipated annual program in which distinguished speakers visit our campus, meet with our students and engage in conversation that is rich, challenging and rewarding. The Chaplaincy Speaker Series, under the direction of Dr. Todd von Helms, also brought to the campus a stream of distinguished Christian theologians, academics and apologists, who left a legacy of vibrant conversation about the vital place of thought, reason and belief in the modern world. In the seven years since the series began, St. David’s has hosted two Governors of North Carolina; the Chancellors of UNC and NC State; the Deans of the UNC Law School, Medical School and School of Journalism; a Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine; a US Senator; two members of the US House of Representatives, award-winning Christian biographers (Eric Metaxas and Grant Wacker); CEOs of major companies; distinguished journalists and many others. The purpose of this annual series is faithfully to educate, excite, involve and inspire our students, our community and our city. We hope you can join us for one, any or all of the events.
SPEAKER SERIES | SEPTEMBER 16
TEACHING ECONOMIC REASONING S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P. M .
J I M OT T E S O N James R. Otteson is the Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics, Professor of Economics, and Executive Director of the Eudaimonia Institute at Wake Forest University. He is also a Senior Fellow for the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism at Wake Forest University, a Senior Scholar at The Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C., a Research Professor in the Freedom Center and Department of Philosophy at the University of Arizona, a visitor of Ralston College, a Research Fellow for the Independent Institute in California and a member of the Board of Directors of Ethics and Economics Education of New England.
S P E A K E R S E R I E S | O C TO B E R 2 1
CHRISTIANITY IN THE AGE OF TRUMP S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P M
R O S S D O U T H AT Ross Douthat is a New York Times op-ed columnist who writes about politics, religion, moral values and higher education. His columns appear each Wednesday and Sunday in The New York Times. He is also a National Review film critic, and author of several critically acclaimed books, including Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Grand New Party, Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class, and To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism. Douthat is a graduate of Harvard University and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, and various other nationally syndicated programs.
SPEAKER SERIES | NOVEMBER 18
THE DUTY OF P R E S E R VAT I O N : T H E D I X PA R K P R O J E C T S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P. M .
K AT E P E A R C E Kate Pearce is the Planning Supervisor for Dorothea Dix Park for the City of Raleigh. As the project director she is responsible for the stewardship, use and future planning of the park. Prior to joining the City she worked as both an urban planning and business management consultant. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and an MBA from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi and a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kate is Texsippian - Part Texan, part Mississippian but now calls Raleigh home.
SEAN MALONE For the past 25 years, Sean Malone has led cultural institutions that celebrate a deep sense of place. Before moving to Raleigh, Sean served as President & CEO of the national Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation – focusing on programmatic impact, building philanthropy, partnership development, stewarding the 1,300+ acres of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Arizona and Taliesin in Wisconsin, and harnessing legacy in a way that meaningfully enriches people’s lives. Sean has a Masters in Business from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a BFA in Theatre from the University of Southern California. He was honored to be selected by National Arts Strategies as one of “the 100 top arts/cultural leaders in America and abroad,” and has earned post-professional certificates from executive education programs at the Schools of Business at Harvard University, University of Michigan, and University of Texas–Austin.
S P E A K E R S E R I E S | J A N U A RY 2 7
C AT H O L I C S & P R OT E S TA N T S : W H AT C A N W E LEARN FROM E AC H OT H E R ? S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P. M .
PETER KREEFT Dr. Peter Kreeft, known as one of the world’s foremost experts in Christian apologetics, is a tenured professor at Boston College who teaches philosophy and theology courses. He is a regular contributor to many Christian publications and is a highly sought-after public speaker, not to mention being an avid Boston Red Sox fan. Dr. Kreeft’s witty writing animates over 75 books that cover a variety of subjects from moral relativism to angels and demons to surfing. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at more than 15 other colleges and centers across the U.S. He will be speaking about his latest book, Catholics and Protestants: What Can We Learn From Each Other?
S P E A K E R S E R I E S | F E B R U A RY 1 0
CHRISTIAN WISDOM IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P. M .
JEREMY BEGBIE Jeremy Begbie teaches systematic theology at Duke and Cambridge Universities and specializes in the interface between theology and the arts. His particular research interests are in the interplay between music and theology. He is the author of a number of books, including Voicing Creation's Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts, Theology, Music and Time, and Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music, which won the Christianity Today 2008 Book Award in the Theology/Ethics Category. Most recently, he has published Music, Modernity, and God. He has taught across the UK and North America, and delivered multimedia performance-lectures across the world, from Israel to Australia and Hong Kong.
MARK HIJLEH Mark Hijleh serves as the Provost and Professor of Music at The Kings College in New York City. As an authority in the field of music and cultural studies, Hijleh’s two published books include The Music of Jesus: From Composition to Koinonia and Towards a Global Music Theory. His next book, Towards a Global Music History, is currently in production with Routledge. Hijleh has also written commentaries and book reviews for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society and the College Music Society. An accomplished composer and conductor, Hijleh worked with the Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonic orchestras, won national first prize in the 2002 National Association of Teachers of Singing Composition competition, and wrote two feature length film scores. He appeared as a guest composer at Hertford College, Oxford, where he also lectured publicly on theology and music in the Holywell Music Room, and has a long association with arts theologian Dr. Jeremy Begbie of Duke and Cambridge Universities.
R A C H E L YO N A N Praised for her expressive playing and rich evocative tone, violist Rachel Yonan has become a presence in the music world. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across the United States, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and China; and on National Public Radio and Canadian Public Radio. Her appearances include concerts at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Ascoli Piceno Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts and the Rochester Chamber Music Society.
SPEAKER SERIES | MARCH 17
THE BLESSINGS & CURSES OF SECURED “RIGHTS” & FREEDOMS: THE LEGACY OF THE FIRST & SECOND AMENDMENTS S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P. M .
HUGH STEVENS Hugh Stevens is both a nationally known First Amendment and media lawyer and a versatile litigator. For more than 20 years Hugh served as general counsel to the North Carolina Press Association. In 2006, he became the second lawyer inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame. He has taught at several local universities and continues to serves as general counsel to the North Carolina Press Foundation and as outside counsel to several North Carolina news organizations, including The News and Observer and WRAL-TV in Raleigh.
ROBERT ORR Justice Orr grew up in Hendersonville, NC and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1968. From 1968-1971 he served in the U. S. Army before returning to study law at the University of North Carolina Law School from which he graduated in 1974. He practiced law in Asheville, NC from 1974-1986 when Governor James Martin appointed him as judge on the NC Court of Appeals. He also served from 1992-1993 on the U. S. National Parks System Advisory Board. In 1994 he was elected to the NC Supreme Court and served on the court until he retired in 2004. Justice Orr was the founding director of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law.
A L E TA PAY N E Aleta Payne is the Executive Director of Johnson Service Corps, a Community Columnist for the News and Observer, and a Board Member of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. She previously worked for sixteen years with the North Carolina Council of Churches. She is a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cary and serves on the boards of several Triangle non-profit organizations.
SPEAKER SERIES | APRIL 7
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP S T. D A V I D ' S S C H O O L | P A C | 7 : 0 0 P. M .
D E B O R A H RO S S Deborah Ross focuses her law practice on meeting the economic development, energy, utilities and infrastructure needs of businesses and government. She advises businesses and governmental units about the legal, regulatory and public policy landscape. Deborah represents clients before government agencies and permitting officials, as well as in appeals to state and federal courts. Her work includes General Counsel to the Research Triangle's regional transit authority, a decade in private practice focusing on infrastructure, energy and utilities, leadership of a statewide non-profit organization and her longstanding service to the state of North Carolina as an elected representative. She also taught for more than a decade as a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law and worked as an ethics consultant for the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke. She has served on the board of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research and is an advisory member for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. In 2014, she was recognized by the North Carolina Bar Association as a Citizen Lawyer. Deborah is a regular contributor for the Elements for Growth Blog, which provides news, information, and resources about infrastructure and economic development in the Southeast.
C A R O L F O LT - S C H E D U L E P E R M I T T I N G Carol Folt is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s 11th Chancellor. She came from Dartmouth College, where she was interim president in 2012-2013 and served as a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences and academic leader. As a widely respected scientist, Folt and her students’ pioneering work on the effects of dietary mercury and arsenic on human and ecosystem health led to numerous changes in national and global policy and consumption advisories around the world. Folt graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, earning both a bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology and a master’s degree in biology. She received her doctorate from the University of California, Davis and undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University before joining the faculty at Dartmouth.
BEV PERDUE - SCHEDULE PERMITTING Bev Perdue served as the 73rd Governor of North Carolina from 2008 until 2013. She is the first woman to serve the state as Governor. Prior to her term as Governor she served as the state’s Lieutenant Governor from 2000 until 2008. Bev also served in the NC House of Representatives from 1987-1991 and in the NC Senate from 1991-2001. After retiring from public service Bev was a Resident Fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. She has a Ph. D. from the University of Florida in Education Administration. She is currently Chair and Founder of digiLEARN a non-profit educational organization dedicated to accelerating digital learning for all ages.
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The picture above is of Corine Wegener, Smithsonian Cultural Heritage Preservation Officer, who spoke to our Senior Seminar students on the moral obligation to preserve cultural heritage. Ms. Wegner coordinates the Smithsonian’s role in emergency response and recovery for cultural heritage threatened by natural disasters, human conflict and other challenges. The cover photo was taken during the panel discussion On Women and Leadership, February 21, 2018 sponsored by the Senior Seminar class. Pictured from left to right are: Gil Greggs, Director of Academic Symposia and Upper School History Teacher, Julia Grumbles, UNC Trustee and Jocelyn Mitnaul, NC Supreme Court Clerk.