Past Lectures
The Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program gives world leaders and small liberal arts college communities the opportunity to interact and gain a better understanding of the world.
2010-11 – Anthony Cortese, founder and president of Second Nature
Anthony Cortese is the principal founder and president of Second Nature, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop the national capacity to make healthy, just and sustainable action a foundation of all learning and practice in higher education.
Cortese was formerly the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. He was the first dean of environmental programs at Tufts University and founded the award-winning Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute in 1989 that helped integrate environmental and sustainability perspectives in over 175 courses. He also organized the effort that resulted in the internationally acclaimed Talloires Declaration of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future in 1990, now signed by over 365 presidents and chancellors in over 50 countries.
2009-10 – Separation of Church and State
Presented by Richard Katskee, Assistant Legal Director, Americans United for Separation of Chruch and State
Richard Katskee is the assistant legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He litigates constitutional challenges to proselytization and religious instruction in public schools, religious displays on public property, government funding of faith-based organizations, and school-voucher programs, among other issues. He was one of the principal attorneys for the plaintiffs in a Pennsylvania case successfully challenging a school district’s inclusion of intelligent-design creationism in its ninth-grade biology curriculum. He also coordinates Americans United’s advocacy program, which educates legislators, school-board members and other public officials about Establishment Clause requirements and seeks to resolve constitutional violations amicably.
2008-09 – An Early Report Card for the New Administration
Presented by Eleanor Clift, national political commentator
Eleanor Clift is a national political commentator for Newsweek magazine and “The McLaughlin Group." Formerly Newsweek’s White House correspondent, Clift also served as congressional and political correspondent for six years, including time as deputy Washington bureau chief. She became a contributing editor in September 1994. She writes on the Washington power structure, the influence of women in politics and other issues, and is currently assigned to follow the policies and political maneuverings in the new age of Obama. Her column, “Capitol Letter,” is posted Fridays on Newsweek.com.
2007-08 – Peace Corps and the 21st Century: How Expanding Peace Corps Can Help Restore U.S. Standing in the World
Presented by Kevin Quigley, president of the National Peace Corps Association
Kevin Quigley has more than 20 years experience managing innovative development organizations and programs in both public and nonprofit sectors of the U.S., as well as foreign countries. He currently serves at the helm of the National Peace Corps Association, the alumni organization for individuals influenced by Peace Corps. He is the former director of public policy for Pew Charitable Trusts. In this role, Quigley oversaw international grant making in support of societies transitioning from authoritarianism to more open societies.
2006-07 – Are Universal Human Rights an Unrealistic Dream?
Presented by Dimon Liu, human rights activist
Dimon Liu specializes in Chinese human rights activism, architecture and urban planning. Born in China and raised in the United States, Liu has been a human rights activist for more than 30 years. In 1989, she organized an intervention at the United Nation's Sub-Commission on Human Rights, which resulted in an unprecedented UN reprimand against China for human rights abuses. She was the lead debater in 1992 at the Oxford Debating Society on the possibility of democracy in China, and in 1993, she represented more than 200 Asian non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna. From 1990 to 1998, she organized the annual Staunton Hill Peoples Liberation Army Conference.
2005-06 – Women Seen and Heard: Selinsgrove to Santiago
Presented by Anita Perez Ferguson, former president of the National Women's Political Caucus
Anita Perez Ferguson's lecture explored the concepts in her book Women Seen and Heard: Lessons Learned from Successful Speakers, co-authored with Lois Phillips, founding executive director of Antioch University 's Santa Barbara campus. Based on the experiences of dynamic, accomplished women speakers, the book provides a comprehensive analysis designed to help women learn what they need to do to become effective speakers. One of Hispanic Business magazine’s “100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States,” Perez Ferguson was appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to chair the Inter-American Foundation. In addition, she served as the White House liaison to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
2004-05 – Religion, Relief & Reconstruction: A Perspective on Faith-based International Development
Presented by Ruth Messinger, president and executive director of American Jewish World Service (AJWS)
A former candidate for mayor of New York City, Ruth Messinger oversees the international development and relief efforts of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides financial support, technical assistance, emergency relief and skilled volunteers to grassroots non-governmental groups in the developing world without regard to race, religion or nationality. Under Messinger’s leadership, AJWS continues to expand its scope and visibility, creating new service, education and outreach programs. In December 2000, Messinger launched the AJWS Women’s Empowerment Fund, which has provided more than $1 million in assistance to grassroots women’s groups in the developing world. The organization currently funds more than 140 development and emergency projects in 36 countries. Its Jewish Community Development Fund supports 38 Jewish renewal and human rights projects in Russia and the Ukraine.
2003-04 – Through the Looking Glass: How We See Other Cultures and How Other Cultures See Us
Presented by Marcia Grant, internationally known education leader who founded the first private women's college in Saudi Arabia
Renowned for her educational leadership and fund-raising abilities, Marcia Grant has worked in a variety of higher education, non-profit management and foreign service arenas around the world. Her most notable accomplishment came when the royal family of Saudi Arabia asked her to start the first private women's college in the kingdom. In a matter of months, Grant recruited staff, developed the organizational structure and secured private funding to make Effat College a reality. She served as founding dean/president and academic vice president of the institution from 1999 to 2001. Grant continues her work in Saudi Arabia as educational counselor to Princess Lolowah al-Faisal, whom she is assisting with the development of a new science college. In addition, she serves as director of the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Paris.
2002-03 – The Importance of Becoming Global Citizens
Presented by Julia Chang Bloch, international relations expert
Julia Chang Bloch has had extensive experience in civil service and the private sector, and has particular expertise in the areas of Asia and economic development. Bloch was the U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, the first Asian American to attain such rank in U.S. history, from 1989 to 1993. For much of the 1990s, she headed Bank of America's Corporate Relations Department and the U.S.-Japan Foundation, a $100 million grant making institution.
Other past Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows at Susquehanna have included :
- Stephen G. Vetter, community activist and philanthropist,
- Judi Hampton, civil rights activist and
- the late John Wallach, founder and president of Seeds of Peace, an internationally recognized conflict resolution program.
