2015

Roy Norton, Consul General of Canada in Chicago

Topic: Truman, Canada, and U.S. Global Engagement

 

Damien Levie, Head of Section, Trade & Agriculture, Delegation of the European Union to the U.S.

Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Principal, Summit Strategies International

Marjorie Chorlins, Vice President for European Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Topic: Envisioning Transatlantic Partnership for the 21st Century

 

Hon. James Clad, Senior Advisor, Center for Naval Analyses & Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia

Topic: Fueling the World: Geopolitical Economy of Oil

 

James H. Williams, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Churchill Museum and Sandra and Monroe Trout Professor of Churchill Studies, Westminster College

 

Michael Eaton, Executive Director, National Model UN Conference and Council of Chapters and Regions of the UNA-USA

Topic: Is the United Nations Still Relevant?

 

H.E. Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu, South African Ambassador to the U.S.

 

Raj Bhala, Associate Dean and Rice Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas School of Law

Michael Makara, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Central Missouri

Goran Ghafour, doctoral student, William Allen White School of Journalism, University of Kansas

Topic: War with ISIS, Alliances with Iran: Examining U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East

 

Governor Bob Holden, chairman of the Midwest US-China Association and founder of the Holden Public Policy Forum and professor at Webster University; former Governor of Missouri

Topic: Chinese Investment in the U.S.

 

Dr. Carleen Maitland, Associate Professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University

Topic: Technology: Empowering Refugees & Changing Refugee Camps

 

Deana Arsenian, Vice President of the International Program at Carnegie Corporation of New York

Topic: The World According to Putin

2016

Vincent Floreani, French Consul General in Chicago

Topic: Future of the EU-U.S. Relationship: Global Trade and Cooperation

 

Shudong Chen, Professor of Humanities, Johnson County Community College

Steve Duxbury, Vice President and Director of Regional Project Support, Black & Veatch

Topic: Closing the Global Gap Between US and Them: China

 

Santiago Corcuera, Member and Vice Chairperson of the UN Committee Against Forced Disappearances

Heith Janke, Supervisory Special Agent, Public Corruption/Civil Rights Squad, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kansas City Division

Ellen Y. Suni, Dean of UMKC School of Law

Topic: Human Trafficking in Central and North America

 

Ambassador Dina Kawar, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations

Topic: International Response to Conflict in a Changing World

 

Aaron Mann, Partner, Husch Blackwell

Felix Sturmer, Professor of Hospitality Management, Johnson County Community College

Topic: Closing the Global Gap Between US and Them: European Union

 

Kate Mellor, International Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce

Christina Sevilla, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the President

Raj Bhala, Associate Dean for International and Comparative Law, University of Kansas School of Law

Topic: Understanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership

 

Bob Rebori, President of Bio-Microbics, Inc.

Luz María Álvarez, Spanish language instructor, Johnson County Community College; native of Mexico

Topic: Closing the Global Gap Between US and Them: Mexico

 

Lawrence J. Haas, Senior Fellow for U. S. Foreign Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council

Topic: Harry and Arthur: Truman, Vandenberg, and the Partnership that Created the Free World

 

Ton Akkerman, DVM, Agricultural Counselor U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, Office of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and Innovation, Netherlands Embassy

Dr. Keith Hamilton, Executive Director of International Programs, College of Veterinary Medicine, K-State University

Joe R. Thompson, Partner, Husch Blackwell

Daryl Pint, CEO, CEVA Biomune – Biomune Company

Topic: At the Crossroads: Agribusiness and National Security in EU-U.S. Relations

 

James Carville, American political commentator and media personality

 

Anna Ashton, Director of Business Advisory Services at the U.S.-China Business Council

 

Kazuyo Rumbach, instructor, Johnson County Community College

Haruko Shukla, Partner, Shukla and Associates

Topic: Closing the Global Gap: Japan

 

James C. Harrington, human rights attorney, founder and director emeritus of the Texas Civil Rights Project

Topic: Perspectives on the Crisis in Turkey

 

Sarah Finocchario Kessler, Ph.D., MPH, Associate Professor at University of Kansas Medical Center’s Department of Family Medicine

James P. Mitchum, CEO, Heart to Heart International

Lee Norman, MD, MHS, MBA, State Surgeon of Kansas

Dr. Sudeep Ross, Chief Health Officer, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center

Topic: The Local Impact of Global Epidemics

 

Dr. Sofia Khan, physician and founder of KC for Refugees

Surhan Fatima Memon, visiting professor at Johnson County Community College

Topic: Closing the Global Gap: Pakistan

 

Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. career diplomat

 

Johnmary Kirangwa, master’s student at Rockhurst University from Uganda

Lacy Gordon, Program Director, HALO Foundation

Topic: Closing the Global Gap: Uganda

 

Col. Nicolas Auboin, French liaison officer for the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Topic: The Role of the Military in a 21st Century World

2017

A. Cooper Drury, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Science and Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri

Topic: The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy

 

Evans Revere, former U.S. diplomat and former CEO of the Korea Society

Topic: Ten Things You Need to Know About North Korea

 

Hong Lei, Chinese Consul General in Chicago

Brigadier General (ret.) Peter Zwack, former senior defense official and attaché to the Russian Federation

Topic: Russia in 2017: Perspectives & Challenges

 

Ambassador Ross Wilson, Distinguished Senior Fellow, the Atlantic Council; former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan

 

Maria Adele Carrai, Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program; Visiting Scholar, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University

Topic: One Belt, One Road

 

H.E. Gerónimo Gutiérrez, Mexican Ambassador to the U.S.

 

General Richard Myers, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

 

Ivo Daalder, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, 2009-2013

Nina Jankowicz, George F. Kennan Fellow, Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Barry R. Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science, MIT

Stephen Walt, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard

Topic: NATO: Truman to Trump

 

Ambassador William B. Taylor, Executive Vice President, U.S. Institute of Peace

Topic: Practical Peacebuilding for National Security

2018

Katherine Charlet, Program Director, Technology and International Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Topic: The Future of Cyber Conflict

 

Dr. Christopher W. Anderson, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at the KU School of Business

Dr. Mona Lyne, Associate Professor and former Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City

Dr. Luciano Tosta, Associate Professor of Brazilian Literature and Culture, University of Kansas

Dr. Monica Mingucci, Program Director, UMKC Applied Language Institute

Topic: Um Retrato Atual: Economic, Political, and Cultural Perspectives on Brazil in 2018

 

Ambassador Patrick Moon, former U.S. Ambassador/Chief of Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topic: NATO-Russia Relations: From the Cold War to Current Challenges

 

Alfonso Navarro-Bernachi, Head Consul of Mexico in Kansas City

Dr. Robynn Kuhlmann, Associate Professor, Department of Government, International Studies and Languages, University of Central Missouri

Topic: Democracy and the Mexican and U.S. Electoral Systems

 

H.E. Hynek Kmoníček, Czech Ambassador to the U.S.

Hon. Ladislava Begeç, Consul General of Slovakia in New York

Topic: The 100th Anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement

 

Ji Li, Professor of Law, Rutgers University School of Law

Edward (Trip) Frizell, Partner, Polsinelli

Chris Gutierrez, President of KC SmartPort

Jeff Zhao, Vice President of Human Resources and Legal Affairs, BWI Group (Dayton, Ohio); Director, China General Chamber of Commerce

Virginia Harper Ho, Associate Dean for International & Comparative Law, Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law, NCUSCR Public Intellectuals Program Fellow

Topic: The Opportunities and Challenges of Chinese Investment in the U.S.: A Public Forum

 

Dan Mahanty, U.S. Program Director, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)

Col. Juan K. Ulloa, Director of the Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

Topic: Decisions: U.S. Global Engagement and the Military

 

Sarah Margon, Washington Director, Human Rights Watch

Topic: Human Rights Around the World

 

Ronnie Russell, Vice President, Missouri Soybean Association Board of Directors

Fang Shen, Partner, Husch Blackwell; President, Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City

John Stevens, international commercial banker, J.P. Morgan

Virginia Harper Ho, Associate Dean for International & Comparative Law, Professor of Law, a past Docking Faculty Scholar, and the inaugural Co-Director of the Polsinelli Transactional Law Center

Topic: Tariffs and Trade with China

 

Ambassador Bill Burns, President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

 

Dr. Steve Ellner

Topic: Maduro’s Venezuela: Challenges and Implications

2019

Ron Achelpohl, Director, Transportation and Environment Department, Mid-America Regional Council

Drew Thompson, Director, Data Center/Mission Critical Facility Solutions, Black & Veatch

Dr. Bradley W. Lane, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director, School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Kansas

Topic: Megaregions and the Future of Transportation

 

Dr. Jack MacLennan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Park University

Suzanne Maheu, Homestay and Community Services Coordinator, International and Immigrant Student Services, Johnson County Community College

Topic: Closing the Global Gap: Canada

 

Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, foreign policy expert and former diplomat

Topic: National Security Challenges in the Next Decade: Implications for the U.S.

 

Amanda Sloat, Ph.D., Robert Bosch Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings

Topic: Brexit and the Future of Europe

 

Ambassador Thomas Pickering, career diplomat

Topic: A U.S. Perspective on Iran and the Larger Middle East

 

Director General Jerry Chang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Denver

Virginia Harper Ho, Associate Dean for International & Comparative Law, Professor of Law, a past Docking Faculty Scholar, and the inaugural Co-Director of the Polsinelli Transactional Law Center

Dr. Jeffrey Pickering, professor of Political Science, Kansas State University

Topic: U.S.-Taiwan Relations as the Taiwan Relations Act Turns 40

 

Pritha Hariharan, International Program Director for Asia and Africa, Unbound

Gurbhushan Singh, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, Johnson County Community College

Topic: Closing the Global Gap: India

 

Marc Chandler, Chief Market Strategist, Bannockburn Global Forex

H.E. Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the U.S.

Topic: The Impact of Foreign Policy on the Value of the Dollar

 

Nazanin Ash, Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy, International Rescue Committee

Abdul Bakar, Director, Refugee Resettlement Program, Della Lamb Community Services

Dr. Matthew Naylor, President and CEO, National WWI Museum and Memorial

Topic: Great Decisions: Refugees & Global Migration

 

Uzra Zeya, President and CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding

Topic: An Update on Peacebuilding for the World Affairs Councils of America 2019 Leadership Meeting

 

Ambassador Jose Vicente Pimentel, former Brazilian Ambassador to South Africa, India, and Canada

 

Professor Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi

Topic: The Status of Peacebuilding Between India and Pakistan

 

Stefan Schlüter, career German diplomat

Topic: Populism & Nationalism on the Rise: A German Perspective

 

H.E. Dr. Asad Majeed Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S.

 

Ambassador Deborah Birx, Coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy

 

David Smolansky, former mayor of El Hatillo, Venezuela

Topic: Where Does Venezuela Go from Here?