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Upcoming presentations

Dr. Gerhard Steenkamp –
How veterinary science and conservation complement each other
March 14, 2024 – 10 a.m.

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Dr. Gerhard completed his BVSc degree in 1994 from the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science at Onderstepoort, after obtaining his BSc (Zoology) at the same institution. He completed the inaugural course in dentistry offered through the European school for Advanced Veterinary Studies in 1998. After 3 years in Europe he returned to Onderstepoort where he has been the head of the Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery clinic ever since. Gerhard did his MSc on the clinically relevant morphometrics of African elephant tusks and in 2017 completed his PhD on structure, development and pathology of the cheetah maxillofacial complex.

In 2017 Dr. Gerhard became a founding member of the certificate in Zoo and Wildlife Dentistry under the auspices of the American Veterinary Dental College. His research interests include developmental dentistry and maxillofacial surgery of non-domesticated species as well as maxillofacial pathology and surgery of domestic species. He has lectured in many parts of North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Dr. Gerhard has published 52 peer reviewed papers, authored or co-authored 5 book chapters and has delivered more than 50 international conference presentations.

In 2020 Dr. Gerhard was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for his contribution to Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery for wildlife, and particularly his work on elephants.

He is married to Sonja, an oral pathologist, and they have two kids, Natanya and Marinus.

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Previous presentations

Samir Kulkarni – “The Power of AI
February 8, 2024 – 10 a.m.

Samir Kulkarni is CEO of Showcase, a national 150-store retailer spanning the USA and Canada. Known for its hashtag #ShowcaseMadeMeBuyIt with 300 million views on TikTok, Showcase is “The Home of the Hottest Trends”, specializing in emerging social media trends across health, beauty, home, toys, tech, and food – all joyfully retailed in a “fun and interactive” environment in major shopping malls where you can “try it before you buy it”. Showcase’s proprietary trend-identification technology (increasingly fueled by AI) and social media marketing savvy has propelled it to win Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies Award in 2021, 2022, and 2023, as well as the YPO Top 10 Global Innovators Award and the Omnichannel Excellence in Retailing Awards. Showcase was the first retailer to popularize emerging trends ranging from TaeBo in 1999, to memory foam bedding in 2003, to RC helicopters in 2005, to no!no! hair removal in 2011, to Shopkins in 2015, to weighted blankets in 2016, to fidget spinners in 2017, to hot chocolate bombs in 2020, to freeze dried candy today. Samir and Showcase – Launching trends in business and now education!

Beyond leading Showcase for the last 25 years, Samir appears regularly in national media speaking about the trend retailing industry, including Bloomberg, Inc. Magazine, The Globe and Mail, New York Business Journal, CTV, Retail Insider, Authority Magazine, The Playground Podcast, and more. Samir also serves on the Board of Directors of Retail Council of Canada to promote retail advocacy and sound public policy. Samir holds an MBA from Yale University and lives near Toronto with his wife and two kids.

Steve Davis – “Building Great Human Beings
January 12, 2024 – 10 a.m.

Mr. Davis is the father of five talented young men and women. He is a graduate of Penn State University, where he played in the Cotton Bowl and Sugar Bowl Football Classics. He received his Master’s Degree in Human Relations and his Advanced Graduate Degree in Educational Leadership.

Mr. Davis has impacted the lives of thousands of students during his ten years in Higher Education as an academic counselor and college football coach, as well as 28 years in Independent Schools where he has been recognized for his role as Assistant Director of Admissions, Director of Diversity, Academic Dean, and the Head of two Upper Schools.

Mr. Davis is currently the Founder and CEO of The Institute for Human Relations, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals, schools, and communities actualize their potential through training and applying a 21st Century technology for human relations. At IHR, we believe, “If we can relate, anything is possible!”

Dino Ambrosi – “Building Better Tech Habits”
December 8, 2023 – 10 a.m.

Dino Ambrosi is a digital wellness speaker and the founder of Project Reboot, a guided digital detox program designed to help teens reset their tech habits. While studying at UC Berkeley, he created a semester-length course that helped over 100 of his peers reduce their screen time by an average of 3.5 hours per day.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Data Science, he embarked on a mission to spread the contents of his course to a broader audience. He has helped over 4,000 teens build healthier relationships with technology through speaking, consulting, and facilitating Project Reboot.

Dr. David Kieran – “When in Charge, Take Charge: Leadership Lessons From The General Who Transformed The Army”
November 10, 2023 – 10 a.m.

Dr. David Kieran is the Associate Professor of History and the Colonel Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University Chair in Military History at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. He is the author of Signature Wounds: The Untold Story of the Military’s Mental Health Crisis (New York University Press, 2019) and Forever Vietnam: How a Divisive War Changed American Public Memory (University of Massachusetts Press, 2014). He is also the editor of The War of My Generation: Youth Culture and the War on Terror (Rutgers University Press, 2015); the co-editor, with Edwin A. Martini, of At War: The Military and American Culture in the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Rutgers University Press, 2018); and with Rebecca A. Adelman Remote Warfare: New Cultures of Violence (University of Minnesota Press, 2020). His scholarly articles have appeared in American Studies, The Journal of American Studies, War & Society, and the Journal of War & Culture Studies as well as in eleven edited collections, and he has published op-eds in publications including Slate, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, The Albany Times-Union and the Toledo Blade. He is currently writing a history of organizational change in the U.S. Army after Vietnam, tentatively entitled How the Army Saved Itself: Maxwell R. Thurman and the Army’s Post Vietnam Metamorphosis (advance contract, the University of North Carolina Press) and co-editing a collection, with Beth Bailey, on how the Army has approached cultural change from the Second World War to the present. He earned his BA in English from Connecticut College and his PhD in American Studies at The George Washington University and he has received fellowships and grants from the American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis, the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Les Picker – “Capturing the Awe of Nature”
October 6, 2023 – 10 a.m.

Les Picker has more than 650 writing and photo credits in National Geographic Society publications, Better Homes & Gardens, Forbes, Time, Inc. Publications, Money, Fortune Small Business, Bloomberg Personal Finance, National Parks Magazine, and dozens of newspapers, magazines and other publications. He is a former reporter, photojournalist and editor, a monthly columnist for Oceans Magazine and for four years was Editor-In-Chief for a national environmental magazine. He was a regular
commentator on National Public Radio’s Marketplace, carried on 260 stations nationwide.

Les’ images decorate homes, offices and institutions throughout North America. He leads photography workshops and tours throughout the world.

Les was honored with the prestigious Canada Northern Lights Award for Best Travel Photography. He is a Moab Master Photographer, and an Awagami International Ambassador. He has a doctorate in ecology  from the University of Main

September 1st, 2023, Dr. Curren Katz, Head of Strategy & Business Transformation at Johnson & Johnson, with a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience and over 15 years of experience in data science, analytics, and digital health. She leads a cross- functional team of experts who are responsible for transforming the strategy, planning, and execution of J&J’s global clinical development portfolio, with a focus on enhancing operational and organizational efficiencies, quality, and outcomes.

Katz has a passion for solving complex healthcare challenges and driving innovation and modernization in healthcare, using cutting-edge technologies and approaches, such as decentralized trials, artificial intelligence, wearables, real-world data, and precision medicine. She has led multiple successful data science and digital health products and solutions in the payer, provider, and pharmaceutical space, generating significant impact, value, and insights for our stakeholders, partners, and patients.

May 12th, 2023, Dr. Joshua Aronson, Associate Professor of Applied Psychology, New York University

Spoke On: Social Psychology and The Art of People-Making