Keynote Speaker
The keynote speaker for 2011 will be announced soon.
Past Keynote Speakers
2010, John Wallace, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work
John M. Wallace Jr. earned his Ph.D. and master’s degree in sociology from the University of Michigan and his BA in sociology from the University of Chicago. He is the principal investigator on the University of Pittsburgh Center on Race and Social Problems’ Comm-Univer-City of Pittsburgh Project, an integrated program of research, teaching, and service designed to investigate and ameliorate social problems that disproportionately impact economically disadvantaged children, families, and communities. Wallace also is a coinvestigator on the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s ongoing national study of drug use among American young people, Monitoring the Future. His recent research examines comprehensive community revitalization initiatives, racial and ethnic disparities in social and economic well-being, the impact of crime on clergy and congregations, and adolescent problem behaviors including violence and substance abuse. His work has appeared in numerous professional journals, books and monographs. In addition to being a professor and a father, he pastors a church in Pittsburgh’s Homewood-Brushton neighborhood.
2009, Professor Levi Thompson
University of Michigan, Richard E Balzhiser Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Professor Thompson earned his B.ChE. from the University of Delaware, and M.S.E. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. After working for two years at KMS Fusion, he joined the faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering and was promoted to Professor in 2000. From 2001 to 2005, he served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education. In that capacity, Professor Thompson led the College of Engineering’s efforts to recruit an excellent and diverse undergraduate student body and provide them with a high quality educational experience and environment. He is presently Director of the Michigan-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, a $5 million, National Science Foundation funded program that teams the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Michigan State University and Wayne State University in an effort to significantly increase the number students earning science, technology, engineering and mathematics baccalaureate degrees. Professor Thompson has taught a variety of courses including Introduction to Engineering (Eng 100), a course for first year engineering students, and a short course entitled Applied Reaction Engineering and Catalysis with Professor Phillip Savage.