HEC Partners with TEDXGatewayArch To Bring Big Ideas to St. Louis

    HEC-TV is proud to announce a new partnership with TEDxGatewayArch. When TEDxGatewayArch’s 2016 speakers take to the stage at their December 10th flagship event, The Higher Education Channel will be in attendance as the official media sponsor and kick off a multi-year partnership that will include television programing, community involvement and more.

    The TEDxGatewayArch Bounce event on December 10 will include music from Letters to Memphis, dance from AfrikyLolo and talks from (watch an introduction to each speaker, here.):

    Dr. Tiffany Anderson, Former Jennings School Superintendent

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Turning A School District Around

    18Tiffany Anderson, a St. Louis native, has been a public school educator for 23 years, the majority of that time as a superintendent. The Washington Post and NPR referenced Anderson as, “The superintendent who made schools work for poor children.”

    In July 2012, Anderson joined the Jennings School District as Superintendent. Under her leadership, the Jennings School District regained full accreditation and has become a national model of excellence in serving the whole child. They have met a 93% graduation rate and the majority of their graduates are placed in a 4 year postsecondary school, the military or a job.

    As of July 1, 2016, Anderson became the first African American female leading the 14,000 Topeka Public Schools in Topeka, Kansas where the landmark Brown vs. Board case ended legal segregation. Anderson earned her undergraduate degree and a doctorate from Saint Louis University where she also met her husband, Dr. Stanley Anderson. Together they work to support children in having a healthy start so children can succeed in school.

    Dr. David Brody, Associate Professor of Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Brain Injury and Rehabilitation

    4Dr. David Brody is an MD, PhD trained, board certified neurologist with both a research and clinical specialization in traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases. He is currently a Professor of Neurology with an adjunct appointment in Biomedical Engineering.

    Brody’s research investigates concussive traumatic brain injury, chronic traumatic encephalopathy and the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

    Dr. Jim Carrington, President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Agriculture For The Future

    12Jim Carrington is president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a St. Louis-based non-profit organization that focuses scientific research and innovation at the nexus of food security and the environment. With nearly 250 employees, the Danforth Center is the largest independent plant science institute in the world.

    Since joining the Danforth Center in 2011, Carrington has focused the Center’s scientific enterprise around high technology, big data, and computation for the purpose of addressing the need to feed and power a growing, changing world while also preserving the environment and vital natural resources.

    Carrington is one of the most highly cited plant scientists in the world. He is recognized for his research on gene silencing, small RNA, and virus-host interactions. His work in the small RNA field has focused on mechanisms through which plants and other organisms use non-coding RNA to control growth and development and to defend against viruses. He is applying this knowledge to improve productivity of food security crops.

    Raven Fox, Executive Producer at Radiant Studio Works

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Mixing Art, Music, & Technology

    20Raven Fox is an artist who has worked with companies including MTV, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Donna Karan NY, Saatchi & Saatchi, Motown Records, DreamWorks Records and Universal Music Group. His work is influenced by the late 70’s / early 80’s Pop Art era.

    Inspired by the renaissance of the city, he moved to downtown St. Louis in 2006. Through a partnership with local booking agency TalentPlus Universal, his performance & production work contributed to helping many of the St. Louis region’s non-profit organizations raise awareness & millions of dollars in funding.

    During this time, he also founded Radiant Studio Works: his independent creative design and production studio focused on creating and producing large scale immersive light shows involving new media technologies. To date, he has designed, created & produced works for Grand Center, St. Louis Union Station, the Cinderella Building, the St. Louis Planetarium, and most recently the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park.

    Dr. Tristram R. (T.R.) Kidder, Director of the Geoarcheology Laboratory at Washington University

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: History, Climate Change And Future Flooding Of The Mississippi

    14Tristram R. (T.R.) Kidder is an archaeologist, geologist, and environmental scientist in the department of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. His research explores how climate change has affected humans through time. Focusing on the last ten thousand years, Kidder’s work increasingly explores how humans have changed climates and environments and how, in turn, this shapes human history.

    A passionate believer that archaeology is as much about the present and future as it is about the past, Kidder is committed to using history and environmental studies to understand where we are today, and to consider that information in thinking about where we are going in the future.

    Marilu Knode, Executive Director of Laumeier Sculpture Park

    TEDxGatewayArch Talk: Finding Public Meaning Through Public Art

    25Over the past three decades, Marilu Knode has played a senior leadership role in numerous organizations as they evolve to meet community need for engaging and challenging cultural experiences. Her focus is on ensuring organizations are sustainable in the rapidly changing social world in which we live.

    Since she arrived at Laumeier in 2009, she re-animated a $10 million capital campaign, and in 2015 opened the new Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center and the Kranzberg Education Lab to serve Laumeier’s expanding audiences. She was the convener of the region-wide consortium Sculpture City Saint Louis 2014, and co-organized the international conference Monument / Anti-Monument in 2014 to place the region’s broad sculptural history into context during celebrations of the city’s modern founding 250 years ago.

    Travis Mossotti, Poet & Professor

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Finding Our Place

    16Travis Mossotti is a poet and lecturer who serves as a 2015 – 2016 Regional Arts Commission Artist Fellow and also as the Poet-in-Residence at the Endangered Wolf Center in St. Louis.

    He was awarded the 2011 May Swenson Poetry Award by contest judge Garrison Keillor for his first collection of poems About the Dead (USU Press, 2011), and he continues to have his work featured in literary journals and magazines from Dublin to Los Angeles. Mossotti has given readings, lectures and presentations all across the country on the subjects of poetry and place and the role interdisciplinary work plays in creating channels of dialogue between different discourse communities. He teaches in the writing program at Webster University and works for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at Washington University.

    Mallory Nezam, Founder of STL Improv Anywhere

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: The Power of Play

    8Mallory Nezam, the founder of STL Improv Anywhere, instigates unexpected creative interactions in public space. Nezam chooses to place art and play in the context of public space to disrupt routine and reconnect passersby with the magic of being alive.

    Interested in the experiential and bodily, her work does not point at the thing but becomes the thing and invites audiences to actively take part. Nezam believes that collectively performing creative expressions in public builds a sense of connection between citizens and ownership of place.

    Maxwell Planck, Technical Founder of Oculus Story Studio

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Virtual Reality Storytelling

    1After graduating from MIT with a degree in computer science, Maxwell Planck joined Pixar as a Technical Director, solving the creative and technical problems of making 6 animated feature films: Cars, WALL-E, Up, Brave, Monsters University, and The Good Dinosaur.

    After 10 years at Pixar, Planck left for a new challenge – to find his generation’s leap forward in entertainment technology and help build something that is novel, awe-inspiring and unsolved. He found what he was looking for in virtual reality, a new medium for how we tell stories and touch our audiences.

    Planck joined Oculus in 2014 to build Oculus Story Studio, a small team of technical artists from film and games bent on inspiring and educating the next generation of storytellers. Since its founding, Oculus Story Studio has created Lost (technical supervision by Planck) and Henry (produced by Planck), two of the first immersive short stories you can experience in the Oculus Rift. His team continues to develop and release stories based on different story genres, and exploring the medium’s versatility as a new art form.

    Dr. Jim Russell, Licensed Professional Counselor

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Specialist For Twice Exceptional People

    5Dr. Jim Russell is a licensed counselor working in clinical practice with people from preschoolers to seniors who are very bright but have learning differences. He is currently an Adjunct Instructor at Washington University, and he has taught at Webster University, the University of Missouri, and at the St. Louis Community College.

    Russell was a Co-President for the State of Missouri Learning Disabilities Association (LDA). He was named Professional Of The Year in 2001 and given the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. He does comprehensive evaluations for children who have cancer and other medical conditions at the Mercy Cardinals Kids Cancer Center. Russell is currently serving on the St. Louis Community College Access Office Advisory Committee, and the Miriam Learning Center Advisory Committee.

    Dr. Norman White, Associate Professor of Criminology

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Interrupting The Prison Pipeline

    10Dr. Norman “Norm” White is an Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Empowerment in the Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice.

    White’s life and work experience, as a VISTA volunteer and working with youthful offenders in correctional settings, led to an interest in understanding the development of delinquent behavior through the life-course. This interest has led to his developing a theoretical model he calls risk immersion. Risk immersion focuses on the presence of factors in every area of a youth’s life that contribute to their involvement in delinquent offending.

    Based on his theoretical model, White has proposed that efforts to address youth violence must be community-centered, working with grassroots organizations and stakeholders to build coalitions for change. These efforts call for a continuum of services and resources that span the life-course from early childhood into early adulthood. He is currently testing the model through a funded research project called “Shut it Down: Closing the School to Prison Pipeline.”

    Jim Wible, Attraction Designer at PGAV Destinations

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Destination Designer

    22An estimated ten to fifteen million happy families come together each year to enjoy Jim Wible’s creations. Devoted to communicating ideas and bringing imagined worlds to life, he partners with leaders in the entertainment industry like SeaWorld, Georgia Aquarium, Universal Studios, and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, creating new attractions to entertain and inspire. Wible’s passion is building one-of-a-kind destinations that bring families together and creating memories that last forever.

    Since he can remember, the creative process always fascinated him. For Wible, nothing is more gratifying than interacting with wide-eyed dreamers as they discover a path into the world of creating wild rides, animal encounters, shows, and destinations only seen in their imagination.

    Currently, he serves as Director of Attraction Development at PGAV. He accomplished his ultimate dream to design his own home where he resides with his family overlooking a tree covered hillside in Imperial, Missouri.

    Denise E. Wilfley, Professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences

    TEDxGatewayArch Topic: Obesity And The Brain

    24Denise E. Wilfley, Ph.D. is an international authority in the etiology, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders and obesity, and has devoted her career to improving the lives and health of children and their families. Wilfley takes a multi-level approach to addressing the complex problem of obesity in children.

    Her pioneering work at the intersection of eating disorders and obesity was integral to formal recognition of binge eating disorder and established the efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy for addressing this problem. She has also transformed care for eating disorders by developing a population-based model for their prevention and treatment.

    Wilfley developed the first effective online programs for preventing and treating eating disorders and established innovative practices for training college therapists in evidence based interventions. In addition, she works at the state and federal levels to ensure the creation of policies conducive to widespread access to affordable, effective care. Wilfley leads a program to train the next generation of scientists in the transdisciplinary research and advocacy skills necessary to address these critical problems into the future.

    Wilfley is the Scott Rudolph University Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and has received over 20 years of continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health.