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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: General David H. Petraeus - February 6, 2014
Nova Southeastern University
Gen. Petraeus served 37 years in the U.S. military, including as commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and as commander of the U.S. Central Command. Following retirement from the military in August 2011, he served for 14 months as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
During his military career, Gen. Petraeus served in Cold War Europe, the United States, Central America, Haiti, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In the decade following the 9/11 attacks, he was deployed for nearly seven years, culminating his career with six straight commands, five of which were in combat.
- Don Rosenblum
- Gary Gershman
- General David H. Petraeus
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: Rebecca Skloot - March 20, 2014
Nova Southeastern University
Encouraging students to “let curiosity and passion get the best of you while you are here,” bestselling author Rebecca Skloot, M.F.A., shared how her own curiosity led her to follow a trail of seemingly random events that culminated with the writing of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
As she explained, Skloot spent years unveiling the mysterious anonymity of a woman whose cells greatly contributed to scientific research––saving others’ lives––while her family lived for decades without knowing the extent of her legacy.
Lacks was a poor tobacco farmer in Baltimore who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Cells derived from her cancerous tumor were harvested without her knowledge and became known in the scientific community as HeLa, an abbreviation of Lacks’ first and last name. In the decades that followed, the “immortal” HeLa line contributed to the development of the polio vaccine, cancer treatment, in-vitro fertilization, and the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine––ironically, the vaccine used to prevent infection from the virus associated with cervical cancer.
Lacks’ children were later used for follow-up research without providing informed consent (which today is required by law), nor did they receive compensation for the commercialization of their mother’s cells.
Skloot’s interest in the Lacks family story began in high school when a biology teacher wrote Henrietta Lacks’ name on the board. Failing at a traditional high school, Skloot was attending an alternative school where she could work at her own pace. She stopped after class to ask the teacher what else he knew about Lacks. He knew very little, he told her, and suggested she research the topic and write an extra-credit report.
“It did light this spark in me, this curiosity,” Skloot recalled during her talk. “I went home, and I couldn’t find out anything about her.”
Later, Skloot enrolled in college where she focused on biology and planned to attend veterinary school. But her life changed course––again at the hands of a teacher who suggested she forego veterinary school and pursue a career in science writing.
“He said to me, ‘letting go of a goal doesn’t mean you failed as long as you have a new goal in its place. That’s not giving up; it’s just changing direction, which can be one of the most important things you do in your life,’” said Skloot, who went on to earn an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction.
In college, she picked up Lacks’ trail again––this time, as part of a thesis project she was pursuing about “forgotten women” in science. She contacted Lacks’ daughter, Deborah, with whom she shared a dogged determination to tell Lacks’ story.
Decades after what began as an extra-credit assignment, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was published in 2010 and became a bestseller examining bioethics in America.
“At its core, the story is about the importance of communication in science and what can go wrong when scientists and health care providers don’t explain things to people,” Skloot said of how Lacks’ family was inadvertently misled by scientists and doctors.
“If you only speak Spanish and you go to the hospital, they’re going to get you a translator. If you walk into a hospital and you don’t ‘speak’ science, they’re not going to get you a science translator,” said Skloot, noting that Lacks’ husband had a fourth-grade education.
Skloot encouraged students to follow their curiosity and remain open to possibilities.
“Don’t have tunnel vision,” she said. “Don’t be so focused on your goals that you don’t allow yourself to know other things—things you can’t imagine right now, things you might unexpectedly fall in love with, things that might change your life just like learning about Henrietta’s cells in biology class changed mine.
“Curiosity is one of the most important things to recognize in ourselves and pay attention to.
Science is all about these moments. One little thing you notice that makes you stop…So much of what we do in any profession has to do with harnessing curiosity and learning to follow it, wherever it leads.”
- Don Rosenblum
- Emily Schmitt
- Rebecca Skloot
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Distinguished Lecture Series Present The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond Lillian Lambert - February 21, 2013
Nova Southeastern University
The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship continues its 2013 Distinguished Lecture Series by welcoming Lillian Lincoln Lambert to campus for her inspiring talk entitled “The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond.” Lillian Lambert is the first African American woman to receive a Harvard Business School MBA during the tumultuous 1960’s, and then became a barrier-breaking entrepreneur in the mid 1970’s.
- Preston Jones
- Lillian Lambert
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: An Evening with Edward Albee - April 04, 2013
Nova Southeastern University
Albee’s career spans five decades, defining modern American theatre with provocative, controversial, and successful plays. He is perhaps best known for the 1962 drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a recipient of both the Tony and New York Drama Critics Circle awards.
The playwright’s work explores intimate aspects of society. Albee’s first play, The Zoo Story, opened in 1959 and tells the story of a drifter who acts out his own murder with the unwitting aid of an upper-middle-class editor. The play is said to mark the beginning of the American absurdist movement in theatrical drama.
Albee has earned three Pulitzer Prizes for his plays: A Delicate Balance in 1967, Seascape in 1975, and Three Tall Women in 1994. He is also the recipient of multiple lifetime-achievement awards, including the Tony Award, Edward MacDowell Medal, and Pioneer Award.
According to Albee, art should be dangerous and should reveal human shortcomings and complacency—inspiring us to live more fully. To that end, his talk at NSU will explore this year’s academic theme of “Life and Death.”
- Don Rosenblum
- Bill Adams
- Edward Albee
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present “Sell or Be Sold” Featuring Grant Cardone - January 29, 2013
Nova Southeastern University
The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship invites you to the next installment of the Distinguished Lecture Series, “Sell or Be Sold,” featuring Grant Cardone. Cardone is a New York Times best-selling author, star and executive producer of the reality TV show Turnaround King, host of the Cardone Zone radio show and is regularly seen on Fox TV, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox Business and Business Insider. He was also named the Top Sales Expert and a Top 10 Business Coach on Twitter.
A self-made multi-millionaire, Cardone is the Founder and CEO of three multi-million dollar companies. He is best known for customizing programs to maximize a company’s profitability and brand, he is also known for turning around companies. As an internationally recognized sales and business expert, his commentary on business, financial and social issues have been carried in a wide variety of publications including Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, and New York Post.
Cardone’s ultimate ambition is to help people live more successfully, both personally and professionally. He has two interactive online sales training centers to bring innovative sales training tools, technologies, and solutions to life. Cardone is also the author of five books, all written since the 2008 financial crisis.
- Preston Jones
- Rick Case
- Grant Cardone
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: Carl DeSantis: Life After Sundown - September 25, 2012
Nova Southeastern University
The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship’s Distinguished Lecture Series is proud to welcome Carl DeSantis, former Chairman of the Board of Rexall Sundown, Inc. to Nova Southeastern University’s main campus for a lecture entitled, “Life After Sundown.”.
DeSantis’ entrepreneurial spirit was evident since his youth when he sold newspapers and raised parakeets to help his family. He entered the health industry as a stock boy at Walgreens and soon became one of the chain’s top store managers. In response to consumer demand, DeSantis created Sundown, an effective but inexpensive sunburn treatment.
Recognizing the increasing interest in nutrition and health products, he started the successful company Rexall Sundown, Inc., which was the leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of vitamins, nutritional supplements, and other consumer health products. Since his days at Rexall Sundown, Inc., DeSantis authored the best-selling book, Vitamin Enriched. In his lecture, he will talk about his lifetime of entrepreneurial successes and about his life after serving as a leading executive.
- George L. Hanbury
- Carl DeSantis
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: Elizabeth Loftus Memory Under the Influence - February 9, 2012
Nova Southeastern University
Hosted by the College’s Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Loftus will present a talk titled “Memory Under the Influence”. Loftus has contributed her expertise to hundreds of cases, including those of the Hillside Strangler; Abscam; Oliver North; the Menendez brothers; the Oklahoma City bombing; the trial of the officers accused in the Rodney King beating; accusations of molestation at McMartin Preschool; Bosnian War trials in the Hague; and litigation involving Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, and the Duke University lacrosse players.
A distinguished professor at the University of California—Irvine, Loftus holds faculty positions in three departments (Psychology and Social Behavior; Criminology, Law, and Society; and Cognitive Sciences), and in the School of Law. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. She has published 22 books (including the award-winning Eyewitness Testimony) and more than 500 scientific articles. In 2002, Loftus was 58th in a list of the 100 most-influential researchers in psychology in the 20th Century and the highest-ranked woman on the list.
- Don Rosenblum
- W. Matthew Collins
- Elizabeth Loftus
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: Maziar Bahari - October 10, 2012
Nova Southeastern University
Bahari, an Iranian Canadian, served as a Newsweek correspondent for more than a decade, covering Iranian economic, political, and cultural life. In 2009, he was arrested in Tehran while reporting on the presidential election protests. Bahari was picked up by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and sent to Evin Prison, which is notorious for torturing political prisoners.
Accused of “masterminding the coverage of the Iranian election by the Western media” and being a spy for the Mossad, the MI6, and the CIA, Bahari was held in solitary confinement for most of his 118 days in captivity. He was repeatedly beaten and was forced to give a televised false confession. After international pressure mounted and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed interest in his case, Bahari was released on $300,000 bail.
Bahari’s story of resilience was the subject of a 60 Minutes segment and a Newsweek cover story. In 2011, he published a memoir detailing the overseas ordeal, titled, Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival. The book became a New York Times bestseller.
- Don Rosenblum
- Stephen Andon
- Maziar Bahari
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NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Presents Shark Exhibition - May 2, 2012
Nova Southeastern University
- Alexandra Pickard - Research Assistant
- Kim Atwater - Research Assistant
- Christine Testerman - Research Assistant
- Teagen Gray - Research Assistant
- Shara Teter - Research Assistant
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The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale and the Venetian Arts Society present international opera sensation Elizabeth Caballero - November 28, 2012
Nova Southeastern University
The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale and the Venetian Arts Society present international opera sensation Elizabeth Caballero in concert and a master class with the artist.
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The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale and the Venetian Arts Society present international opera sensation Elizabeth Caballero - November 29, 2012
Nova Southeastern University
The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale and the Venetian Arts Society present international opera sensation Elizabeth Caballero - November 29, 2012 Master class icons.
- William (Willie) Riddle
- Jason R. Hughes
- Elizabeth Caballero
- Jeffrey Williams
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present Multiple Journeys: The Life and Work of Gomez-Pena - September 21, 2011
Nova Southeastern University
Invoking text and historical photographs to chronicle Gomez-Pena's life's work, the artist discusses the evolution of his field and the main political and social events of the times
- Don Rosenblum
- Jane Duncan
- Guillermo Gomez Pena
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: Richard Dreyfuss - October 26, 2011
Nova Southeastern University
The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences will welcome actor and activist Richard Dreyfuss to NSU as the college’s next Distinguished Speaker. Dreyfuss will speak in the Miniaci Performing Arts Center.
Dreyfuss is perhaps best known as an Oscar-winning actor, widely recognized for his roles in the films Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, and Mr. Holland’s Opus. He is also an activist American citizen and a spokesperson on the issue of media informing policy, legislation, and public opinion. He speaks and writes in support of privacy, freedom of speech, democracy, and individual accountability.
As a community leader, Dreyfuss aims to encourage, revive, and enhance the teaching of civics in American schools. In support of this mission, he founded the nonprofit organization The Dreyfuss Initiative. This initiative is part of a nation-wide effort to bring back civics to the American youth.
- Don Rosenblum
- Gary Gershman
- Richard Dreyfuss
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NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Presents - Virginia Alonso Four Centuries of Classical Cuban Music April 10, 2011
Nova Southeastern University
- David Spangler
- Virginia Alonso
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Lit Live! Family Ties - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Gioconda Belli, Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand
- Deborah Copaken Kogan, Between Here and April
- John Dufresne, Requiem, Mass.
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Lit Live! Life Lessons - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Tom Farley, Jr., The Chris Farley Show
- Dr. Meline Kevorkian, 101 Facts about Bullying: What Everyone Should Know
- Stephanie Klein, Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp
- Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure In the 25 Years After 50
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Lit Live! Literary Libations - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Tilar J. Mazzeo, The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It
- Nino Pernetti, Nino Pernetti’s Caffè Abbracci Cookbook: His Life Story and Travels Around the World
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Lit Live! Presidential Life and Letters - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast. Panel discussion with Abraham Lincoln biographer Fred Kaplan and 2008 National Book Award winner for nonfiction Annette Gordon-Reed (The Hemingses of Monticello).
- Annette Gordon-Reed
- Fred Kaplan
- Annette Gordon-Reed
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Lit Live! Rita Mae Brown: In First Person - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Rita Mae Brown, The Purrfect Murder
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Lit Live! Rum & Cuba - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Yvette Fuentes
- Tom Gjelten, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
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Lit Live! Sex in the City - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Lily Koppel, The Red Leather Diary
- John Rechy, About My Life and the Kept Woman
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Lit Live! Sleepless Nights - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Laura Lippman, Another Thing to Fall
- Adam Gittlin, The Deal
- icki Myron, Dewey: The Small-Town Cat Who Touched the World
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Lit Live! Vicki Myron: In First Person - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- Vicki Myron, Dewey: The Small-Town Cat Who Touched the World
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Lit Live! Yes I Can! - March 21, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University is honored to once again host the annual LitLIVE! event, which will showcase the numerous award-winning authors taking part in Literary Feast 2009 21st edition of Literary Feast.
- David Hyde, 1968; The Year that Saved Ohio State Football
- Elissa Wall, Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
- W. Hodding Carter, Off the Deep End
- Esmeralda Santiago, The Turkish Lover
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NSU Distinguished Speakers Series Present: Wayne Huizenga- September 3, 2009
Nova Southeastern University
The H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship will welcome Wayne Huizenga.
Huizenga is perhaps best known for Waste Management, Blockbuster Video and AutoNation. Huizenga was also the first entrepreneur to launch three Fortune 500 businesses in his lifetime.
As a community leader, Huizenga shares his insights on management style, his journey as an entrepreneur, the acquisition of Blockbuster, and valuable advice for students.
- Dr. Randolph A. Pohlman
- H. Wayne Huizenga