What's New @ the Aspen Institute October/November 2009

Live @ the Institute

Featured Event   General David Petraeus was one of the many speakers featured at the first Washington Ideas Forum: First Draft of History.

Other Events   Entertainer Youssou N'Dour spoke at the opening session of the 2009 Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum in Aviles, Asturias, Spain.

Other Events   Katty Kay and Claire Shipman discussed their recently released book, Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success, as part of the Aspen Institute’s Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series, co-presented with the Council of Women World Leaders.

Afghanistan's Ambassador to the US Said Jawad addressed the Aspen Wye Fellows in September.

Pete Peterson spoke about his new book, The Education of an American Dreamer, at the Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series in September.

Business Week's Senior Writer Steve Hamm interviews Michael Chu, founder/managing director of IGNIA Fund, on Lessons Learned from the Microfinance Experience at the 2009 ANDE Annual Conference.

Watch more clips at video.aspeninstitute.org.

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October/November 2009

Dear Friends,

The Aspen Institute has organized some great offerings scheduled for the coming weeks and months. I encourage you to read all the way to the bottom of this missive as it includes timely and important details regarding our upcoming events. As always, please check our website and calendar for the most updated information about 'What's New' at the Aspen Institute. If you have a friend or colleague you think might enjoy receiving this newsletter, please forward them this email so they can sign up. Thanks very much.

Best regards,
Jim Spiegelman
VP/Communications and Public Affairs

26th Annual Awards Dinner:

Jeffrey P. Bezos Judith Rodin

The 2009 Annual Awards Dinner will honor Jeffrey P. Bezos, president, CEO, and chairman of Amazon.com, with the Institute's Henry Crown Leadership Award, and Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, with our Public Service Award. Anchor and Executive Editor Charlie Rose will moderate a conversation between the two honorees as part of the evening’s program.

The second annual John P. McNulty Prize will also be awarded to an extraordinary young leader of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. New York, November 5, 2009. For more information and to register, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/annualdinner or call (800) 410-3463. Tickets are still available.

Renovation: Walter Paepcke Memorial Building
Auditorium Stage to be Named After Late TX Gov. Ann W. Richards

Ann W. Richards

The Aspen Institute announced that the stage in the auditorium of the Walter Paepcke Memorial Building in Aspen, CO is to be named in memory of late Institute trustee and former Governor of Texas Ann W. Richards. She was a beloved leader, humorist, and friend of the Institute. The goal is to raise $500,000, and $321,000 has been raised to date. With this appeal, we seek to recognize the woman who once said "I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone'." For donation information, please visit, http://www.aspeninstitute.org/support/paepcke or contact Becky Ward at (970)544-7925.

Capitalism and the Future: The Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, in partnership with Bloomberg Television, presents its first annual public program on fresh thinking for the management of business and society. Featured guests will include Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO, Google; Indra Nooyi, chair and CEO, PepsiCo; and Pamela Passman, VP of global corporate affairs, Microsoft Corporation. New York, November 3-4, 2009. Fewer than 30 tickets remain for the two-day event ($450 per person). To register online, please visit www.regonline.com/aspeninNYC. For a detailed program agenda, please click here. For information, contact Linda Lehrer.

Registration for Summer 2010 Public Programs in Aspen, CO: The Aspen Security Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, and Aspen Environment Forum will open to registration on October 26 for Society of Fellows members and November 2 for the general public. For more information on each event please click on the corresponding image below.

Justice and Society Benefit Luncheon

Michael Sandel

Jeffrey Toobin

The luncheon will celebrate 30 years of the Justice & Society Program under the leadership of Program Director Alice H. Henkin with a benefit lunch at the Metropolitan Club of New York. Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer for The New Yorker and senior analyst at CNN, will lead a conversation with Harvard professor and acclaimed author, Michael Sandel, on his new book Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do. The Institute will also recognize the law firm Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C. for their continued support of Justice & Society Seminar scholarships. New York, November 19, 2009. For more information and to purchase tickets please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/JSP30.

Upcoming Events:

Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series: Join us for the next installments of the Institute’s DC-based lunchtime book talks. To RSVP, contact Rachel Sommers.

• October 29: Ken Auletta, "Annals of Communications" columnist for The New Yorker magazine and author of Googled: The End of the World As We Know It.
• November 18: Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, author of My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran.
• December 11: TIME magazine Deputy Managing Editor Romesh Ratnesar, author of Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech that Ended the Cold War and former Newsweek Bureau Chief in Germany Michael Meyer, author of The Year that Changed the World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Aspen Wye Fellows: The fall season for the Aspen Wye Fellows, a group of Chesapeake Bay area residents who share the Institute's interest in global dialogue and play a key role in sustaining its mission, is off to a great start. On September 18th, the Aspen Wye Fellows kicked-off their fall programming at the Aspen Institute's Wye campus with a dicussion led by Afghanistan Ambassador to the US Said Jawad. To learn more about the Aspen Wye Fellows and how to become a member, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/aspenwyefellows or call Bonnie Messix at (410) 820-5424.

• October 23: Robert Dallek, author and historian, will give a talk titled "Presidential Dilemmas"
• October 25: Anastasia Petanova, Russian flutist, and Timothy Hoft, pianist, will perform a classic music concert at the Wye Woods Conference Center.
• November 13: Julia Chang Bloch, former US Ambassador to Nepal and President of the US–China Education Trust, will provide insight into US-China relations, specifically on education.
• December 12: Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson will discuss and sign his new book, American Sketches, at the annual Aspen Wye Fellows holiday party. The book is a series of portraits that celebrate the genius, talent, creativity and versatility of great Americans throughout history.

Socrates Society: A diverse group of emerging leaders (ages approximately 28–45) including entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and journalists, gather to engage in expert-moderated seminars on contemporary issues. Join us for one of our upcoming events around the country. For more information, contact Melissa Ingber or Azalea Millan.

• October 23-24: Socrates Salon – “Lessons Not Learned: Wall Street and the Crisis Next Time,” moderated by Kai Ryssdal, host of Marketplace, American Public Media. Los Angeles, CA
• November 13-14: Socrates Salon – “21st Century Energy - Can it be Clean, Secure, and Affordable, or Must We Choose?" moderated by R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence. New York, NY

The Aspen Writers' Foundation, in partnership with Aspen Film, presents the film To Kill a Mockingbird in Aspen, CO. Refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact the Aspen Writers' Foundation at (970) 925-3122 or Aspen Film at (970) 925-6882.

• October 25: Glenwood Springs High School, Glenwood Springs, CO – 3pm
• October 27: Limelight Lodge, Aspen, CO – 6pm

Georgetown Law-Aspen Institute Symposium: The Inaugural Symposium will feature Kenneth Feinberg, the Special Master for executive compensation under the TARP, in conversation with Financial Times columnist Clive Crook. Mr. Feinberg will describe his work setting the pay for 175 top executives at seven of the nation's largest companies, which have received hundreds of billions of dollars in federal assistance to survive. Following their conversation will be a panel discussion featuring Chris Brummer, professor, Georgetown University Law Center; Nell Minow, editor and co-founder, The Corporate Library; John Olson, partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP; and Michael Oxley, former Congressman (R-Ohio) and Chairman, House Financial Services Committee. Washington, DC, October 27, 2009; by invitation. For information, contact Meryl Chertoff.

The Council of Women World Leaders and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) will host a high-level panel discussion on the Women’s Empowerment: Countries Closing the Gender Gap - The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2009. The discussion will feature the Global Gender Gap Report’s 2009 co-author Saadia Zahidi, Head of Constituents at the World Economic Forum, Geeta Rao Gupta, president of ICRW, and Laura Liswood, secretary general of the Council. The panelists will lead a discussion on the findings of the report, which measures the gap between men and women in four critical areas and covers over 92 percent of the world’s population. Washington, DC, October 30, 2009. For additional information, please contact the Council at 202.736.2920. This event is part of the Madeleine K. Albright Women’s Voices at the Aspen Institute Series.

The Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts will host The New Yorker magazine architecture critic Paul Goldberger, discussing two of his new books, Why Architecture Matters and Building Up and Tearing Down. The conversation will be moderated by Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts Director Dana Gioia. Washington, DC, November 10, 2009. For more information, contact Rachel Sommers.

The Innovation Economy Conference: How can innovation get our economy back on its feet, and what should we all be doing to cultivate it? Who will pay for tomorrow's big ideas? Is the American education system up to producing the next generation of innovators? Is American economic competitiveness on the wane, and if so what's at stake? Join us at the The Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington, DC for a leadership-level forum to tackle these and other pressing questions that have everything to do with America's future. Featured speakers include Larry Summers, director, National Economic Council; Michelle Rhee, chancellor, DC Public Schools; Jeffrey Immelt, CEO, General Electric; and Shirley Ann Jackson, president, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Washington, DC, Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2009. For information, contact Lidia Barabash.

Evolution, Conservation, and the Galapagos: The 2010 Aspen-Lindblad Expedition: The Galápagos Islands are a must-see destination for anyone yearning to encounter animals that hold no fear of humans. We will explore these enchanted islands with Lindblad Expeditions, the first organization to bring lay tourists to Galápagos. They are also at the forefront of creating innovative and sustainable methods to protect the islands’ wildlife and educate people on its ecological significance. Galapagos Islands, January 8-17, 2010. For information, contact Donna Horney at (202) 736-5835.

Wildlife Conservation & Human Well Being in Africa: In October of 2008, the Aspen Institute and the African Wildlife Foundation teamed up to present an one-of-a-kind seminar about African wildlife and wildlands conservation in the context of African politics and equitable development. The combination of wildlife viewing, seminars, and special guests added a unique dimension and learning experience to the wonder of the world-class African safari. We are once again pleased to be taking reservations for the 2011 seminar. For more information, please contact contact Donna Horney at (202) 736-5835.

Aspen-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership: Nominations are now being accepted for the next class of Aspen-Rodel Fellows. Visit our website to learn about the nomination process; contact Mickey Edwards, (202) 736-5823, for more information.

For a current listing of Institute programs and events please visit our global calendar.

Hot Off the Presses:

On October 21 the Aspen Institute Business and Society program released its 2009-2010 Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools. The rankings represent the growing number of business schools that are driving discussions of social and environmental issues into the core curriculum. To purchase a copy of the report visit our website or Amazon.com.

Aspen Strategy Group co-chairs Joseph Nye and Brent Scowcroft along with director Nicholas Burns and Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott recently authored a statement in Politico on the critical arms control and non-proliferation challenges facing the United States in the coming years.

In a piece titled "Olympia's 'Betrayal,'" Mickey Edwards argues in TheAtlantic.com that in breaking with her party on healthcare reform, Senator "Olympia Snowe is guilty of no more than having taken her oath of office seriously."