Contact: Bonnie Messix
Director, Aspen Wye River Conference Centers
(410) 820-5424│bonnie.messix@aspeninstitute.org
Contact: Erin Phillips
Development and Events Associate
(202) 736-3850│erin.phillips@aspeninstitute.org
Queenstown, MD, September 8, 2009 – The Aspen Institute today announced its Fall/Winter program for the Aspen Wye Fellows. The program will feature five events ranging from concerts to book talks to foreign policy discussions. All events will take place at the 1,100 acre Aspen Wye River Conference Center in Queenstown, Maryland and are open to Aspen Wye Fellows. Membership to the Aspen Wye Fellows is open to the public.
The Fall/Winter program will feature:
| September 18 | Ambassador Said Jawad, Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States Discussion will explore the current military and political situation in Afghanistan. |
| October 9 | John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of The Vanguard Group Conversation will focus on the economy and the economic outlook for the months ahead. |
| October 25 | Anastasia Petanova, Russian flutist and Timothy Hoft, pianist 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 Discussion will provide insight into US-China relations, specifically on education. |
| December 12 | Walter Isaacson, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute The annual Aspen Wye Fellows holiday party will feature a book talk and signing of Mr. Isaacson’s new book – American Sketches. The book is a series of portraits that celebrates the genius, talent, creativity and versatility of great Americans throughout history. |
Fellows are also invited to a series of luncheon events with distinguished authors at the Aspen institute’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. Recent speakers have included NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, former British First Lady Cherie Blair and NPR’s Cokie Roberts.
Launched in 2006, and now has over 100 members, the Aspen Wye Fellows is a group of Chesapeake Bay area residents who share the Aspen Institute’s interest in global dialogue and who play a key role in sustaining the Institute’s mission, expanding its programs, and ensuring its future. With this new circle of Fellows, the Aspen Institute is hosting events that bring an international perspective to the surrounding Chesapeake Bay communities. Through lectures by international diplomats and policy experts, panel discussions with public- and private-sector leaders, and book talks by authors and academics, the Aspen Institute offers Aspen Wye Fellows an opportunity for intimate exchange and meaningful dialogue with some of the most stimulating thinkers of our time.
The Aspen Wye Fellows have been enlightened, challenged and entertained by some of the world’s best minds, including Queen Noor of Jordan; former Secretary of State Madeline Albright; Nabil Fahmy, Ambassador of Egypt to the United States; Mona Sutphen, current Deputy Chief of Staff to President Obama; Dana Gioia, former Chair of the National Endowment of the Arts; oceanographer Sylvia Earle; author Walter Isaacson and boy soldier and author Ishmael Beah.
Event details are subject to change. For information about joining the Aspen Wye Fellows and participating in its 2009 program, please call Bonnie Messix at the Wye River Campus at (410) 820-5424 or Erin Phillips at the Washington, DC office at (202) 736-3850 or visit www.aspeninstitute.org/aspenwyefellows.
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