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insights&ideasWhat’s neW and What’s neWs at the InstItute

On January 9, the Aspen Wye Fellows kicked off the 2009 season at River House with Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier. A native of Sierra Leone, Beah was forced into the opposition army at age 13; Beah shared his inspirational story of rescue and personal recovery with the Fellows. On April 17, Dana Gioia, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and director of the Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts, came to Wye for a discussion titled “Why

Literature Matters: Literacy, Commentary, and Public Culture.” The talk focused on Gioia’s “Big Read” program, an NEA initia-tive designed to encourage Americans to read serious literature. On May 14, the Wye Fellows welcomed Dennis Dimick, execu-tive editor of National Geographic maga-zine, for a talk titled “Changing Planet: Where Climate and Energy Collide.” To learn more about the Aspen Wye Fellows, contact Bonnie Messix at (410) 820-5424 or visit www.aspeninstitute.org/support.

The Aspen Writers’ Foundation—Colorado’s oldest nonprofit literary center—has become a part of the Aspen Institute. The Foundation will maintain its offices at Aspen’s Red Brick Center for the Arts and continue to bring the page to life through innovative programming featuring a diverse array of authors, poets, journalists, song-writers, screenwriters, and playwrights. In its first major event since joining the Insti-tute, the Writers’ Foundation will hold the Aspen Summer Words Writing Retreat and Literary Festival, a five-day celebration of language, words, and ideas. This year’s fes-tival—the 33rd—flies under the banner “World of Words” and will be led by some of today’s most engaging writers, from Ron Carlson, Pamela Painter, William Loizeaux, and Shashi Tharoor to Ishmael Beah, Chris Merrill, Hallie Ephron, Dana Gioia, and Nic Pizzolatto. Afternoons and evenings at the June 21–26 event will be filled with author readings, talks, interviews, publishing-industry panels, private consultations with editors and agents, and social gatherings. Visit www.aspenwriters.org.

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Leonardo da Vinci was a one-man Renaissance, according to Bulent Atalay, author of Leonardo’s Uni-verse; William R. Cook, star of the teaching Company, lectures on the Renaissance; and Ross King, author of best-selling books on Brunelleschi’s dome and Michel-angelo’s ceiling. at the Institute’s second arts & Ideas seminar on Florence, more than 50 partici-pants in aspen learned about da Vinci’s astonishing success as a renowned scientist, mathemati-cian, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, costume designer, archi-tect, botanist, musician, and mili-tary engineer. the program was graciously sponsored by Annel-iese and Larry Ladin. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org/seminars.

Beah

T H E N E x T C H A P T E R

Men of Letters at Wye

The Aspen Writers’ Foundation 2007 Summer Words Festival

Florence in aspen

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How healthy is the US judicial sys-tem? On May 20, the Institute joined the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary and the Georgetown Law Center to convene some 400 leading judicial scholars, lawyers, judges, advocates, and others for a special conference on this criti-cal question. Organized by O’Connor Project Director Meryl Chertoff with help from Alice Henkin, director of the Institute’s Justice & Society Pro-gram, “Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era” examined the relationship between the new administration and the courts, diversity (or its absence) on the bench nationwide, the troubled judicial-election system, and more. Speakers included former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, current Justices Stephen Breyer and David Souter, US Attorney General Eric Holder, White House Counsel Greg Craig, US Solicitor General Elena Kagan, former New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Linda Greenhouse, and others. For more, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/j&s.

O’Connor

Norman

Sixty years ago, Institute founder Walter Paepcke gathered intel-lectuals and artists in Aspen for a celebration of the 200th birthday of the German poet and phi-losopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—a convocation that laid the groundwork for the Aspen Institute. Join the Institute Sat-urday, August 8, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Goethe convocation as well as the Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke family. The dinner will also honor Lester Crown with the Walter Paepcke Memorial Award, and Jessye Norman will give a performance of “American Masters” prior to the dinner in the Music tent. Co-chairs for the event are Jessica and Henry Catto, and David and Julia Koch. Honorary co-chairs are Antonia Paepcke DuBrul and Paula Paepcke Zurcher. Ariane Zurcher, the Paepckes’ grand-daughter, has designed a neck-lace in honor of her grandmother for the Institute to auction at the celebration. Tickets are available by calling (800) 410-3463. For more on the history of the Goethe convocation, see page 60.

The White House has asked the Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation to hold a series of meetings over the next two years to advise the administration’s new Office of Social Innovation. Mere days before the start of President Barack Obama’s inauguration, PSI brought together presidential transition officials, government representatives, philanthropic leaders, and social entrepreneurs to discuss ways that the government and the nonprofit sector could work together to invest in effective social programs. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org/psi.

White House Taps Institute for SOCIAL INNOVATION

Honoring Our Roots

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A Tough Look at US Courts

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Peterson

…and for 2009: Bezos and rodinThe Aspen Institute’s 26th Annual Awards Dinner will take place at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on November 5, 2009. Friends and supporters will gather to celebrate the recipients of the Aspen Institute Leadership Awards. This year’s event will honor Jeffrey Bezos, president and CEO of Amazon.com, with the Corporate Leadership Award and Judith Rodin, president of the Rock-efeller Foundation, with the Henry Crown Leadership Award. Additionally, Anne Welsh McNulty will present the second annual John P. McNulty Award to a member of the Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network. For tickets and more information, contact Erin Bladergroen at (202) 736-3850 or at erin.bladergroen@aspeninstitute.org.

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FriedmanHeadlines

BenefitJoin us in aspen on sunday, June 28, for the socrates soci-ety Benefit dinner featuring The New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas L. Friedman. Friedman will discuss his new and ambitious national strategy proposal—which he calls “Geo-Greenism”—a fresh outlook on the crises of desta-bilizing climate change and ris-ing competition for energy. the dinner, held at the Institute’s doerr-hosier Center, benefits the socrates society scholar-ship endowment. For ticket information, please call (800) 410-3463 or visit www.aspen institute.org/socrates.

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The Aspen Institute’s 25th Annual Awards Dinner was held November 6, 2008, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Leadership Honorees included Peter G. Peterson, senior chairman and co-founder of The Blackstone Group, who received the Corporate Achievement Award, and Institute Chairman Emeritus William Mayer, a partner at Park Avenue Equity Partners, who received the Henry Crown Lead-ership Award. Dr. Jordan Kassalow, founder of VisionSpring, received the inaugural John P. McNulty Leader-ship Award (for more on Kassalow and the other McNulty Award nominees, see page 49). Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger were honorary co-chairs of the event; the dinner co-chairs were Mercedes and Sid Bass, Anne

2008 awards Honor Peterson, Mayer, Kassalow…

Friedman

Welsh McNulty, and Gillian and Rob-ert Steel. Nearly 300 people attended, raising more than $1 million for the Institute. See page 74 for photos from the event.

The Reverend Al Sharpton and Katherine Bradley, president of the CityBridge Foundation, at a recent meeting of the Education Equality Project held at the Institute in Washington, DC, in May.

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asPeN semINaR:

AFRICA EDITIONIn October 2008, participants and moderators in the Wild-life Conservation and human Well-Being in africa seminar took the Institute’s ongoing “great conversation” to south africa. after a stop in Johan-nesburg, participants flew to singita, a breathtaking private safari reserve, for game drives and intellectual discussions. selected readings from West-ern and african sources—from e.O. Wilson and Jared dia-mond to nelson Mandela and Wangari Maathai—matched up with discussions on wild lands, endangered species, the african people, sustain-able development, and equi-table economic opportunity. “Whether the topic is wild-life conservation or how to engage indigenous people in conservation efforts so they can benefit, the chance to talk about these issues in this kind of environment is remarkable,” explained Elliot Gerson, the Institute eVP who initiated the program. “Frankly, it is taking the aspen experience and ratcheting it up another level.” should there be sufficient interest, the next seminar in africa is scheduled for Feb-ruary 2011. Visit www.aspen

institute.org/seminars/wildlife.

asPeN semINaR:

AFRICA EDITIONIn October 2008, participants and moderators in the Wild-

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If you think the gender gap is a thing of the past, think again—and think globally. With women comprising half the global workforce, gender inequity can translate into a loss of human talent. In a report presented at the World Bank as part of the Council of Women World Leaders’ Madeleine K. Albright Women’s Voices at the Aspen Institute Series, Saadia Zahidi, associate director of the Women Leaders’ Programme at the World Economic Forum, assessed the size of the gender gap in 130 countries with alarming results. Among the findings: Women’s economic participation is still at 62 percent of that of men and political empowerment at 16 percent. And, while more than 30 countries have closed the gap on health issues and 24 have done the same on educational attainment, no country has closed the gap on all issues. The full report is available online at www.aspeninstitute.org/cwwl.

eQuIty ZahidiIN THE WORKPLACE

The Institute’s Justice and Society Program convened federal and state high court judges to study the role of international human rights and humanitarian laws in US courts in a beautiful New York setting at the end of January. The judges came from all corners of the United States. Alice Henkin, executive director of the Justice and Society Program, presided over a discussion with Harold Koh, dean of Yale Law School; Michael Posner, president, Human Rights First; Jelena Pejic, legal adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross; Sarah Cleveland, professor, Columbia Law School; Judge Nicolas Bratza, European Court of Human Rights; and Andrew Schoenholtz, deputy director, Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration. President Obama has tapped both Harold Koh and Michael Posner to serve in the administration. Koh has been nominated as the State Department legal adviser and Posner as the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor.

Harold Koh and Alice Henkin

JUDGES ExAMINE HUMAN RIGHTS

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Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health Hon. Soccoh Kabia with former President of Ireland Mary Robinson

Lockhart and Ghani

“Women are a vulnerable group, but women are also agents of change,” said Margaret Chan, director-general of the World health Organization, at the first meeting of the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global health. the Initiative is a segment of the Institute’s Realizing Rights program, which

strives to ensure the needs of the poor-est and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage. Leaders from ethiopia, Mali, nepal, senegal, and sierra Leone gathered in Bamako, Mali, to address reproductive health policy; the Initiative will advise the WhO on women’s health issues and policy. It is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Visit www.ministerial-leadership.org.

The 2008–2009 Aspen Roundtable Series featured a host of prominent political, economic, and foreign policy experts at the Institute’s DC headquar-ters. Among them were former National Security Advisors Dr. Zbigniew Brzezin-ski and Gen. Brent Scowcroft, discuss-ing their new book, America and the World: Conversations of the Future of American Foreign Policy, in which they address the foreign policy chal-lenges facing President Obama. In December, the series highlighted two of the Institute’s own, Dr. Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart, co-directors of the Market Build-ing Initiative and co-authors of Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World. Other notable guests in the series included Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former economic advisor to John McCain; Steven R. Weisman, edi-torial director at the Peterson Insti-tute for International Economics;

Healthy Women, Healthy World BOOK TALKS ExPLORE BUSINESSAND THE WORLDThe New York Book Talk Series con-tinued this spring with a discussion fea-turing Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, Institute trustee, and a Henry Crown Fellow of the Institute. Her book, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World, is a compelling narrative of Novogratz’s banking experiences in Africa, which ultimately led her to create the global venture nonprofit Acumen Fund. The series continued with Nandan Nilekani in April and Azar Nafisi in May. Nile-kani is the co-founder and co-chairman of the leading Indian technology company Infosys; he discussed his new book, Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century, with Business and Society Program Executive Director Judith Samuelson. Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, spoke about her latest book, a memoir of her childhood in Iran, Things I’ve Been Silent About.

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DC ROUNDTABLES dRaW POLICy PROsDavid Wessel, economics editor at The Wall Street Journal; David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times; and Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. The Aspen Roundtable Series is made possible by the support of Ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter and Pace Communications.

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First-Ever Cultural Diplomacy ForumIn November 2008, the first Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum was held in Paris. The Institute’s pro-gram on global culture and society created the Forum to put arts and culture at the center of public policy debate and to encourage the use of media and the arts in inter-national political, economic, and scholarly exchanges. The Forum honored British Council CEO Martin Davidson with the inaugural Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Award, which recognizes excellence, life-time achievement, and innovation in the field of cultural diplomacy. The second edition of the Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum will be held from September 15 to 17, 2009, in Aviles, Spain, in the newly built Niemeyer Cultural Centre, and will focus on the theme of Culture and Security. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org/cultureandsociety.

at the International Colloquium on Women’s empowerment, Leadership devel-opment, International Peace, and security in Monrovia, Liberia, Finnish President Tarja Halonen took the reins as the new chair of the Institute’s Council of Women World Leaders, a group that mobilizes high-level female leaders globally on issues of critical importance to women. halonen follows Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, who served as chair for the past five years and recruited eight new members to the Council, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner of argentina, and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org/cwwl.

Finnish President to Chair aspen CouncilHalonen

I d E A S I n I n d I A“By exercising our voice, we can bring about a positive change in every problem that India faces today,” said Dr. Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate, at the inaugural convening of Ideas in India 2008 last December. Inspired by the success of the Aspen Ideas Festival, the leaders at Aspen Institute India conceived of Ideas in India to address the nation’s need for better governance and responsible activism—a conclave to reimagine India’s future. Over the course of the four-day event, nearly 100 speakers—including Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India; Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Technologies executive co-chair; and Shashi Tharoor, Institute trustee and former UN undersecretary-general—addressed a captivated audience of more than 500. Joined by Fellows from the India Leadership Initiative (part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network), Ideas in India featured discussions on India’s geo-political relevance, security, terrorism, health care, education, and much more. For coverage, visit www.aspenindia.org.

Speakers at the inaugural Ideas in India.

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“We are at an inflection point,” Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini warned several hundred economists, policymakers, and members of the press in February in Washington, DC. “The fundamentals to which we have become accustomed have changed. How we deal with these changes can lead us to new heights—or they will define the beginning of a downward spiral.” Otellini came to Washington to announce a major Intel effort to invest in the “innovation economy” in the United States—supporting the development of new technologies, basic scientific research and discovery, and education, all with an eye toward sparking and sustaining a new era of economic growth.

Along with investing $7 billion in ultra-high-tech “fabs” (silicon-chip factories) in the United States, Intel has tapped the Institute and PBS’s “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer” in a major yearlong initiative to lead a discussion on how technology investment can help grow the economy and create jobs, bringing together some of the world’s best minds in business, academia, the media, and government.

Throughout 2009, the three will col-laborate first on a series of intimate dis-

Obama Economic advisor Larry

Summers with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell at the

Institute in May

Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini announces the project.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Institute President Walter Isaacson at the May discussion

cussions among thought leaders—these began in early May with a discussion driven by President Obama’s top eco-nomic advisor, Larry Summers—then on a major conference in Washington November 30–December 1. Through these efforts, said Otellini, he hopes not only for Intel to make its own sig-

nificant impact, but also to inspire the nation’s other leading companies to take the same long view and act accord-ingly. “Yes, it is important to deal with the realities and inefficiencies of today,” he said. “But it is essential for the well-being of all of us that we make a collec-tive investment in tomorrow.”

Intel Taps the Institute for Major Innovation Initiative

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At an April gathering in Ankara, Turkey, the Aspen Atlantic Group (a subset of the Institute’s Aspen Strategy Group, which focuses on foreign policy) tackled Turkey’s relationship with its neighbors, its growing role on the world stage, and future ave-nues for trans-Atlantic cooperation. Over four days, attendees—including former US Secretary of State and Institute trustee Madeleine Albright and officials from North America, Europe, Asia, and Russia—worked to form a consensus on hotly contested global issues and are preparing their conclusions for publication. Visit www.aspen institute.org/asg.

s a f e at h o m e ?Intelligence, emergency preparedness, counter terrorism strategy, and aviation, maritime, bor-der, and transit security were among the topics discussed when the newly created Aspen Home-land Security Group gathered in January for the first of a series of meetings among former senior government officials and policy experts. The Transportation Security Administration’s Jim Loy, former Deputy White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor Frank Cilluffo, former 9/11 Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste, and former senior CIA officer Paul Pillar, among others, joined Clark Kent Ervin, director of the Institute’s Homeland Security Program and executive director of the Aspen Homeland Security Group, at the inaugural gathering on the Institute’s Wye River campus. The group’s findings and policy recommendations will be released shortly. The group will next meet in Aspen on June 8–10. Among the attendees will be former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former White House Homeland Security Advisers Fran Townsend and Ken Wainstein. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org/hsi.

At the end of March, more than 100 people gathered at the Shell Foundation in London for the launch of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, a new policy program created to increase effectiveness and capital for entrepreneurs in developing countries. Hailing from more than 60 organizations and a dozen nations, participants discussed how ANDE could bolster small and growing businesses in emerg-ing markets and help to reduce poverty. After the formal launch, Executive Director Randall Kemp-ner introduced the program to the global media at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneur-ship in Oxford, England. Plans are currently underway for an annual fall conference, which will take place outside of New York City on October 7–10. Visit www.aspen institute.org/ande.

Chertoff

New NetworkBoosts Entrepreneurs in DevelopingCountries

TALKING TURKEY

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insights&ideas

Even in the midst of a global economic crisis, exceptional indi-viduals in business today are gen-erating profits while still creating positive social and environmental change. To encourage these leaders, the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program is launching a new program, the First Movers Fellowship, which will convene for the first time in Aspen July 7–10. The Fellowship will serve as an innovation lab for these pioneering entrepreneurs and executives. “We are eager to learn from and support business professionals who are ready to move to next-stage innovations in their work,” said Nancy McGaw, deputy director of the Busi-ness and Society Program. The 2009 Fellows include Suzanne Ackerman-Berman , director of transformation at Pick n Pay, a major South African retailer that aims to remedy the inequalities caused by apartheid; Amir Alexan-der Hasson, founder and CEO of United Villages, Inc., which deliv-ers low-cost wireless technology to two billion rural people; and Drummond Lawson, environmen-tal chemist, aka “Greenskeeper,” at Method, an environmentally friendly cleaning-products com-pany based in San Francisco. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org/firstmovers.

Roots of the Crisis: Harvard historian Niall Ferguson traced the eco-nomic downturn with author and scholar Jeff Madrick in April as part of a discussion series on the economy. Held in partnership with Hunter College at Upper East Side Manhattan Campus, the event was moderated by Brian Lehrer. video.aspeninstitute.org.

In the fall of 2009, the Institute will launch an exciting new discussion program in New York City. “The Aspen Leadership Series: Conversations with Great Leaders in Memory of Preston Robert Tisch” will take place at the historic Roosevelt House, the newly renovated one-time home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt on the Upper East Side. Roosevelt House is part of Hunter College of the City University of New York, the Institute’s partner in this and other new programs in Manhattan. In five installments each year, the series will feature dynamic, innovative leaders from all facets of civic life—government, nonprofits, education, science, the arts, and even

sports—in conversation with noted journalists and other moderators. In addition to the discussions, in the spring of 2010, the Institute will launch the new Preston R. Tisch Award in Civic Leadership, which will recognize an individual who has made a significant positive impact on his or her community, with $25,000 to be donated to an organization of the awardee’s choosing. The series and award are made possible by a nearly $1.4 million, five-year grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, with contributions by Laurie, Steven and Jonathan Tisch. They were designed as both a dynamic new incarnation of the Institute’s mission in New York and as a fitting trib-ute to the legacy of Preston Robert Tisch, the Loews hotel magnate, public servant, and creative philanthropist. By invitation; visit www.aspeninstitute.org/events.

tisch family funds New Leadership series and award

BUSINESS STARS TO GATHER IN ASPENWNYC Radio host

Brian Lehrer with economists Jeff Madrick and Niall Ferguson

Bob Tisch, whose legacy will be honored with a new discussion series in New York.

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In the early fall of 2009, the Institute will begin a critical renovation of the Walter Paepcke Memorial Building, which has served for more than 45 years as the epicen-ter of the Institute’s Aspen Meadows Campus. Designed by Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects of Princeton, New Jersey—which specializes in buildings of social, cul-tural, and historical significance—the plan will offer long-desired modernizations to enhance the building’s functions both for program participants and the Institute’s staff (most staff offices are located within). The central features of the renovation are a remodel of the auditorium that will increase audience capacity, let in more natural light, and modernize its audio-visual and heating and cooling functions; the creation of additional offices; and a remodel of the existing library and gallery spaces, includ-ing a special Aspen Institute history exhibit.

At the same time, staying true to the building’s original Herbert Bayer design and the Institute’s Bauhaus roots has been a driving force in the planning process. “Bayer’s design, rooted in the Bauhaus tradition, has informed all aspects of our design,” says Michael Schnoering, the project’s lead architect. “We have attempted to remain respectful of what Bayer intended while bringing the building into the 21st century.”

One major remaining gift opportunity is the expansion and remodeling of the stage in Paepcke Auditorium ($500,000). But thanks in large part to the work of the fundraising committee, chaired by Melva Bucksbaum, more than $8 million of the necessary $12 million has already been raised. Major donors so far are Leonard and Evelyn Lauder, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, and Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson. Additional donors include Albert and Shirley Small, and Bonnie and Tom McCloskey. Also, the Boettcher Foundation of Colorado has pledged a $100,000 matching grant for the overhaul.

INDOOR-OUTDOOR UPGRADE AT WYE RIVERthe Institute’s Wye River campus will

also soon see a major upgrade, thanks

to a gift of $1.5 million from the Mer-

rill Family Foundation in honor of the

late Institute trustee Philip Merrill.

Located between the River house

and the houghton house on the Wye

River campus, the brand-new Merrill

Family Pavilion will help participants

interact more fully with the campus’s

sublime pastoral setting, boasting

an outdoor deck area with a capacity

for 40 people and an indoor seating

capacity of 125 theater-style or 35

around a seminar table. the gift will

also fund the building of a trail that will

wind from the River house to the Wye

River and loop back to the Pavilion.

Construction should begin in mid-

summer 2009, with completion slated

for spring 2010.

TENT REVIVALIn early 2009, the city of aspen approved

plans for the Greenwald Pavilion, the aspen

Meadows’ largest-capacity single-program

space, which will be erected annually for

use during the summer, thanks to donors

Glenda and Gerald Greenwald. sturdier

and slicker than the basic tents used for the

past few years, the new structure will have

a modern, peaked design (think denver

International airport in miniature) and allow

the Institute to include larger audiences in

its most popular programs. Construction

of its permanent concrete pad began in

the spring, as did the extensive planting of

trees and other landscaping features that

will surround it.

Fundraising continues for the paepcke Building project, with contributions welcome at any level.

For each contribution at the levels listed below, the Institute will place a permanent nameplate

on one of the auditorium’s seats as specified. don’t miss the chance to leave your mark.

n Front rows: $25,000 per seat n Middle section: $10,000 per seat n Back rows: $5,000 per seat

For more information about supporting this project, please contact Becky Ward at (970) 544-

7925 or at becky.ward@aspeninstitute.org, or visit www.aspeninstitute.org/support/paepcke.

home Improvement

have a seat

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Seeking to shed light on the latest health care issues, the Institute and partner Time magazine will hold the 2009 Aspen Health Forum on July 24–27, 2009, bring-ing nearly 100 opinion-leaders to the Institute’s Aspen campus for keynote talks, panel discussions, and evening special events. With health care costs rising, our economy faltering, and the health of the American people declining, it has never been more important to understand the health care challenges that we face and how each of us can benefit from the biomedical future.

Tracks will include: The Science of Sex, a scientific look at this timeless topic, including updates on fertility and gender-based medicine; Body 2.0, robotics, prosthetics, and human enhancement; Health and the Environment, global warming’s impact on disease and health, an exploration of the pollution-

illness link; This is Your Brain, the mysteries of the brain, how we learn, neurodegenera-tion, and consciousness research; Frontiers in Biotech, from medicine to food, from curing cancer to combating global warming, our future is becoming more closely tied to advances in biotechnology.

Modeled after the Aspen Ideas Festival, the event will bring cutting-edge medical sci-ence and global health to the public square. Speakers will include Deepak Chopra, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson,

Nobel Prize- winner Peter Agre, former head of Google Health Donald Berwick, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, and other voices com-mitted to advancing medical science and global health. To see the complete list of speakers and to register to attend, please visit the Health Forum website, www.AspenHealthForum.org.

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