Last November, the University of South Dakota presented the first-ever TEDxUSD, featuring a diverse lineup of speakers which included a former USD kicker who is now a chemistry fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the South Dakota State Director of AARP, and a USD law professor, who explored different topics on November 7 at 5 pm in Farber Hall at the University of South Dakota campus.
Designed to showcase the ideas and talents of the USD community in engaging 18-minute presentations, TEDxUSD presenters were chosen from a pool of candidates, and include many USD graduates, such as Kelsey Collier-Wise the executive director of United Way and Frank Leibfarth.

Farber Hall | Old Main | USD Campus
414 E Clark St
Vermillion, South Dakota, 57069
United States

Frank Leibfarth

Postdoctoral Researcher at MIT

Frank grew up on the banks of the Missouri River in Yankton, South Dakota. He attended the University of South Dakota for his undergraduate education, majoring in both chemistry and physics and graduating summa cum laude in 2008. He began his graduate studies in chemistry in 2008 at University of California Santa Barbara under the direction of Prof. Craig J. Hawker. At UCSB, Frank developed simple yet powerful methods that improve the properties and function of plastic surfaces. In 2013 Frank received his Ph.D. and moved to Boston where he began working as an NSF funded postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Timothy F. Jamison at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, Frank is building machines that will automate the synthesis of complex molecules. These technologies hold revolutionary potential to remove chemical synthesis as a bottleneck for scientists working in diverse fields such as medicinal chemistry, nanotechnology, polymer science, and cancer therapy.

Kelsey Collier-Wise

Executive Director of the United Way of Vermillion

Kelsey serves as Executive Director of the United Way of Vermillion and alderwoman for the Central Ward on Vermillion's City Council. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the USD School of Law with a background in writing and social justice. In her copious spare time, she enjoys clogging, community building, and refusing to engage in our national obsession with being busy. Kelsey is currently participating in a social experiment in intergenerational living with her husband, daughter, and parents.

Michell Williams

Director of the Strategic Project Management Office at Citi

Michell Williams is the Director of the Strategic Project Management Office at Citi. She is currently leading a global strategic initiative that is essential to Citibank’s Consumer worldwide strategy. Michell started her career at Citi in June 1988 as a Credit Card Customer Service Professional while working her way through college. In 1998, Michell was recruited by an external financial services company and spent 4 ½ years working as a Manager of Project Services where she developed many cutting edge programs and inovative products. In 2002, Michell rejoined Citi in the Technology Project Management Office. Over the years, she has been promoted to many different postions in both Cards and Retail Banking Services. Michell has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sioux Falls and Masters of Science Degree in Information Technology from Colorado Technical University. Michell and her husband reside in Sioux Falls, SD with their their daughter.

Sarah Dahlin Jennings

State Director for AARP in South Dakota

As the State Director for AARP in South Dakota, Sarah Dahlin Jennings works to enhance the quality of life for all as we age by championing positive social change and delivering value through advocacy, information and service. Prior to joining the AARP SD Team in 2004, Sarah spent 11 years on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC - first as a senior legislative aide to Senator Tim Johnson (SD) and then as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Mark Dayton (MN). Sarah grew up in Vermillion, attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA and now lives in Sioux Falls with her husband, Brian, and two kids. When not working or enjoying time with family, Sarah loves being on stage or training for her next Ragnar Relay.

Steve Miller

Senior Pastor and Teacher of the United Church of Christ, Congregation

Rev. Steve Miller is the senior pastor and teacher of the United Church of Christ, Congregational: a very active, mid-sized, progressive protestant congregation on Main Street in Vermillion South Dakota, where he has served for 20 years. Steve is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Religious Studies at USD where he teaches a variety of popular courses including World Religions, Death and Dying, and an Historical Introduction to the New Testament. Steve was trained at the Pacific School of Religion at the University of California in Berkeley and at Yale Divinity School in Connecticut. He was ordained to Christian Ministry in 1987. With a deep interest in inter-faith spirituality and progressive theology, Steve is a frequent guest speaker, teacher and musician for national events. Steve makes his home in Vermillion, South Dakota with his partner Jill Tyler, also a professor at the University of South Dakota. They have five grown children who live all over the US.

Tiffany Graham

Associate Dean of the USD Law School

Tiffany C. Graham joined the University of South Dakota of Law in 2014 as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, she was previously the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and a Professor of Law at the University of La Verne College of Law, and an Assistant Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law. Dean Graham has taught in the areas of Constitutional Law, Race and the Law, Criminal Procedure, Law and Sexuality, and Torts. Prior to entering the academy, she clerked for the Honorable Richard W. Roberts of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and spent several years working as a commercial litigator for a major Los Angeles law firm. Dean Graham's scholarly works have focused on marriage equality and its relationship to developments in equal protection and fundamental rights jurisprudence, and her work has appeared in various publications.