Theme: Adding Value to a Changing World

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Austin College - Wright Campus Center
1101 E. Brockett
Sherman, Texas, 75090
United States

David Baker

Physics Department Chair at Austin College + Author + Explores extreme stuff on Earth and other planets.

Dr. David Baker loves exploring extreme stuff on Earth and other planets. He currently serves as chair and professor of physics at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and is the director of the Adams Observatory, which houses one of the largest research-grade telescopes in north Texas. His recent honors include "Global Hero in Education" by Microsoft's Partners in Learning, “Best 300 Professors” by Princeton Review, and "Most Creative Teachers in the South" by Oxford American magazine. His award-winning book, The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System, has been published in English, German, Korean, and Japanese. With his wife and two daughters, Dr. Baker enjoys hiking, snowboarding, mystery novels, homemade apple pie, and bad TV.

George Diggs

Evolutionary Biologist + Author + Faculty at Austin College co-directing the academic program in Public Health

George Diggs is an evolutionary biologist and the MacGregor Professor of Natural History and co-director of the Program in Public Health at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of Wisconsin, his research has taken him to all seven continents, and he has interacted with “traditional diet peoples” from Greenland to South America and Africa. He is the co-author of four books including The Hunter-Gatherer Within: Health and the Natural Human Diet. He is married to mathematician Dr. Kerry Brock and enjoys gardening and traveling.

Lisa Brown

Psychology Faculty at Austin College

Lisa M. Brown was raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a professor of psychology at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. She and Austin College Chaplain John Williams are the co-chairs of the Austin College Inclusion and Diversity Task Force created by the president of Austin College, Dr. Marjorie Hass. Dr. Brown did her undergraduate work at Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her graduate work at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include ethnic identity and sexual orientation identity as they relate to intergroup relations and identity management. She enjoys running, basketball, and ultimate Frisbee, and is actively involved in her church’s music ministry.

Mark Hébert

Philosophy Department Chair at Austin College

Mark Hébert is currently the chair of the Philosophy Department at Austin College, where he has taught for 26 years. From 2002 to 2007, he directed Austin College’s Lily Endowment project entitled “A Life that Matters: The Theological Exploration of Vocation,” and currently directs Austin College’s freshman seminar (C/I) program. He sings a mean tenor, has spent too much of the summer rebuilding a 1982 John Deere lawn tractor, and has three children and a spouse that are far too good for him. Woot.