Theme: Curiosity Empowered the Cat

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).

Douglass Ballroom
University of Rochester
Rochester, New York, 14627
United States

Ali T. Muhammad

Ali T. Muhammad is an American citizen living in Beacon, NY, where he advocates for community development through civic engagement and volunteerism. On January 1st, 2014, he became the first Muslim, the first African-American male, and one of the youngest Beacon City Councilman in history. He engaged his community in ground-breaking social campaigns such as Unity in Our Community, The Terrence Wright Memorial Basketball League, and #BeTheChange, all empowering individuals to pursue what they love. Ali plans to further his career in politics in the coming years, by advocating for social justice and innovation through collaboration.

Amy Shira Teitel

Amy Shira Teitel is a lifelong space history nerd who has turned a childhood fascination with the Moon landings into a career. Over the years she has written for over a dozen online and print outlets including Discovery News and Al Jazeera English, and appeared in several TV series, most notably in NASA's Unexplained Files. Her first book, Breaking the Chains of Gravity, was released in 2016. She currently maintains her personal YouTube channel as well as the popular Vintage Space channel, among a whole other whack of insane and awesome projects.

Bo Ren

Bo Ren is a product manager at Tumblr who builds tools for creative expression. Rooted in behavioral science, design, and creativity, Ren is not your cookie-cutter product manager: she has come into product management from a liberal arts background by way of renewable energy, fintech, and most recently, Facebook. She writes about career development, behavioral science, and diversity and inclusion. She believes that good ideas self-propagate, that shared humanity trumps all, and that asking the right questions is better than giving the right answers.

Greg Kennedy

Originally trained as an engineer, Greg Kennedy uses the principles of geometry and physics to create groundbreaking work with original apparatus. As a young juggler, he quickly made a name for himself in the juggling community not only by his mastery of traditional juggling technique, but also for creating entirely new forms of manipulation. He is now renowned for his many original contributions to juggling as an art form. While jugglers know him for his award-winning creativity, audiences know him for his entertaining performance, in which he combines art and science to create visual spectacles.

Jared Kleinert

Jared Kleinert is an entrepreneur, TED and keynote speaker, and award-winning author. He spent years identifying and connecting hundreds of the world's smartest and most talented Millennials, and was named USA Today's "Most Connected Millennial." His first book, 2 Billion Under 20, was voted the "#1 Entrepreneurship Book of 2015," and he has become a go-to marketing and business development consultant for venture-backed startups, Fortune 500 companies, New York Times bestselling authors, and others. His most recent book, 3 Billion Under 30, came out in January 2017 and profiles 75 individuals who have collectively started companies worth billions of dollars and influence hundreds of millions of people monthly.

Karl Smith

Karl J. P. Smith is the typewriting storyteller behind the 10 Cent Stories project. Using an antique typewriter, he has written over a thousand short stories for strangers at the Public Market, the Ontario Beach Pier, the Corn Hill Arts Festival, and other locations around Rochester. Karl is also a current PhD candidate in Biophysics, Computational, and Structural Biology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he studies glass filters 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. After his defense, Karl intends to pursue a career in children's science television. His other projects include the Bench Warmer's Podcast and the Pocket Radio Theater.

Lucía Murillo

Dr. Lucía Murillo is the Assistant Director of Education Research at Autism Speaks. Her career focuses on autism research, early childhood intervention, public health and advocacy for underserved communities around the globe. Her work includes community-based participatory research, a method in which community stakeholders collaborate and drive local research priorities. Dr. Murillo has spent over twelve years providing relevant and culturally-responsive services to children and their families, particularly to Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and Latin America.

Nancy Perini Chin

Nancy Perini Chin, PhD, MPH is an anthropologist in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Although she started her career as a microbiologist she soon became convinced that if there are microbiological causes of disease, there are also social causes. Against the warnings of family and friends her curiosity over-came her and she entered graduate school in anthropology and public health. She now conducts long-term research on health in mountain communities in two different locations: the Italian Dolomites and the Indian Himalayans. Her focus is on community cohesion and recovery from disasters.

Nancy Soderberg

With over thirty years of experience in foreign policy, Ambassador Soderberg has served on four presidential campaigns, in the United States Senate, in the White House and at the United Nations. She achieved international recognition for her efforts to promote peace in Northern Ireland and advised the president on policies toward China, Vietnam, Japan, Russia, Angola, the Balkans, Haiti, as well as on a variety of conflicts in Africa. As the author of two books and numerous articles, Ambassador Soderberg publishes and speaks widely on national security policy. She is a regular commentator on national and international television and radio, and appeared on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, BBC, Fox, National Public Radio, the Lehrer NewsHour, CNN Crossfire, and The Daily Show. Ambassador Soderberg is President and CEO of Soderberg Global Solutions, an international consulting firm.

Nathan Nguyen

Nathan is a recent graduate of the University of Rochester who majored in Psychology, Philosophy, and Brain & Cognitive Science and now works as a lab manager in the Psychology department at the University of Rochester. He plans to pursue a career researching social psychology, focusing on moral and political conflicts. In the few hours of the day when his eyes aren't glued to a book and his ears aren't plugged into a Led Zeppelin song, Nathan enjoys rock climbing at the Red Barn and singing in the shower.

Petar Kodzas

Guitarist Petar Kodzas spent last quarter of century sharing his love for music with students and audiences throughout North America and Europe. His goal as a performer, educator and administrator is to make music relevant in the life of people regardless of their age or previous experience. After serving for 19 years on the Guitar Faculty of the Eastman Community Music School, starting in July 2017 Dr. Kodzas will begin his tenure as an Associate Dean for the Eastman Community Music School.

Susan Danziger

Susan Danziger is the founder and CEO of Ziggeo, an award-winning cloud-based video technology company. Susan has been promoting and advocating for the success of women entrepreneurs, was named Woman of Influence and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and is a contributor to Forbes, where she writes about entrepreneurship. She previously founded (and sold) DailyLit, which pioneered the distribution of e-books in serial installments. Susan graduated with a BA from Cornell University and obtained a JD from NYU School of Law. She is an international keynote speaker who has recently given talks in Berlin, Dublin, New York and San Francisco.

William Green

Bill Green is interested in how science can help us write the nature's narrative. He studies mechanical and optical engineering at the University of Rochester, and aims to work on the world's largest telescopes. Bill is a Take Five scholar studying the history of science; in the Summer of 2017 this will bring him to Ghana to help perform an architectural survey of Elmina castle. As an avid fan of Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman, Bill spends much of his time thinking about how technology will guide the future of the world. Outside of his professional endeavors, you can find Bill on his bicycle or with his Book of Facts.