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).

Yakima Valley Museum
2105 Tieton Drive
Yakima, Washington, 98902
United States

Kathleen Ross

Founding president of Heritage university, professor, author

Dr. Ross is nationally known as a leader in higher education, especially in the field of cross-cultural communication. Her career in higher education spans more than three decades. In the 1970s she served as provost of Fort Wright College in Spokane where she oversaw the creation of outreach programs in Toppenish and Omak that extended the opportunity for four-year college degrees to rural, minority and low income populations typically not served by higher education institutions. In 1982, she became the founding president of Heritage University, where she oversaw its growth from 85 students to more than 1400, stepping down in 2010. Today, she maintains her ties to Heritage and is working to share the success of the Heritage model with colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Miles McPhee

B.S. with distinction, Civil Engineering, Stanford University, 1968. Ph.D., Geophysics, subspecialty geophysical fluid dynamics, 1974. Researcher at the Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, Univ. of Washington 1974-78. Geophysicist, US Army Cold Regions Laboratory, Hanover NH, 1978-1981. Occupied the Arctic Chair at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 1982-83. Formed independent McPhee Research Company in 1984 that has continued to the present. Participated in two dozen scientific projects in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Authored or coauthored 60 refereed scientific articles. Authored a monograph entitled Air-Ice-Ocean Interaction, published by Springer, 2008. Served a term on the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences.