2013 Theme: Cultivating the Intellect

Washington University in St. Louis
Saint Louis, Missouri, 63105
United States

Hugh Scully

Pioneer, leader, inspiration. Those are the words one would use to describe Dr. Hugh E. Scully. Dr. Scully is a Canadian cardiac surgeon heavily involved with motorsport. After earning his medical degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, his training in cardiac surgery took him to hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto and Harvard University. As a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto and senior cardiac surgeon at the Toronto General Hospital, he is no stranger to being a leader in the medical field. As the past President of not only the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and subsequently, the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Scully has led an entire country of doctors and medical professionals. His positions as the Chairman of the Royal College’s Physician Workforce and President of the International Council of Motor Sport Science have allowed him to see the medical world from a different perspective than most. With a keen interest in motorsport, he was a founding member and first president of the Ontario Race Physicians, the medical director of the Formula One Grand Prix of Canada from 1978-1993 and since 1985, the medical director of the Indy car race in Toronto. These accomplishments, among others, have led him to become the first physician inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Nowadays, and most recently, Dr. Scully keeps himself busy by giving presentations all over the world about motor sport medicine at the likes of the World Congress of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) in Istanbul and by chairing similar conferences like the Annual Congress of the International Council of Motorsport Sciences in Orlando.

Maddy Salzman

Maddy Salzman is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis majoring in Environmental Studies Biology/Ecology and Architecture. Maddy is the Founder and Co-Director of Fossil Free WASHU and is the current Treasurer of the Rock Climbing Club.

Jill Stratton

Ask yourself: When was the last time you were so caught up in doing something you loved that you lost all track of time? What would happen to your life and career if you spent more time doing those kinds of things? Those two questions and others like them lie at the heart of the work of Jill Stratton, Ph.D., a veteran university student affairs leader who has developed a workshop and retreat program that seeks to guide individuals — whether students, new graduates or seasoned professionals — toward lives more in tune with the things that give them joy. With over 19 years of experience in higher education, Jill has invested a great deal of time and energy in researching career joy and the concept of creative flow. In her doctoral program, in addition to researching emotional intelligence and leadership, she explored the intersection of happiness and flow in college students. Jill teaches the Psychology of Young Adulthood at Washington University and has presented on happiness and career joy on college campuses, national conferences, and seminars. Through opportunities to connect personally and professionally with scholars, writers, teachers, and artists on this topic, she is firmly convinced that the more time spent exploring flow and career joy, the more effective people will be in their lives and in their careers.

Kacie Starr Triplett

Kacie Starr Triplett, a native of St. Louis, Missouri is a visionary, community leader and public servant. She served as one of the youngest elected officials in the history of St. Louis politics, and has been featured in Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine and also Ebony Magazine . Receiving her Bachelor’s degree from Hampton University and her Master’s degree in International Relations from Webster University, Kacie has traveled extensively and represented the United States on several international delegations throughout the continent of Asia. She is also the current host of a television show called Inspire St. Louis, which features young professionals making a difference in the local community, and the host of Inspired Overflow, a faith based weekly talk show. Through her accomplished professional career, Kacie remains a woman of deep faith and conviction. She donates her time through her speaking ministry, Inspired Overflow, where she offers inspirational and motivational messages to youth groups, churches, and non-profits. Calling it a “walk of faith”, Kacie recently resigned from her position on the St. Louis Board of Alderman, to work on a special project that focuses on the mentally ill and homeless in the St. Louis region. Her passion is to help others find their true purpose and live life to their utmost potential.

Aaron Samuels

Aaron Samuels, a proud alumnus of Washington University in St. Louis, is recognized as one of the premiere emerging performance poets in the country, having toured throughout the United States performing alongside acclaimed musicians, poets, and speakers such as The Black Keys, Nikki Giovanni, Haki Madhubuti, Mos Def, David Banner, Pharoahe Monch, Ledisi, and Hill Harper. Aaron has been a featured speaker and performer for TV One’s Verses & Flow, the Louder than a Bomb Chicago Youth Poetry Festival, the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival, and the Urban Word Preemptive Education Conference. In 2008, Aaron Samuels founded WU-SLam, the first Performance Poetry Collective at Washington University which is known throughout St. Louis for its work with literacy development at local high schools, juvenile detention centers, and community organizations. His work has been published or is forthcoming in the Tidal Basin Review, Mandala Journal, Sole Literary Journal, Muzzle Magazine, Radius Literary Journal, User Furniture Review, and Stark Literary Journal. His next book, Yarmulkes & Fitted Caps, will be released on Write Bloody Publishing in August 2013.

Michael Carter

Michael founded Strive for College in his freshman year of college, and since then has grown Strive into a national movement with chapters at college campuses across the country. Michael raised over $200,000 during the recession while still in college, and hired his first full-time employee for Strive while he was a junior in college. Since its inception, Michael has raised over $3 million for Strive and helped hundreds of low-income high school students gain admission to universities across the country. While in college, Michael taught at-risk middle school youth during the summer, ran the initial Strive model at his university, interned for a venture capital firm and Google, and did public policy research and analysis at American Enterprise Institute. He wrote his senior honors thesis on a history of admissions to elite universities in the US and UK. He received a full-tuition merit scholarship to attend Washington University in St. Louis as an Annika Rodriguez Scholar. Michael graduated cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis in May, 2010. He also studied at Oxford University in England, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C..

Freeman Word

Freeman Word is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis majoring in Philosophy.