TEDxUSU 2013 Speakers Announced

The speaker roster for the upcoming TEXxUSU 2013 has been announced by Utah State University’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies. TEDxUSU 2013 is Nov. 5.

The 2013 speakers include Norman Augustine, renowned STEM advocate and aerospace magnate and former CEO of Lockheed Martin; Angelo Merendino, a prominent photo-documentarian and blogger from Cleveland, Ohio; John Dehlin, a USU doctoral student researching the gay, lesbian and bisexual Mormon experience and founder of the Mormon Stories podcast; Bruce Bugbee, a USU crop physiology professor and past recipient of the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology for his NASA-funded research on plant physiology in a space environment; David Rosenberg, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at USU who has used systems analysis to optimize water management across the country and in the Middle East, and Joanna Endter-Wada, an associate professor of natural resources and environmental policy at USU whose work focuses on water policy and law in the western United States.

Retired USU faculty member Michael Christiansen, last year’s Carnegie Professor of the Year for Utah, will be a featured performer as well. Christiansen, a noted guitarist, will perform in a short musical segment.

This is the second annual TEDx event at USU. Speakers will be given 18 minutes to share an original, thought-provoking talk based on the principle of ideas worth spreading and the theme for TEDxUSU 2013, which is SURVIVE.

“You hear stories of courage, tragedy, hope, happiness, sorrow, beauty and ugliness,” said Jeff Broadbent, associate vice president of research and associate dean of the School of Graduate Studies. “We want to aim for people who are going to come in and shake things up, not give something you can hear anywhere. We really want the message to linger with you.”

TEDxUSU is held at the Performance Hall in cooperation with the Caine College of the Arts. At this time, all tickets have been distributed but a waiting list has been created. The talks will be recorded and available online following the event.

For more information, including more on each of the speakers, see the website or the TEDxUSU Facebook page.