Vanderbilt University Guest Speakers for Symposium 2000

Blair School of Music
Christoph Wolff, William Powell Mason Professor of Music, Dean of Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

CHRISTOPH WOLFF is the William Powell Mason Professor of Music and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Born and educated in Germany, he taught history of music at Erlangen, Toronto, Princeton, and Columbia Universities before joining the
Harvard faculty in 1976. At Harvard he served as chair of the Department of Music (1980-88, 90-91) and Acting Director of the Harvard University Library (1991-92).

Recipient of the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association London (1978), the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (1996), and an honorary doctorate from the New England Conservatory of Music, he was in 1982 elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1990 appointed honorary professor at Freiburg University, Germany. He has written extensively on the history of music from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Bach: Essays on His Life and Music (Cambridge, 1991); Mozart’s Requiem (Berkeley, 1994); The World of the Bach Cantatas (New York, 1996); and The New Bach Reader: A Life of J. S. Bach in Letters and Documents (New York, 1998) are his most recent books. His new biography, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, was published this spring by W.W. Norton, New York.

The College of Arts and Science
José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Human Rights Diplomat

In 1975 Indonesia invaded the tiny country of East Timor and brutally slaughtered 200,000 of its citizens - nearly a third of the total population. Since then, José Ramos-Horta has been a tireless champion for human rights and self-determination for his native East Timor, a former Portuguese colony.

From 1975-1985, Ramos-Horta was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations for FRETILIN (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor). His experiences are recounted in the book, Funu: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor. He is now the Vice-President of CNRT (National Council of Timorese Resistance).

In 1996 Ramos-Horta was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with fellow countryman Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for "their sustained and self-sacrificing contributions for a small but oppressed people." The Nobel Committee hoped that the award would spur efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in East Timor based on the people's right to self-determination.

A passionate speaker, Ramos-Horta's unfailing commitment to peace shines through in every lecture. While his topics require deep reflection, he tempers his message with a wonderful sense of humor and a sharp political wit.

Ramos-Horta's background is in international and human rights law. He has an MA in Peace Studies from Antioch University. In 1989 he founded the DTP (Diplomacy Training Programme) in New South Wales.

The Divinity School
Marcus J. Borg, Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University

Nationally and internationally known in both academic and church circles as a Jesus scholar, Borg is the author of ten books, including the best-selling Jesus: A New Vision (1987) and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time (1994). His most recent books are Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship (1994), Jesus at 2000 (1996), The God We Never Knew (1997), and The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (1999).

Described by The New York Times as "a leading figure among the new generation of Jesus scholars," he has also appeared on NBC's "Today Show," PBS's "Newshour," and NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. He is a regular columnist for "Beliefnet."

A Fellow of the Jesus Seminar, he has been national chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature and co-chair of its International New Testament Program Committee. He is currently president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars. His work has been translated into German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and French. His doctor's degree is from Oxford University, and he has lectured widely overseas and throughout North America, including the Chautauqua and Smithsonian Institutions.

Borg's newest book, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions is co-authored with N. Thomas Wright, a well-known British New Testament scholar from the conservative side of the spectrum. The book presents two visions of Jesus and the difference each makes for Christian understanding. It won the award for "best general interest book of 1999" from the Association of Theological Booksellers.

Peabody College
Dwight W. Allen, Eminent Professor of Educational Reform, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

As the dean of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the 1970's (he came to Old Dominion in 1978), Allen developed innovative programs, positioned the school as a research leader, and recruited numerous nontraditional graduate students.

One of these students was a young comedian named Bill Cosby. "Even at that time, the work that he did had a lot of connotations to education," Allen recalled. "He was very interested in social issues, and his comedy always had a moral point."

The two have stayed in touch over the years, and it was announced recently that Allen and Cosby will collaborate on a new book about educational reform. The working title is Making a Difference in Education: Try Money.

Making changes in education is both hard and expensive, Allen declares. In the book, he and Cosby will point out how foolish it is not to invest 5 to 10 percent of the cost of education in systematic experimentation. "We have to be willing to try new approaches and pay for them," Allen said. "We have to be willing to make mistakes and learn from them. We have to be willing to reward those who are willing to take the risks and be the pioneers, and cheer them on, even when they fail."

According to Allen, aspects of education in this country have been renamed and redesigned many times, but little positive reform has actually been accomplished. "Basically, all we've done so far is stir the frosting."

School of Engineering
Dr. William J. Madia, Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Dr. Madia recently left a position as Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to come to Oak Ridge. He also serves as Executive Vice President of Battelle, a worldwide science-based organization dedicated to putting technology to work.

Prior to his appointment as Laboratory Director at Pacific Northwest, Dr. Madia managed Battelle's global environment business. Earlier, as President of Battelle Technology International, Dr. Madia managed Battelle's research, development and application efforts involving more than 4,100 scientists and engineers in Columbus, Ohio, Frankfurt, Germany, and Switzerland.

His first undertaking at the ORNL will be building a new visitors center for the more than 14,000 scientists, students and other guests who travel to the lab each year.

Dr. Madia earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate in chemistry at Virginia Tech. He is the author of journal articles in the fields of radiochemistry and quantum mechanics as well as technical publications in the field of nuclear technology.

School of Medicine
Els Mathieu, M.D., Long-time volunteer for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF)

Els Mathieu, M.D., is no stranger to crises. Her first mission in 1993 took her to Vietnam, where she spent two years. A few months after returning from Vietnam, she found herself working in wartorn Chechnya, rehabilitating hospitals in the southeast and caring for refugees in neighboring Dagestan.

Dr. Mathieu's most recent experience was coordinating emergency medical activities for Doctors Without Borders' massive effort during the famine that devastated southern Sudan in 1998.

She is a frequent, experienced, and acclaimed speaker and has represented the organization to professional, academic, and public audiences.

Although she had originally intended to become a family physician in Belgium, she "wanted to do something good and useful," and her experiences with Doctors Without Borders inspired in her a lifelong commitment to international work. As she puts it, "Once I was on my first mission, I was hooked!" She now plans to spend a few years in the US, developing her knowledge of epidemiology, before heading back to the field.

Dr. Mathieu is currently earning her Master of Public Health degree in the international department of Johns Hopkins University, with a focus on epidemiology. Originally from Belgium, she received her medical degree from the Rijksuniversiteit Gent (Belgie), and a certificate in tropical medicine from the Tropical Institute in Antwerp. A native Dutch speaker, she also speaks fluent English and French, as well as some German and Italian.

School of Nursing
Walter Munz, MD

Born in Switzerland, Dr. Munz' medical studies were in Lausanne, Hamburg, Rome, and Zurich. He began his work at Dr. Schweitzer's hospital in Lambaréné, Africa, in 1961. Dr. Munz says, "Dr. Schweitzer had been a fascinating and inspiring person to me since my childhood."

In 1964, one year before Schweitzer's death, Dr. Munz was entrusted with the medical direction of the hospital. Lambaréné gave Dr. Munz not only the gift of knowing quite intimately Albert Schweitzer, a closeness to African people and their life, and a wonderful professional workfield, but also his Dutch wife whom he found there serving as a midwife. And there in 1968 they were married at Christmastime.

In 1969, they returned to Switzerland where subsequently he was the head of a surgical clinic for 18 years. In 1980-81 he and his wife returned with their three daughters to Lambaréné. They say that they sometimes compare their family life with a song of two parts: One melody sings about Africa, the other sings about Europe.

Jo Adrianna Munz-Boddingius

After her education as a general nurse, Ms Munz went to Johannesburg where she worked in a maternity hospital for two and a half years. A woman physician told her about Dr. Schweitzer and his hospital, and she immediately wrote and offered her services. She arrived in February, 1962, and worked there for two years. She returned to Lambaréné again in 1965. She says, "I am thankful to Albert Schweitzer who showed us an example of how to use our strength and knowledge in order to support people who need help."

Vanderbilt Speakers Committee
Robert Thurman, Department of Religion, Columbia University

Robert Thurman has made the teachings of the Buddha meaningful and interesting. In doing so, he has become one of America's leading voices for sanity and peace in the new millennium. Time magazine chose him as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997. The New York Times said Thurman "is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism." Publishers Weekly chose his book, Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Real Happiness, as one of the best books of 1998.

Popularizing the Buddha's teachings is just one of Thurman's creative talents. He is a riveting speaker whose insights continue to stimulate and inspire for months; charismatic is the description most frequently given by people who know him. He is an author of books and articles about Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture.

His work and insights are grounded in more than 35 years of serious academic scholarship. He has B.A., A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard and studied in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in India and the United States. A long-time advocate of Buddhist monasticism, Thurman was the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk in 1962. He gave up his robes after several years, however, when he discovered he could be most effective in the American equivalent of the monastery, the university. He is a popular professor in the Religion Department of Columbia University where he holds the Jey Tsong Khapa chair in Indo-Tibetan Studies.

Eleven years ago, Thurman co-founded Tibet House New York, a trendy but serious non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture on behalf of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who calls Thurman "an old friend." Thurman serves as President of Tibet House. Whether he is using his obvious talents to educate and inspire or to speak out for the oppressed who are constrained from speaking for themselves, Thurman is a celebrity of meaning, a man who lives his life in cultivation of the Buddhist qualities of wisdom and compassion.

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		Blair School of Music Christoph Wolff, William Powell Mason Professor of Music, Dean of Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences CHRISTOPH WOLFF is the William Powell Mason Professor of Music and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Born and educated in Germany, he taught history of music at Erlangen, Toronto, Princeton, and Columbia Universities before joining the Harvard faculty in 1976. At Harvard he served as chair of the Department of Music (1980-88, 90-91) and Acting Director of the Harvard University Library (1991-92). Recipient of the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association London (1978), the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (1996), and an honorary doctorate from the New England Conservatory of Music, he was in 1982 elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1990 appointed honorary professor at Freiburg University, Germany. He has written extensively on the history of music from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Bach: Essays on His Life and Music (Cambridge, 1991); Mozart’s Requiem (Berkeley, 1994); The World of the Bach Cantatas (New York, 1996); and The New Bach Reader: A Life of J. S. Bach in Letters and Documents (New York, 1998) are his most recent books. His new biography, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, was published this spring by W.W. Norton, New York.
		The College of Arts and Science José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Human Rights Diplomat In 1975 Indonesia invaded the tiny country of East Timor and brutally slaughtered 200,000 of its citizens - nearly a third of the total population. Since then, José Ramos-Horta has been a tireless champion for human rights and self-determination for his native East Timor, a former Portuguese colony. From 1975-1985, Ramos-Horta was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations for FRETILIN (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor). His experiences are recounted in the book, Funu: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor. He is now the Vice-President of CNRT (National Council of Timorese Resistance). In 1996 Ramos-Horta was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with fellow countryman Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for "their sustained and self-sacrificing contributions for a small but oppressed people." The Nobel Committee hoped that the award would spur efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in East Timor based on the people's right to self-determination. A passionate speaker, Ramos-Horta's unfailing commitment to peace shines through in every lecture. While his topics require deep reflection, he tempers his message with a wonderful sense of humor and a sharp political wit. Ramos-Horta's background is in international and human rights law. He has an MA in Peace Studies from Antioch University. In 1989 he founded the DTP (Diplomacy Training Programme) in New South Wales.
		The Divinity School Marcus J. Borg, Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University Nationally and internationally known in both academic and church circles as a Jesus scholar, Borg is the author of ten books, including the best-selling Jesus: A New Vision (1987) and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time (1994). His most recent books are Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship (1994), Jesus at 2000 (1996), The God We Never Knew (1997), and The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (1999). Described by The New York Times as "a leading figure among the new generation of Jesus scholars," he has also appeared on NBC's "Today Show," PBS's "Newshour," and NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. He is a regular columnist for "Beliefnet." A Fellow of the Jesus Seminar, he has been national chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature and co-chair of its International New Testament Program Committee. He is currently president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars. His work has been translated into German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and French. His doctor's degree is from Oxford University, and he has lectured widely overseas and throughout North America, including the Chautauqua and Smithsonian Institutions. Borg's newest book, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions is co-authored with N. Thomas Wright, a well-known British New Testament scholar from the conservative side of the spectrum. The book presents two visions of Jesus and the difference each makes for Christian understanding. It won the award for "best general interest book of 1999" from the Association of Theological Booksellers.
		Peabody College Dwight W. Allen, Eminent Professor of Educational Reform, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia As the dean of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the 1970's (he came to Old Dominion in 1978), Allen developed innovative programs, positioned the school as a research leader, and recruited numerous nontraditional graduate students. One of these students was a young comedian named Bill Cosby. "Even at that time, the work that he did had a lot of connotations to education," Allen recalled. "He was very interested in social issues, and his comedy always had a moral point." The two have stayed in touch over the years, and it was announced recently that Allen and Cosby will collaborate on a new book about educational reform. The working title is Making a Difference in Education: Try Money. Making changes in education is both hard and expensive, Allen declares. In the book, he and Cosby will point out how foolish it is not to invest 5 to 10 percent of the cost of education in systematic experimentation. "We have to be willing to try new approaches and pay for them," Allen said. "We have to be willing to make mistakes and learn from them. We have to be willing to reward those who are willing to take the risks and be the pioneers, and cheer them on, even when they fail." According to Allen, aspects of education in this country have been renamed and redesigned many times, but little positive reform has actually been accomplished. "Basically, all we've done so far is stir the frosting."
		School of Engineering Dr. William J. Madia, Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Dr. Madia recently left a position as Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to come to Oak Ridge. He also serves as Executive Vice President of Battelle, a worldwide science-based organization dedicated to putting technology to work. Prior to his appointment as Laboratory Director at Pacific Northwest, Dr. Madia managed Battelle's global environment business. Earlier, as President of Battelle Technology International, Dr. Madia managed Battelle's research, development and application efforts involving more than 4,100 scientists and engineers in Columbus, Ohio, Frankfurt, Germany, and Switzerland. His first undertaking at the ORNL will be building a new visitors center for the more than 14,000 scientists, students and other guests who travel to the lab each year. Dr. Madia earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate in chemistry at Virginia Tech. He is the author of journal articles in the fields of radiochemistry and quantum mechanics as well as technical publications in the field of nuclear technology.
		School of Medicine Els Mathieu, M.D., Long-time volunteer for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) Els Mathieu, M.D., is no stranger to crises. Her first mission in 1993 took her to Vietnam, where she spent two years. A few months after returning from Vietnam, she found herself working in wartorn Chechnya, rehabilitating hospitals in the southeast and caring for refugees in neighboring Dagestan. Dr. Mathieu's most recent experience was coordinating emergency medical activities for Doctors Without Borders' massive effort during the famine that devastated southern Sudan in 1998. She is a frequent, experienced, and acclaimed speaker and has represented the organization to professional, academic, and public audiences. Although she had originally intended to become a family physician in Belgium, she "wanted to do something good and useful," and her experiences with Doctors Without Borders inspired in her a lifelong commitment to international work. As she puts it, "Once I was on my first mission, I was hooked!" She now plans to spend a few years in the US, developing her knowledge of epidemiology, before heading back to the field. Dr. Mathieu is currently earning her Master of Public Health degree in the international department of Johns Hopkins University, with a focus on epidemiology. Originally from Belgium, she received her medical degree from the Rijksuniversiteit Gent (Belgie), and a certificate in tropical medicine from the Tropical Institute in Antwerp. A native Dutch speaker, she also speaks fluent English and French, as well as some German and Italian.
		School of Nursing Walter Munz, MD Born in Switzerland, Dr. Munz' medical studies were in Lausanne, Hamburg, Rome, and Zurich. He began his work at Dr. Schweitzer's hospital in Lambaréné, Africa, in 1961. Dr. Munz says, "Dr. Schweitzer had been a fascinating and inspiring person to me since my childhood." In 1964, one year before Schweitzer's death, Dr. Munz was entrusted with the medical direction of the hospital. Lambaréné gave Dr. Munz not only the gift of knowing quite intimately Albert Schweitzer, a closeness to African people and their life, and a wonderful professional workfield, but also his Dutch wife whom he found there serving as a midwife. And there in 1968 they were married at Christmastime. In 1969, they returned to Switzerland where subsequently he was the head of a surgical clinic for 18 years. In 1980-81 he and his wife returned with their three daughters to Lambaréné. They say that they sometimes compare their family life with a song of two parts: One melody sings about Africa, the other sings about Europe. Jo Adrianna Munz-Boddingius After her education as a general nurse, Ms Munz went to Johannesburg where she worked in a maternity hospital for two and a half years. A woman physician told her about Dr. Schweitzer and his hospital, and she immediately wrote and offered her services. She arrived in February, 1962, and worked there for two years. She returned to Lambaréné again in 1965. She says, "I am thankful to Albert Schweitzer who showed us an example of how to use our strength and knowledge in order to support people who need help."
		Vanderbilt Speakers Committee Robert Thurman, Department of Religion, Columbia University Robert Thurman has made the teachings of the Buddha meaningful and interesting. In doing so, he has become one of America's leading voices for sanity and peace in the new millennium. Time magazine chose him as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997. The New York Times said Thurman "is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism." Publishers Weekly chose his book, Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Real Happiness, as one of the best books of 1998. Popularizing the Buddha's teachings is just one of Thurman's creative talents. He is a riveting speaker whose insights continue to stimulate and inspire for months; charismatic is the description most frequently given by people who know him. He is an author of books and articles about Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture. His work and insights are grounded in more than 35 years of serious academic scholarship. He has B.A., A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard and studied in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in India and the United States. A long-time advocate of Buddhist monasticism, Thurman was the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk in 1962. He gave up his robes after several years, however, when he discovered he could be most effective in the American equivalent of the monastery, the university. He is a popular professor in the Religion Department of Columbia University where he holds the Jey Tsong Khapa chair in Indo-Tibetan Studies. Eleven years ago, Thurman co-founded Tibet House New York, a trendy but serious non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture on behalf of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who calls Thurman "an old friend." Thurman serves as President of Tibet House. Whether he is using his obvious talents to educate and inspire or to speak out for the oppressed who are constrained from speaking for themselves, Thurman is a celebrity of meaning, a man who lives his life in cultivation of the Buddhist qualities of wisdom and compassion.