Stage of the Union

The Lessons in Leadership Symposium

Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Forum in Sidney Harman Hall

3 p.m. Welcome
3:15-4 p.m. discussion with Michael Kahn, Nigel Sheinwald and Christopher Hitchens
4:15-5 p.m. discussion with Carla Perlo and Susan J. Tolchin
5:15-6 p.m. discussion with Allan Rivlin, Ari Shapiro and Christina Scheppelmann

Nigel Sheinwald joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1976 and has served in Washington (twice), Brussels (twice) and Moscow and in a wide range of policy jobs in London. He took up his position as British Ambassador to the United States in October 2007. In that role he leads the Embassy in Washington and nine Consulates-General around the United States. He had an earlier posting to Washington in 1983-87 as First Secretary (Political) in the Embassy. Before becoming Ambassador in Washington, Sheinwald served as Foreign Policy and Defense Adviser to the Prime Minister from 2003-2007. He was the U.K. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels from 2000-2003. Before that he served in several other positions, including Europe Director in the FCO (1998-2000), Head of the U.K. Representation's Political and Institutional Section (1993-1995), Deputy Head of the FCO's European Union Department (1989-1992), and Head of the Foreign Office's Anglo-Soviet Section (1981-83).

Christopher Hitchens is a writer and critic living in Washington.

Michael Kahn has led the Shakespeare Theatre Company for 24 seasons as Artistic Director, creating what The Wall Street Journal calls "...the nation's foremost Shakespeare company." In 1991, he created the Free For All, which brings an STC production to 20,000 people completely free of charge every year. In addition to leading STC, he is also the founder of the Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University and the former Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division at Juilliard. Since the 1960s, Kahn has directed for theatres across the country and the world: in New York City, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, as well as at the American Shakespeare Theatre, the Goodman Theatre and the McCarter Theatre. Kahn's ability to adapt classic works is legendary in the theatre community, and his deep saturation in the nation's capital has given Kahn a better understanding for what D.C. audiences expect and enjoy. In 2003, the Company performed his production of The Oedipus Plays at the Athens Festival in Greece, and in summer of 2006, his production of Love's Labor's Lost performed in the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Complete Works Festival" in Stratford-upon-Avon. Now performing at both the Lansburgh Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall, STC has been able to expand its offerings while also creating opportunities for performing artists from around the world to perform in Washington, D.C.

Susan J. Tolchin is University Professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. She has written Global Anger: The Politics of Hate (2006), The Angry American – How Voter Rage is Changing the Nation (1996, 2nd ed. 1998), and Women in the U.S. Congress. Recently she co-wrote (with Harrison and Harris) American Democracy Now (2008). Together with Martin Tolchin, she has co-written seven books, including the recently published A World Ignited: How Apostles of Ethnic, Religious and Racial Hatred Torch the Globe. They are now working on a book about current patterns in political patronage. Professor Tolchin served on the national board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and was elected fellow and to the board of the National Academy of Public Administration. In 1997, she received the Marshall Dimock Award from the American Society for Public Administration for the best lead article in the Public Administration Review for 1996, and in 1998, the Trachtenberg Award for Research from George Washington University.

Carla Perlo is Founder/Director of Dance Place and has had an active career choreographing and teaching for 30 years. She has taught across the U.S. and in London, Paris, Italy, Austria, Israel, Mexico and Brazil. Perlo teaches and lectures at universities, colleges and community centers throughout the region. She has served as the National Coordinator of DanceAfrica America and in 1988 was honored with the Tony Taylor Award for outstanding service to the field of Dance. Perlo was named Washingtonian of the Year by The Washingtonian in 1997.

Allan Rivlin is a partner with Hart Research. In more than a dozen years of conducting research on consumer, voter and elite public opinion, Rivlin has moderated hundreds of focus group sessions and conducted surveys on a wide range of social, political and commercial topics. He has consulted on the campaigns of several United States senators and congressional leaders; major labor unions, including the American Federation of Teachers; leading corporations, including IBM, American Airlines and DaimlerChrysler; public interest organizations, including the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity and NAMI; as well as media clients including work on the surveys Hart Research conducts regularly for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. Rivlin joined Hart Research in 1997 when he left the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he was a senior advisor to Secretary Donna E. Shalala. He currently teaches a class in marketing research at Georgetown University, and for five years he wrote the monthly "Poll Position" column for NationalJournal.com. Rivlin is also co-editor of CenteredPolitics.com, a website "for calm and respectful discourse about public policy and politics."

Ari Shapiro, NPR's award-winning justice correspondent, reports on the Department of Justice and national legal affairs for all of NPR's newsmagazines, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His recent reporting has focused on legal controversies over national security issues, including domestic surveillance, interrogation policies and access to federal courts by enemy combatants. He has also been a guest host for NPR's news and talk programs. Based in Washington, D.C., Shapiro travels extensively to investigate and report on legal issues across the country, ranging from jury service and attorney-client privilege to indigent defense and mental health courts. The first NPR reporter to be made a correspondent before age 30, Shapiro has received the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award for his coverage of New Orleans' disordered legal system following Hurricane Katrina and the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for his investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission.

 Christina Scheppelmann has more than 20 years experience in artistic management and has served as the Director of Artistic Operations for Washington National Opera since January 2002. In this position, she is responsible for the guidance, implementation and actualization of all aspects of Washington National Opera’s artistic activity and mission. Under the leadership of General Director Plácido Domingo, she has advanced Washington National Opera’s reputation as a world-class opera company. A fixture in the behind-the-scenes life of the Opera, she is also a frequent presence for WNO audiences, regularly leading post-performance Artist Q+As and other audience enrichment events.

Dr. Robert Rosen is an internationally recognized psychologist, best-selling author, researcher and business adviser to world-class companies. Each year he speaks to thousands of executives worldwide and appears regularly in the international media. Rosen is the founder, Chairman and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based research, education and consulting firm Healthy Companies International. HCI delivers leadership programs via the Internet to companies, governments, colleges and associations around the world. In 1991, Rosen was awarded a six-year multi-million dollar grant from the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study leadership and healthy organizations. He has worked with organizations in more than 30 countries, including AT&T, Motorola, Federated Department Stores, Johnson & Johnson, Petro-Canada, Allstate, Addeco, Citibank, Herman Miller, Discovery Communications, BAE Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, PricewaterhouseCoopers and others. Experienced in understanding both people and business, Bob teaches corporate leaders how to recognize the obstacles and leverage the opportunities of the new global economy. Bob has written several books, including Just Enough Anxiety: The Hidden Driver of Business Success (Portfolio/Penguin); Global Literacies: Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures (Simon & Schuster, 2000); Leading People: Transforming Business from the Inside Out (Viking, 1996); and The Healthy Company: Eight Strategies to Develop People, Productivity, and Profits (Putnam, 1991). Since 1984, he has held the position of Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington University School of Medicine.