Theme: The Power of Curiosity

The TEDxWakeForestU conference was originally started in 2012 by student activist and campus leader, Lucy Lan, in order to promote technology entrepreneurship here on the Wake Forest campus. With this in mind, she was able to bring a multitude of speakers from many disciplines to educate the Wake Forest community. This event was a bigger success than she could have imagined, with over 1,000 attendees and immeasureable impact on the Wake Forest community.

“Many TEDx events are very intimate, limited to 100 people or less under the organization’s rules,” said Lucy Lan, lead Wake Forest student organizer, “Our TEDxWakeForestU event is designed for 1,000 attendees, and TED Fellow Dr. Anthony Atala has thrown his support behind it.”
Dr. Atala’s TEDTalk on printing kidneys in 3-D was named one of the top 10 TEDTalks of 2011 and featured on the Huffington Post among other sites. Dr. Atala is part of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

The TEDxWakeForestU community seeks to extend the TED experience at a regional level, highlighting exceptional people and creative works, connecting people across disciplines, creating conversations that drive action. We explore big questions with a broad spirit of inquiry.

Wait Chapel
Wake Forest University
1834 Wake Forest Road
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27109
United States

Amelia Dunlop

Principal at Monitor Deloitte

Amelia Dunlop is a principal at Doblin, Monitor Deloitte’s design-led innovation practice. For fifteen years, she has helped design organizations for growth and build their innovation capabilities. She is a leader in the firm’s Leadership and Organization practice and has broad experience advising both private and public sector organizations. Dunlop is the head of the Deloitte Strategy practice for the Insurance sector and the global leader of the Innovation Capability building platform. Her recent speaking and writing has focused on leadership, culture, the organizational capabilities required for serial innovation, and the sources of disruption facing the insurance sector. Dunlop holds a Master’s degree in business from Cambridge University, a Master’s in theological studies from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and a BA in sociology from Harvard University. Her work has taken her across Europe, the Middle East, China, and Africa.

Anna Cianci

Associate Accounting Professor at Wake Forest University

Anna Cianci is an associate accounting professor at Wake Forest University. She is the former president of the Accounting Behavior and Organizations section of the American Accounting Association and has a diverse academic background and research portfolio. She has a PhD in accounting from Duke University, an MA in psychology from Wake Forest University, an MA in pastoral theology from Saint Joseph’s College, and a CPA license in Pennsylvania (currently inactive). Her research focuses on the impact of goals, corporate governance, and various pressure-inducing stimuli (e.g., regulations, incentives) on ethical judgment and decision making, risk taking, and performance. She has published her research in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Business Ethics and Accounting, Organizations, and Society. Her passion for learning and intellectual curiosity are reflected in her enthusiastic teaching style and teaching philosophy: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the light

Dmitry Sitkovetsky

Artistic Director at NES Chamber Orchestra

Dmitry Sitkovetsky is a Russian violinist and conductor who has made a considerable impact on every aspect of musical life. His enviable career as a violin soloist is documented in several dozen recordings of all major concertos and a wide selection of chamber repertoire. Driven by a desire to share the fascination of music and musicians with the widest possible audience, Mr. Sitkovetsky created a compelling series of 11 episodes for Russian national TV (Kultura) pro ling the world’s most extraordinary musicians. As a conductor, Mr. Sitkovetsky has held artistic leadership positions with the Ulster Orchestra, the Russian State Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. As a guest conductor, Mr. Sitkovetsky recently collaborated with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Moscow Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, China Philharmonic, among others. He has been the Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina since 2003.

Ever Lee Hairston

President of the National Federation of the Blind

Ever Lee Hairston is the President of the National Federation of the Blind. Born to sharecropping parents on the Cooleemee Plantation in Davie County, North Carolina, Hairston grew up in the segregated South and was active in the civil rights movements of the 1960s. She was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, which causes slow but progressive vision loss. After her failing eyesight kept her from realizing her dream of becoming a nurse, she began working as a teacher. At the age of twenty-nine, facing total blindness, with a failed marriage, a child to raise alone, and uncertainty about future employment, Hairston changed her attitude and changed her life. Now, decades after she lost her eyesight, she devotes tireless hours to helping others realize their lives have purpose as they reach their full potential in spite of any obstacles in their paths.

Jeremy Cage

President of The Cage Group

Jeremy Cage is an optimistic and energetic leader with a 30-year track record of delivering profitable business growth. He spent the first 16 years of his career at Procter & Gamble. He spent the next 10 years at PepsiCo as Chief Marketing Officer of the International Foods business and Senior Vice President of the Global Snacks business. Cage is now President of the Cage Group – a Strategy, Marketing and Innovation firm designed to help businesses and organizations unleash their full potential. He is a founding partner in three business startups: a snacks business called Farmer’s Pantry, a better for you ingredients business called Galapagos, and a Brand Potential Assessment service for Private Equity and Venture Capital called The Brand Charge. Cage brings a unique global perspective to his work, as he is tri-lingual, and has lived and worked in Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, the UK, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and the US.

Joseph Callahan

CEO Ciright Systems, Inc.

Joseph Callahan is a Philadelphia native who has made a name for himself in technology leadership. As the current CEO of Ciright Companies, TriState HVAC and a number of other technology firms, Callahan continues to grow his expertise and reputation. Callahan has worked for Johnson & Johnson and General Motors as an industrial engineer, Viewpoint Software as an open based system developer and York International as an executive sales engineer. A wealth of diverse experience has allowed Callahan to become an expert in information technology. In addition, Callahan works to help companies and organizations familiarize themselves with the technology that can revolutionize their business. As a thought leader, he provides assistance, education, and examples to follow. Callahan currently holds two patents for content distribution platforms.

Otto Bell

Film Director

Otto Bell is the director of over 15 documentary films, which have taken him all over the world. Most recently, he directed “The Eagle Huntress,” a documentary about a 13-year-old Mongolian girl who challenges the male-dominated Kazakh tradition of male eagle hunters. This film, which won eight awards and 18 nominations, is being remade as an animated feature at 20th Century Fox, and was recently named to the Oscar documentary feature shortlist. Bell holds and maintains a Green Card for “Outstanding Contribution to American Arts and Media.” He is also the founder of “Courageous,” CNN’s new innovative brand studio, which enjoyed over 300% growth in 2016, launching an average of one project every eight days from a purpose built production facility for clients including Amazon, Netflix, and Marriott. Prior to his work with documentary films, he worked as an advertising creative director at Ogilvy & Mather, where he set up their entertainment division.

Story Musgrave

Student, Artist, Scientist, Designer, Engineer, Mentor, Educator, Speaker and Consultant.

Story Musgrave was a NASA astronaut for over 30 years and flew on six spaceflights. He performed the first shuttle spacewalk on Challenger's first flight, was a pilot on an astronomy mission, conducted two classified DOD missions, was the lead spacewalker on the Hubble Telescope repair mission and on his last flight, he operated an electronic chip manufacturing satellite on Columbia. Before becoming an astronaut, he worked as an electrician, a mathematician, a computer programmer, a mechanic, a pilot, and a surgeon. Musgrave served in Korea with the U.S. Marines where he was an aircraft electrician and engine mechanic. He started flying with the Marines and over the next 55 years accumulated 18,000 hours in over 160 aircraft. He is a parachutist with over 800 freefalls. Additionally, he has 7 graduate degrees in math, computers, chemistry, medicine, physiology, literature and psychology, and he has been awarded 20 honorary doctorates.