Theme: Agents of Change

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Chapman Auditorium, Trinity University
E Rosewood Ave
San Antonio, Texas, 78212
United States

Dennis Ugolini

Chair, Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Dennis Ugolini has been a member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty since 2003. He teaches a wide variety of introductory and upper-division laboratory and lecture courses, as well as a first-year seminar on pseudoscience and critical thinking. His research centers on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), a pair of 4-kilometer-long detectors in Washington and Louisiana, designed to measure changes in the curvature of space due to the motion of astronomical objects like black holes and neutron stars. Through funding from the National Science Foundation, Ugolini and ten former and current students have worked on improving the sensitivity of the interferometers, helping them see farther out into the universe.

Isaiah Mitchell

Student

Isaiah Mitchell is a junior English student at Trinity University. He is chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at Trinity, and one of the founders of the conservative publication The Tower, which offers local news and commentary. His descent into the strange, misunderstood, and sometimes violent world of the right wing has given him unique perspective on the blissfulness of ignorance and why people are like books.

Jason Johnson

Assistant Professor of History

Jason Johnson is a Assistant professor of History at Trinity University.Johnson teachers a variety of courses at Trinity on Modern European history, including ones on the Holocaust, World War II, European borders, dictatorships, and the Cold War. He serves as the secretary of Trinity's Faculty Senate and is the university's adviser and coordinator for the Fulbright Program. He is a co-founder and coordinator of Trinity’s Jewish Studies Cluster, coordinator of the History Department's student essay prize competition, co-founder and coordinator of the Trinity-UTSA-Texas A&M San Antonio History Research Workshop, and a member of the advisory board of Trinity's IMPACT magazine which features scholarly and creative works of faculty and staff at Trinity. His book Divided Village: The Cold War in the German Borderlands (2017) centers on the German community Mödlareuth divided by the Iron Curtain.

Kenny Wilson

CEO of Haven for Hope

Kenny Wilson joined Haven for Hope as president and CEO in April 2016 after being unanimously selected by our Board of Directors. He leads Haven for Hope’s 200-plus employee workforce in our mission to save and transform the lives of persons who are experiencing homelessness. Throughout his career Wilson has been highly active in the San Antonio community, currently or previously serving in such leadership roles as chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the University of Texas at San Antonio development board, chairman of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, chairman of the San Antonio Symphony, and board chair for the Free Trade Alliance. He is currently a board member of the San Antonio Museum of Art, the P16 Education Council and is a former member of the executive committee of The United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.

Lisa Bilyeu

Entrepreneur, Podcast host

Lisa Bilyeu is the President of Impact Theory, a studio that is dedicated to expand people’s vision of wellness to a 360-degree view that encompasses body and mind, Lisa, with her husband Tom, created Impact Theory to help people develop the skills they will need to improve themselves and the world. Within the company, Lisa hosts the Women of Impact and Sheroic Podcasts. Lisa was also a Co-founder of Quest Nutrition, a billion-dollar nutrition company.

Michael Taylor

Finance Blogger

Michael Taylor graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1995. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico in 1996, and worked as a fixed income consultant from 1996 to 1997. He sold bonds for Goldman Sachs in the Emerging Markets and Mortgage Departments from 1997 to 2004. In 2004, he founded Cedarcrest Capital LLC, a purchaser of distressed fixed income assets. Taylor also serves as finance chair and investment chair for the board of trustees of the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West. He and his family moved to San Antonio in 2009. He has co-taught a personal finance course at Trinity University and writes the finance blog www.Bankers-Anonymous.com.

Nia Clements

Student, Cancer Researcher

Nia Clements is a first-year student at Trinity University. By the ripe old age of 18, Nia has conducted pioneering cancer research with EISO (East Indian Sandalwood oil) through which she's discovered a potential treatment to stomach and throat cancer. As a consequence of her research, she's competed in and won the International Science and Engineering fair, been featured on Smore magazine, and presented her work at the White House, where she spoke about her research with Vice President Biden, Bill Nye, and Adam Savage.

Susan Cunningham

Advisor for Darcy Partners

Susan M. Cunningham is an advisor for Darcy Partners, a research company connecting oil and gas companies with emerging technologies. She retired from Noble Energy in 2017, where she was most recently executive vice president of EHSR (Environment, Health, Safety and Regulatory), global exploration and business innovation, after about 35 years of industry experience. Before joining Noble Energy, Susan served as Texaco’s vice president of core worldwide exploration from April 2000 to March 2001. Employed by Statoil from 1997 through 1999, she was responsible for West Africa exploration as well as vice president of deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration. She began her career in 1980 in Calgary as a geologist at Amoco Canada. She moved to Houston in 1981 to join Amoco’s International Region and held various exploration and development positions including managing director of Denmark, based in Copenhagen, and deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration manager.

Zuby Onwuta

Inventor

Zuby Onwuta is a legally blind innovator, disability advocate, speaker and inventor of Think and Zoom: Brain Control for Blind Assistive Tech. Hardships from losing his medical dream, as well as, US Army and engineering careers to visual impairment, inspired him to invent “Think and Zoom”, a solution that reads and responds to human brain waves, to provide vision augmentation and reading assistance. He is also the creator of "Kenti" iOS game, a brain-controlled mobile game ad winner of Apple WWDC scholarship, and author of Overcoming Disability with Creative Ability and Turning personal problems into solutions article. He is now the Founder of Think and Zoom, a startup with a vision of "Creating a world where visual impairment no longer steals dreams, Or kills careers." and a mission of "Providing affordable and innovative tech solutions to enable the visually impaired succeed"