Ellsberg was a company commander in the Marine Corps, served in Vietnam for two years, and worked for the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Now a leading voice of moral conscience, he remains a committed anti-war activist and advocate for patriotic whistle-blowing.

He is the author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (2002) which won numerous prizes including the American Book Award. In 2006 he was honored with the Right Livelihood Award, considered the “alternative Nobel Prize,” “for putting peace and truth first, at considerable personal risk, and dedicating his life to a movement to free the world from the risk of nuclear war.”

Ellsberg holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Political science professor Larry Jacobs holds the U of M’s Walter and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and is director of the Center of the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

An expert in American political history, he is the author of several books including Inequality and American Democracy (2005) and Politicians Don’t Pander: Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness (2000) which has been recognized with a number of prestigious awards including the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University, the Neustadt Book Prize from the American Political Science Association, and the Distinguished Book Award from the American Sociological Association.

Kerry Kennedy got her start in human rights in 1981 when, as a sophomore in college, she worked for Amnesty International documenting abuses committed by U.S. immigration officials against refugees from El Salvador. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice, leading 40 human rights delegations to 27 countries worldwide.

In 1984, in honor of her father, Kennedy established the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (CHR), a division of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. The CHR engages in long-term partnerships with RFK’s social justice activists to initiate and support social justice movements. The CHR also leverages professional human rights staff, the Kennedy family, and their networks to advocate for change.

Kennedy is also the author of Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World (2000). She has since produced a play of the same name, which has been performed around the world, including Minneapolis. A graduate of Brown University and Boston College of Law, Kennedy has been recognized with two honorary doctorates.

Barbara Frey is director of the U of M’s Human Rights Program, an interdisciplinary research center housed in the Institute of Global Studies in the College of Liberal Arts.

An international human rights advocate for more than two decades, she founded the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and served as its executive director from 1985-96. Under her leadership, Minnesota Advocates grew from a small volunteer group to the largest human rights organization in the Midwest.

In 2002, the United Nations appointed Frey to study how countries could prevent human rights violations committed with small arms and light weapons. She has also been the recipient of numerous honors for her work, including the Twin Cities International Citizen Award, the first lustitia et Lex Award from the University of St. Thomas Law School, and the Myra Bradwell Award from Minnesota Women Lawyers.

Frey is a 1982 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Daniel Pink is a best-selling author and expert on innovation, competition, and the changing nature of work. His influential book, A Whole New Mind, charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and challenges the conventional wisdom that left-brain analytical abilities are more critical to success in today’s world. Named the Best Business Book of 2005, itwas a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 16 languages.

Pink’s first book, Free Agent Nation (2001), was a worldwide best seller that identified emerging social trends transforming the business world.

A “free agent” himself, Pink’s last “real” job was in the White House, where he served as chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore from 1995-97 and as an aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.  Pink received a J.D. from Yale Law School but has never practiced law.

Darlyne Bailey was named dean of the U of M’s new College of Education and Human Development in 2007. Also a full professor in social work and work and human resources, Dean Bailey is the first holder of the Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development.

Prior to joining the U of M faculty, she served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the prestigious Teachers College at Columbia University from 2002-06, and dean of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University for eight years.

Dr. Bailey was the first African-American woman to serve as a dean at Case Western, at Teachers College, and now at the U of M. She earned an M.S. in psychiatric social work from Columbia and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Case Western. She is the author of numerous articles and books on human resource management and human service organizations.