Annual Conference Speakers

Keynote Speaker: Nancy Marlin
“Should We Be Institutionalized”
Conference Opening, Thursday, February 23, 4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
Nancy A. Marlin has been Provost of San Diego State University since 1998. Previously she served as Provost of the University of Northern Iowa and before that as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Missouri. She is a Professor of Psychology and her research, when she was a full-time faculty member, focused on animal learning processes. A native of New York, she holds a B.A. from SUNY Binghamton, a M.S. from Oklahoma State University, and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from The City University of New York. She also was awarded an Honorary MBA from the Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile, in 2002.

Keynote Speaker: TBA
Plenary Luncheon, Friday, February 24, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker: Hafez Al-Mirazi
“Al Jazeera: Covering America from an Arab Perspective”
Plenary Luncheon, Saturday, February 25, 12:00 – 1:45 p.m
Hafez Al-Mirazi is the host of Al Jazeera Arabic television talk show “From Washington.” The weekly show highlights different issues related to US-Arab relations. US senior officials, including Secretaries Rice, Powell, and Rumsfeld, in addition to many American lawmakers and newsmakers have been interviewed on Mr. Al-Mirazi’s show. During the last five years, he served as Washington Bureau Chief for Al-Jazeera. Before joining Al-Jazeera in 2000, he was the Washington correspondent for the BBC Arabic/World Service. Previously, Mr. Al-Mirazi hosted, for five years, two weekly talk shows, on radio and television, for the Arab Network of America in Washington. He also held positions as writer, editor, and broadcaster for Voice of America. He covered most US presidential election campaigns and its national conventions from 1984 to 2004. Mr. Al-Mirazi started his career as a radio journalist and broadcaster with Voice of the Arabs’ Cairo Radio, Egypt in 1980. He holds Masters in World Politics from the Catholic University of America and a Bachelor in Political Science from Cairo University. Mr. Al-Mirazi has lived in Washington and covered US politics since 1983.