An accomplished musician, composer and author, Ramon Ricker is Senior Associate Dean for Professional Studies, Director of the Institute for Music Leadership and Professor of Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York; where he has been a faculty member since 1972. Throughout his long and varied career, Dr. Ricker has straddled the chasm between the “Ivory Tower” of academia and the “Real World”; building a...

I am always interested in people’s migrations and life-journeys; how they might end up half-a-world away from where they started, doing things they couldn’t have imagined only a few years before. I was particularly excited to hear one of these unique life-stories as I was driving through the rolling farmlands south of Rochester on a warm indian summer day. I was to meet Ali Yapicioglu and his partner, Rick Hauser, at their firm,...

Marla is the Chair of 3D Digital Graphics department at RIT. In this heartfelt speech, Marla takes us on a journey through her life where she started with the lofty goal of being a housewife. She discusses the various influences on her who taught her not only how to be as a person, but how to be worldly. She discusses how even though you think you might know what you can learn from a topic, there is always so much you can take from it. ...

Easily the most emotionally charged talk, Luis shared with us the story of his life, starting as a young boy in Cuba. His parents made a difficult choice to ensure he did not become conscripted into Castro’s militia, and sent him to America and freedom. Luis talk is poignant, funny and thought provoking as he weaves a tale of the choices that made him who he is today. He shares his story easily, building to an end that moves all...

Larry was one of our last minute additions to the program. Because of this, his talk was quite a bit shorter than we would’ve liked, but I think he manages to hit the mark brilliantly in the time allotted. An artist with a most unusual medium, Larry uses his talents not just to entertain, but to educate and bring people together. He has worked with disparate groups all over the world, and was able to get people who didn’t...