Distinguished Speakers Series

The IIGE Distinguished Speaker Series features prominent speakers and Global Honors students who expand knowledge and understanding of the world through their global work and travel. We welcome our campus and community to these small-group, roundtable discussions; if you would like to attend, please email us at ghonors@uw.edu.

This Spring, students and guests can connect virtually with the following distinguished speakers:

Monique Valenzuela leads the Youth Marine Foundation efforts to support the Tacoma Youth Marine Center in its mission to provide an opportunity for local youth to develop quality maritime skills training. The purpose of the Tacoma Youth Marine Center is to provide a place for water related youth programs. This includes but is not limited to Sea Scouts, Metro Parks, Tacoma Public Schools, etc. She also serves on the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and was the 2013-14 Woman of the Year for the National Association of Professional Women (NAWP).

Jacqueline Chao, Ph.D., is a curator and scholar of Asian art with professional experience in museums, universities, research institutions and non-profit arts organizations. She is a published writer, editor and skilled presenter, with talent in exhibition creation, organization and development, arts and cultural programming, and artist and donor relations.

Jeremy Gregory is an experienced artist and a creative force of many talents. He is a muralist, illustrator, cartoonist, puppeteer, juggler and storyteller. Jeremy's  multi-layered painting style employs a variety of media that is delightfully untraditional. One may feel like they have entered a different world. Take a look, peel it back layer-by-layer, and enter.His  murals are fresh and thought provoking. Having an eye for the unusual, he tends to incorporate a creative spin on everything. Jeremy prides himself on the ability to blend distinctive personal style and input to create a mural that is imaginative, innovative and embodies the area.

Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr., a political social worker, is the Founder and Director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP), Washington, DC. Crisp is a non-profit organization that works to engage social workers with the U.S. Congress. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of Social Work and a member of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Leadership Board. He was recently inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Dr. Lewis was Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for former Congressman Ed Towns when he oversaw the creation of the Congressional Social Work Caucus. Dr. Lewis was a former member of the faculty at Howard University School of Social Work. He earned his MSW degree in clinical counseling from Clark Atlanta University and PhD in policy, planning and policy analysis from Columbia University in 2002.

Alan J. Dettlaff is Dean of the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston and the inaugural Maconda Brown O’Connor Endowed Dean’s Chair. Prior to entering academia, Dean Dettlaff worked in the child welfare system as a caseworker and an administrator, where he specialized in investigations of maltreatment. He received his bachelor’s degree in social work from TCU, and master’s in social work and PhD from the University of Texas at Arlington. Dean Dettlaff’s work focuses on addressing and eliminating the impacts of structural and institutional racism on Black children and other children of color involved in the child welfare system. He is co-founder of the upEND Movement, a collaborative movement that seeks to end the involuntary separation of children from their parents through abolition of foster care and the child welfare system.

Gianpaolo Baiocchi, PhD

Gianpaolo Baiocchi is a sociologist and an ethnographer interested in questions of politics and culture, critical social theory, and cities. An engaged scholar, Baiocchi was one of the founders of the Participatory Budgeting Project and continues to work with groups improving urban democracy. He heads Gallatin’s Urban Democracy Lab, which launched in 2014 and which provides a space for scholars and practitioners to collaborate and exchange ideas for cultivating just, sustainable, and creative urban futures.

Drew Bamford

Head, HTC Creative Labs

Fall 2020 & Fall 2018

Drew Bamford brings a broad background in product development, as well as deep knowledge of user experience design to HTC Creative Labs. When he started at HTC in 2006, Drew had the opportunity to help drive the transformation of HTC from ODM to global consumer brand by creating a branded user experience for HTC products with TouchFLO on Windows Mobile and then HTC Sense on Android. More recently, Drew has been instrumental in the success of the BlinkFeed and the Zoe video highlights experiences. Today, Drew and his team are creating the experience infrastructure that will power HTC's VR platform business in the future.

Rep. Derek Kilmer

With over a decade of experience working in economic development in the Puget Sound region, Rep. Derek Kilmer is focused on getting the U.S. economy and Congress back to work. He was reelected to a fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 and serves on the House Appropriations Committee, in addition to the House Subcommittees for Defense, Interior and Environment, and Energy and Water Development.

Enrique Leon, MD

Enrique Leon, MD, is a faculty physician at Tacoma Family Medicine (TFM), Multicare and part of the University of Washington Family Medicine Network.  The mission of his current residency is to educate family physicians and medical students to work in rural, urban, underserved, and international regions of high need. He has been at TFM for 4 years and is Clinical Instructor in the University of Washington Medical School. He also serves on the board of Tacoma Public Schools.

John Wolfe

John Wolfe is Chief Executive Officer of The Northwest Seaport Alliance. He sets the organization’s vision and strategy, and guides the NWSA’s unique customer-focused culture. He previously served as CEO of the Port of Tacoma, a position he assumed in 2010.

Joost de Bruin, PhD

Dr. Joost de Bruin is a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies and FHSS Associate Dean (Academic Programmes) at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His scholarship includes research on television format adaptation, indigenous language media, and migrant cultures and media.

Danica Miller, PhD

Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor of in the Social & Historical Studies division of the UW Tacoma School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences. Her research analyzes how various works by Native American writers engage the ways in which federal laws attempt to limit Native American tribal sovereignty.

Rep. Marilyn Strickland

Rep. Marilyn Strickland was elected to represent the 10th District of Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 and began her term on January 3, 2021. Prior to serving in Congress, Rep. Strickland served as Mayor of Tacoma (2010-2018) and President of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (2018-2020).

Please note, special lectures featured as part of a Global Honors course have limited space available - attendance at these events are only available via advance registration.