Keynote Speakers

David Gould is a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center.

For over a decade, the focus of Mr. Gould’s work has revolved around reimagining higher education, and in turn, he has created a number of distinctive university courses concentrated on issues of meaning and community engagement.

These courses have garnered considerable media attention and professional recognition. From 2010 – 2020, graduating seniors at the University of Iowa have recognized Mr. Gould as one of the top faculty and staff members “who has had a positive effect on their life.” Mr. Gould was awarded the 2020 Honors Teaching Award and 2019 David J. Skorton Staff Excellence Award in Service to The University of Iowa.

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Thomas Abt teaches, studies, and writes about the use of evidence-informed approaches to address violent crime and other public safety problems. He is the author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence – and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets, published by Basic Books in June 2019.

Abt is a Senior Fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice in Washington, DC and chairs its Violent Crime Working Group. Prior to the Council, he served as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy and Law Schools. Before that, he held leadership positions in the New York Governor’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Abt’s work has been featured in major media outlets, including the Atlantic, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio. His TED talk on saving lives by stopping violence has been viewed more than 190,000 times.

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Peggy Whitson has over 35 years in space and science experience with NASA and as a consultant. During that time, she has held various positions, including Chief of the Astronaut Office, Commander of the International Space Station (twice), Chair of the Astronaut Selection Board, Science Officer, Operations Branch Chief, Deputy Division Chief for both Medical Sciences and the Astronaut Office, and co-chair of the US/Russian Mission Science Working Group. She is currently consulting with Axiom Space and training as the backup Commander for the first Axiom Commercial space flight to the ISS.

Whitson has flown on three long duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS) (Expeditions 5, 16, 50/51/52) and has more cumulative time in space than any US astronaut and more than any woman in the world (665 days). She has conducted 10 Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA, spacewalks) with over 60 hours to her credit, and performed hundreds of research experiments on board the ISS.

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