Olga Korbut, is an Olympic gold-winning gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1972 games. She sparked a new enthusiasm for female gymnasts and transitioned the sport into something more acrobatic. Sports Illustrated named her one of the 40 most influential athletes of the last 40 years in 1994 alongside mostly male legends, including Muhammad Ali and Larry Bird. She was the first gymnast ever inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster and previously close associate of infamous Winter Hill Gang boss James J. Bulger. Weeks became a cooperating witness after his 1999 arrest, giving testimony that helped catch more criminals. Promotion for his book Where’s Whitey?, written with Phyllis Karas, began the same day as the FBI stepped up efforts to catch Bulger, who was captured two days later.
Irving Kirsch is the Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Hull and the University of Connecticut. He has authored 10 books and over 200 scientific articles on placebo effects, antidepressants, hypnosis, and suggestion. His research on antidepressants influenced UK depression treatment guidelines. His book, The Emperor’s New Drugs, was shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year award.
Marty Walz became President and Chief Executive Officer of Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts in March 2013 after serving eight years as a Massachusetts State Representative. She was the lead sponsor of the 2007 law that created a 35-foot buffer zone to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of patients and staff at reproductive health centers. Marty holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Christiane Northrup, M.D., is board-certified OB/GYN and a visionary pioneer in the field of women’s health and wellness, with more than 30 years of experience teaching women how to thrive at every stage of life. Her New York Times bestselling books include Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause and Goddesses Never Age. She was named one of Reader’s Digest’s “100 Most Trusted People in America” in 2013.
Garland Waller is an award-winning documentarian and educator currently serving as an Associate Professor at Boston University’s Dept. of Television and Film. Her work has been recognized by the International Film Festival of New York, American Women in Radio and Television, and New England Emmys. She co-produced the acclaimed documentary No Way Out But One, which won the Award for Film and Media Excellence from the Institute of Violence, Trauma and Abuse.
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, author and MacArthur prize-winning sociologist, is the Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education at Harvard University. Since 1972, she has studied families, communities, schools, and the links between human development and social change. Her book Balm in Gilead won a Christopher Award for “literary merit and humanitarian achievement.” She also holds twenty-eight honorary degrees and is the first African American woman at Harvard to have an endowed professorship named in her honor.
Ernie Bodai, M.D. Born in Budapest in 1951, escaped to the U.S. with his family during the Hungarian Revolution and somehow made his way to Chief of Surgery at Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento. He now directs their nationally-recognized Breast Health Center. Frustrated by slow research funding, Dr. Bodai single-handedly led a successful campaign to create the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, raising nearly $73 million. He’s now working on a global stamp to further cancer research.
Dan Ariely Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, is dedicated to finding out why we so often fail to act in our own best interest and what forces influence our behavior. For example, why do we promise to skip the chocolate cake and then give in when the dessert tray arrives? His sometimes unusual but always amusing experiments demonstrate profound ideas that fly in the face of common wisdom.