2020 - 2021 Season and Annual Membership

"The Learning

Society has been

an influential aspect of my Queens

experience. Bringing

international speakers to

the doorstep of Queens

places the world at my feet.

The culture of The Learning

Society is to challenge the very core perception of our

knowledge, asking questions that

do not lead to answers, but Queens

students becoming thinkers, doers and the leaders of future generations."

– Caitlin Roper ’21, Sustainability Sciences Major,

Politic Science Minor

Since 1988, The Learning Society has brought

leading thinkers and doers to our doorstep,

broadening our worldview through face-to-face,

unfiltered dialogue. Thanks to our members’

commitment and generosity, the semiannual series

extends far beyond the auditorium. The guest

lecturer’s impact at the podium is magnified by

weeks of student engagement and immersion in the

speaker’s topic, viewpoint and background. Upon

arrival to Charlotte, the speaker engages first with

Queens’ students in an on-campus discussion prior

to the public, community event.

The Learning Society is a place where provocative thinkers and life-long learners have the pleasure of engaging with current leaders and experts in an intriguing array of topics. My husband Oscar and I have been members for 6 years, and people that we tell about the Learning Society are envious that we have such an incredible organization right here in Charlotte. It makes us feel good that while we are enjoying The Learning Society, that the students of Queens and the community are engaged as well.

Heide Grooms, 2020-21 Executive Committee Chair, The Learning Society of Queens

Our members make it possible to bring dynamic speakers to Queens and the Charlotte community, and broaden their impact through student-centered learning opportunities.

EXPANDING OUR VIEW. And engaging our students.

Annual Membership for Two Individuals: $1,500 ($1,125 tax deductible)

Two tickets with seating in reserved member section

Access to private lounge before program

Private reception following program with opportunity for photograph with speaker

Complimentary transportation options including valet parking at theater, validated self-parking at theater or shuttle service between Queens and theater

Signed copy of speaker book delivered in advance of program

Two Lecture Events | Fall 2020 and Spring 2021

Intimate gathering of members engaging with community thought leaders and Queens faculty

Member Salon | Early Winter 2021

Annual membership party featuring the reveal of the coming season’s speakers

Member Cocktail | Late Spring 2021

QUESTIONS ABOUT JOINING OR CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP? Please visit www.queens.edu/learning-society or contact Julia Walton, Director of The Learning Society, at 704.688.2838 or waltonj@queens.edu.

JOIN OR RENEW MEMBERSHIP ONLINE AT QUEENS.EDU/LEARNING-SOCIETY Questions about joining or corporate sponsorship? Please contact Rebecca Tanner at 704.688.2838 or tannerr@queens.edu

Individual reserved seating

Invitation to the President’s intimate pre-lecture cocktail reception with speaker

Brief meet and greet with speaker in advance of program

Opportunity to have speaker book signed in person

Private car transportation to and from theater

President’s Circle Benefits: $5,000 ($4,500 tax deductible)

Receives Member Benefits plus:

Interested in Arts at Queens Membership? Members of both The Learning Society and Arts at Queens receive 15% off additional tickets to the respective lectures and performances.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWINElection 2020: Where Do We Go From Here

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2020

Presented to the Community by:

Wells Fargo Center for Community Engagement

Her seventh book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, was published in 2018

to critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times bestseller.

A culmination of Goodwin’s five-decade career studying the American

presidents, the book provides an accessible and essential road map for

aspiring and established leaders in every field, and for all of us in our

everyday lives. The book focuses on how they first recognized leadership

qualities within themselves and were perceived by others as leaders.

Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College and earned a

doctor of philosophy in government from Harvard University. She traces

her career as a presidential historian and author back to her days as a

White House Fellow during the Lyndon Johnson presidency.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. She will combine her signature storytelling with lessons from four of our nation’s presidents – Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson – providing context for our turbulent times and showing how today’s leaders can learn from the past.

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Connected to Student Learning Two longstanding Queens traditions – The Common Read and The

Learning Society – are aligning again for the 2020-21 academic year

with Doris Kearns Goodwin’s visit. Leadership in Turbulent Times is

this year’s university-wide common read with the Learning Society

providing a complimentary copy of the book to each undergraduate

student. Academic Affairs, Student Life and service-oriented centers are

incorporating the book into their coursework and programs. In various

classes, students will be challenged to critically analyze, dialogue with

one another, and share insight on Leadership in Turbulent Times, as well

as providing a written reflection on their findings.

Students learning about history at

Charlotte's Levine Museum of the New South.

Doris Kearns Godwin is one of America’s finest guides both to our past and to our future. We reap what others have sown, others will one day reap what we sow; as Dr. King reminds us, ‘we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.’ Goodwin’s life’s work of exploring, explaining and imagining our shared destiny is a model for Queens students and our community of civically engaged scholarship that illuminates our past and so guides us into a bright future.

Dr. Robert Whalen, Carolyn G. and Sam H. McMahon, Jr. Professor of History

Best-selling author Bill Bryson charms audiences with the same warmth, goofy wit, and dry, self-effacing humor that has made his work so universally appealing. He will guide the audience through an exploration of the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Of great relevance will be Byrson’s research on the body’s reaction to the 1918 flu pandemic.

Bill Bryson has established himself as one of the worlds most beloved and prolific

commentators, by finding delight in the minutiae of travel and the subtleties of

culture. His New York Times bestselling book The Body: A Guide for Occupants

is full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories in a brilliant, often very funny

attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up. It will

have you marveling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your

existence, time and time again. In Bryson’s words, “What I learned is that we are

infinitely more complex and wondrous, and often more mysterious, than I had ever

suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.”

BILL BRYSONBest-selling author of “The Body: A Guide for Occupants”

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Presented to the Community by:

Wells Fargo Center for Community Engagement

Connected to Student Learning Students in the Exercise and Sport Science program engage in an

interactive curriculum that prepares them to prescribe clinical and

performance-based health prescriptions. The program is also highly

research-based and students have multiple opportunities to participate

in, and conduct research that advances the highly interdisciplinary field of

integrative physiology. The Kinesiology department values the importance

of learning as an ongoing process, emphasizing these skills in all students.

The students operate a community fitness testing program in the Exercise

and Sport Science laboratory where they conduct metabolic and fitness

tests on community members and counsel them on the meaning of this

data in relation to overall health.

Students measure maximal oxygen

consumption as an outcome measure for a study on high

intensity interval training and berry/fruit ingestion.

The opportunity for our students to engage with the community through the Learning Society events and speaker visit is an invaluable piece of their learning experience at Queens.

Amy M. Knab Ph.D., FACSM, Billy O. Wireman Associate Professor of Kinesiology

Through the generosity of The Learning Society members, every undergraduate student was provided a complimentary copy of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, which served as last year’s Common Read. Across campus, students and faculty engaged in critical analysis, robust dialogue and further exploration of the challenging issues at the core of Alexander’s book. The student-led discussion with our Learning Society speaker has become a signature learning experience for our students.

2019-2020 STUDENT EXPERIENCE.Beyond the Lectures.

Sarah Fatherly, Ph.D., Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs

“Participating in the student

discussion with Michelle

Alexander was an experience

that allowed me to not only

become more aware of social issues

surrounding the criminal justice

system, but also learn from others in the

community about how I can become a

better citizen.”

– Sami Tubolino ’20, Major Biology, Minor Psychology

“The 2019 James Comey event showed me that leadership is more than a buzz word, more than distinct types. Cultivating

ethical leadership is a vital challenge for today’s leaders across

the globe. By participating in such an inspiring event and engaging

in my leadership classes, l feel better equipped to lead ethically

when I finish my MBA at Queens.”

– Catherine Nason MBA ’20, pictured second from left below

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEJeanie and Tom Cottingham – Chair

Heide and Oscar Groomes – Vice Chair

Arrington and Burch Mixon – Immediate Past Chair

Jennifer DeWitt

Daniele Donahoe

Kelly Katterhagen and Larry Nabatoff

Juli Marley and Mark Clarke

Sonja and Richard Nichols

Anne and Scott Perper

Karen and Brandon Perry

Susan and Bob Salvin

ACTIVE FOUNDING MEMBERSJean Batten

Georgia and Bill Belk

Anne Marie Black

Doris and Charlie Fonville

Bill Gorelick

Peggy and Jim Hynes

Sandra and Leon Levine

Esten Mason

Jane and Hugh McColl

Carolyn and Sam McMahon

Dale and Larry Polsky

Clyda and George Rent

Mattye and Marc Silverman

Gail Brinn Wilkins and Howard Freese

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE MEMBERSJan and Ed Brown

Jeanie and Tom Cottingham

Heide and Oscar Groomes

Barbara Laughlin

Juli Marley and Mark Clarke

Esten Mason

Kaye and Dennis McGarry

Pat Rodgers

M.A. Rogers

Susan and Herb Spaugh

Ann and Michael Tarwater

Joan Zimmerman

MEMBERSAmanda and Bob Anders

Rebecca and Mike Anderson

Diane and Gerald Applefield

Leslie Arnonovitz and Ted Gearhart

Holly and Jeff Atkins

Mary Lou and Jim Babb

Debbie and Sadler Barnhardt

Anne and John Barry

Candy and Rick Batchelor

Kat Belk

Kim and Johnny Belk

Sarah and Tim Belk

Stephanie and Howard Bissell

Betsy and Bill Blue

Wendi and Dave Boddy

Linwood Bolles

Jenny Boone

Bonnie and Thor-Erik Borresen

Gay Boswell

Mary and Charles Bowman

Betsy and Alfred Brand

Sally Gambrell Bridgford and Brian Bridgford

Kathie and Terry Broderick

Ann Brookshire and Joe Grier

Sara and JB Brown

Frannie and Herb Browne

Karen and Paul Broyhill

Vicki and Pete Brunnick

Amy Bryan and Eric Plott

Paige and Steve Burgess

Zan and Heath Byrd

Mary Lou and Greg Cagle

Madelyn and Kevin Caple

Barbara and Steady Cash

Siu Challons-Lipton and Jordan Lipton

Mary and Emory Chapman

Jamie and Stuart Christhilf

Sallie and Derick Close

Kim and Jack Cobb

Amy and Philip Colaco

Titi and Wale Cole

Meredith and Stephen Collie

Katie and Lee Cornwell

Darlene and Glyn Cowlishaw

Gail and Ira Cox

Jane and Tom Coyle

2019-2020 Learning Society MembersMORE THAN A LIST. A LEGACY.

Susan Cybulski

Carol Dabbs

Pamela and Bob Davies

Caroline and Ben Dellinger

Elyn and Mike Dortch

Dru Doughterty and Rick Abrams

Patsy and Jere Drummond

Lisa and Carlos Evans

Jay Everette and Brian Speas

Linda and Bill Farthing

Ashley and Tom Fisher

Betsy Fleming and Edward Weisiger

Amy and Sid Fletcher

Elizabeth and Louis Foreman

Andrea and Donald Fraser

Pamela Freeman

Naiema and Donald Frieson

Libba and Mike Gaither

Mary and Sean Gallivan

Sarah Gambrell

Jen and Tim Gelorme

Selena and Rick Giovannelli

Stacy and Todd Gorelick

Brooke and Clayton Grindle

Deidre and Clay Grubb

Dale Halton and Fred Wagner

Carol and Watts Hamrick

Suzy and Steve Hannon

Claudia and Andy Heath

Elaine and Landrum Henderson

Gene Hoots

Christie and Jon Hunt

Courtney and Bill Hyder

Gibbs and Bryan Ives

Katie and Mike James

Greg Johns

Ginger and Jim Kelly

Bess and Kent Kercher

Kathryn and Luke Kissam

Kristen and Mark Kral

Ellen and David Leitch

Deborah Majewski and Daniel Ward

Leslie and Michael Marsicano

Jami and Randy Masters

Ashley and Scott Mattei

Peggy and Neill McBryde

Kathy and Bill McCollum

Susan McConnell

Susanne and Bill McGuire

Melissa and Mike McGuire

Lydia and Jack McNeary

Babak Mokari

Di and Ed Morais

Katie and Walker Morris

Wanda and Bill Musgrave

Janet and Lowell Nelson

Kay and Robert Norris

Ann and Kenneth O’Connell

Indun Patrick and Wayne Smith

Pam Pearson and Chuck Peach

MC and Jeff Pilon

Natalie and Michael Pittman

Mary Margaret and Fritz Porter

LeeAnn and Crawford Pounds

Tamea Price

John Reid

Kelli and Mike Richardson

Cathryn and Jay Rivers

Jo and Mike Rizer

Sally and Russell Robinson

Lynn Rogers

Amie and Brandon Rucker

Stephanie and Boyd Safrit

Sally and Downie Saussy

Laura and Michael Schulte

Harriet Seabrook

Michele and Roger Shaul

Carolyn Shaw

Elsa Simaan

Donna and Mark Simon

Caroline and Bob Sink

Kati and Chris Small

Daphne and Eric Solomon

Jennifer and Eric Steigerwalt

Ann and Wellford Tabor

Boyce Thies

Jane and Chris Thomas

Rocky and Curtis Trenkelbach

Jane and Trey Tune

Kathleen and David Turner

Rita and Bill Vandiver

Judy and Kent Walker

Judy and Chip Wallach

Julie and Lance Walton

K. Martin Waters

Linda and Rex Welton

Leslie and Mitchell Wickham

Jo Wilson

Liz and Brad Winer

Jennifer Winstel

Katie Wireman

Anne and Fletcher Wright

Anja and David Zimmerman

Jacqueline Zinn and John Lesher

Sally and Andy Zoutewelle

PAST SPEAKERSMore than thirty years of leadership and discourse.

Michelle Alexander

Michael Beschloss

Bill Bradley

David Brinkley

David Broder

Art Buchwald

Mika Brzezinski

William F. Buckley, Jr.

James Carville

James Comey

Pat Conroy

Jean-Michel, Céline and

Fabien Cousteau

The Hon. Mario Cuomo

Carly Fiorina

Marlin Fitzwater

Steve Forbes

Thomas Friedman

Arun Gandhi

Dr. Atul Gawande

Dr. Sanjay Gupta

General Michael Hayden

John Irving

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Captain Scott Kelly

Alan Keyes

Dr. Jeane Kirkpatrick

Dr. Henry Kissinger

Dr. C. Everett Koop

Charles Krauthammer

Michael Lewis

Mary Matalin

Dr. Atul GawandeDr. Condoleezza Rice

Jon Meacham

David McCullough

Blake Mycoskie

Dee Dee Myers

Ralph Nader

The Hon. Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill

H. Ross Perot

Michael Pollan

Dan Rather

Diane Rehm

Janet Reno

Dr. Condoleezza Rice

Cokie Roberts

Charlie Rose

The Hon. Warren Rudman

Sir Salman Rushdie

Tim Russert

William Safire

Dr. Carl Sagan

Joe Scarborough

Sir John Scarlett

Daniel Schorr

Lesley Stahl

Ben Stein

George Stephanopoulos

The Hon. Paul Tsongas

J.D. Vance

Dr. J. Craig Venter

Edward S. Walker, Jr.

Dr. Andrew Weil

Bob Woodruff

Bob Woodward

Fareed Zakaria

General Anthony Zinni

Dan Rather