Presenters

[Past Speaker A-Z Listing]

Jazzy Ellis

Stunt Actor

Jazzy Ellis is a SAG Award-winning stunt actor with over 75 film & TV credits. These include Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame; HBO's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; AMC's The Walking Dead; and CW's The Vampire Diaries to name a few. This Princeton alum was a high school math and special education teacher, radio show host, pageant queen, professional dancer, and researcher in the Amazon jungle. Jazzy uses her stories of triumph over adversity to inspire ambitious people of all ages, all walks of life, and in all industries to courageously reach their "impossible" goals.

Bryan Seely

Cyber Security Expert

Bryan Seely is a world-famous cyber security expert and ethical hacker. He is the only person to ever wiretap the United States Secret Service and FBI. Instead of being sent to a maximum security prison, the Secret Service called him a hero and praised his courage and integrity for telling them before he got caught. Bryan wrote the book Cyber Fraud: The Web of Lies, was featured on The Lead with Jake Tapper, and attracted the attention of Shark Tank star Texas billionaire Mark Cuban. He once appeared on the front page of Wired.com, CNN Money, CNET, Forbes, and the Washington Post — all in the same day.

Jennifer Adler

Underwater Photojournalist

Jennifer Adler is a conservation photographer and underwater photojournalist. Her work is informed by her scientific background, and she uses her imagery to communicate science and conservation. She specializes in underwater photography and is a trained free diver and cave diver. An ongoing theme in her work is the connection between people and water in a changing climate. Assignments for The Nature Conservancy, National Geographic, and the International Women's Media Foundation have taken her all over the world. National Geographic magazine featured her work to teach kids about freshwater through underwater photography and the first 360-degree virtual tour in Florida's underwater caves.

Jason Feifer

Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine

Jason Feifer is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, host of two podcasts (Build For Tomorrow and Problem Solvers), and is known as “the guy who gets you excited for the future!" His goal is to help you become more resilient and adaptable in a world of constant change — so you can seize new opportunities before anyone else does! Jason has worked as an editor at Men's Health, Fast Company, Maxim, and Boston magazine, and has written about business and technology for the Washington Post, Slate, New York, and others. His book Build for Tomorrow, Not for Yesterday, will be published by Penguin Random House in September 2022.

Dr. Talithia Williams

Host of PBS Series NOVA Wonders

Dr. Talithia Williams is a host of the PBS series, NOVA Wonders, which explores the biggest questions on the frontiers of science. Known for her popular TED Talk, Own Your Body's Data, she takes sophisticated numerical concepts and makes them understandable. Dr. Williams has held appointments at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA's Johnson Space Center, and the National Security Agency. She authored the book, Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics, and partnered with the World Health Organization to develop a model to predict cataract surgical rates for countries in Africa.

Alexander Rosenberg

Artist, Educator, Writer, and Glassblower

Alexander Rosenberg is a Philadelphia-based artist, educator, writer…and glassblower. In 2018, he was cast on the Netflix Series, Blown Away that turned up the heat in glassblowing challenges and pushed him to creative extremes. He has a Master of Science in Visual Studies from MIT and has been an instructor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He was named the 2020 Stephen Proctor fellow at The Australian National University School of Art in Canberra and a recipient of the 2012 International Glass Prize.

Dr. Erin Macdonald

Technical Consultant for Star Trek

Dr. Erin Macdonald works as a technical consultant for the entire Star Trek franchise –– all five current shows! She is a recurring writer for the popular YouTube channel Extra Credits and wrote and narrated the audible original The Science of Sci-Fi which was a top 10 bestseller in March 2020. Erin received her PhD in astrophysics at 25 from the University of Glasgow in Scotland researching general relativity and gravitational waves. After that she moved into public education at museums and colleges before consulting for the U.S. Department of Defense and, what is now, the U.S. Space Force.

John de Lancie

Actor, Director, Comedian

John de Lancie is an American actor, director, comedian, best known for his role as Q in numerous Star Trek shows, beginning with Star Trek: The Next Generation, in 1987. Q is one of the few characters appearing in multiple Star Trek series. de Lancie has appeared in other well-known TV programs, including Breaking Bad, The West Wing, MacGyver, Law & Order, Torchwood, Touched by an Angel, and more. His film credits include The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Get Smart, Again!, The Fisher King, and others. Known for his quite deep, resonant voice, de Lancie has lent his voice to various film projects and video games. De Lancie will reprise the role of Q in Star Trek: Picard in 2022.

Gerry Griffin

Former Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center

Gerry Griffin is the former Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. During NASA's Apollo Program, Gerry was a flight director in Mission Control for ALL of the Apollo manned missions. He was also Lead Flight Director for three lunar landing missions: Apollo 12, 15, and 17 and led a team of flight controllers responsible for the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts. Gerry was a technical advisor for the movies Apollo 13, Contact (in which he also acted) and Deep Impact.

Andy Aldrin

Son of Apollo 11 Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin

Andy Aldrin is the son of famed Apollo 11 Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and a leader in the aerospace industry focusing on the intersection of policy, business, and academia. He founded the International Space University Center for Space Entrepreneurship at Florida Tech where he was also Director of the Aldrin Space Institute. Andy's experience also includes leadership positions at Moon Express, an emerging NewSpace company; Boeing; the RAND Corporation; and the Institute for Defense Analyses.

Rod Pyle

Author, Journalist, Filmaker, and Editor-in-Chief for Ad Astra

Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, filmmaker, and Editor-in-Chief for Ad Astra magazine. He has written 15 books on space history, exploration, and development. Rod has also produced, directed, and written programming for History Channel's Modern Marvels; the History Channel documentary Beyond the War of the Worlds, and numerous titles for Discovery Communications. He worked in visual effects on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as well as various TV pilots. Rod is featured regularly on national media as a space expert.

George Ducas

Country Singer and Grammy-Nominated Songwriter

George Ducas is a country singer and grammy-nominated song-writer. He has released four albums and countless songs written for other artists including Garth Brooks, the Eli Young Band, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Radney Foster, and many others. Ducas' debut album on Capitol Records yielded four Billboard charting songs, including “Teardrops" and the Top 10 smash “Lipstick Promises." Ducas wrote and performed “Party with Your Boots On" to be used specifically as the theme song for the famed Houston Rodeo. For ciLive! 13, Ducas will debut music created especially for the event!

View Past Speakers
[Past Speaker A-Z Listing]