IMPACT Symposium

Madeleine Albright & Natan Sharansky IMPACT 2009: Diplomacy in the New Millennium

Tuesday March, 17
Madeleine Albright
6-6:45pm Book Signing
7:00pm Keynote
Langford Auditorium

Wednesday March, 18
Natan Sharansky
6-6:45pm Book Signing
7:00pm Keynote
Langford Auditorium

Madeleine Albright

The first female secretary of state, Madeleine Albright discusses the impact of history-making events — and the history-makers themselves.

Diplomacy: America’s Indispensable Role: A diplomat of rare ability, Madeleine K. Albright discusses America’s indispensable role throughout the globe – defender and promoter of freedom, protector of democracy, a blanket against terrorist threats, an enforcer of global security and a provider of both peaceful solutions and strategies for resolving conflict throughout the world.

A Bridge to Peace: Albright earned the respect of a world too often in need of her talents, bridging the divides between nationality, race, religion and gender to provide opportunities for peace in the world’s most contested regions.

Esteemed, Respected, Trusted: Albright served as the U.S. representative to the U.N., was a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council and is the former president of the Center for National Policy. In addition, she teaches at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, is Chairperson to the Women, Faith and Development Alliance, and has also penned three books: a best-selling memoir, Madam Secretary; The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God and World Affairs; and Memo to the President-Elect: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership.

Inside Looking Out: Known for her humor and wit as well as her ability to inspire and challenge – all while “telling it like it is” – Albright offers a unique, profound perspective, but one tempered by experience and a keen, incisive intellect. Now, she provides audiences with a no-holds-barred account of service at the highest levels of American government.

Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky was born in 1948 in Donetzk, Ukraine. Mr. Sharansky graduated from the Physical Technical Institute in Moscow with a degree in computer science.  After graduating, he became active in the human rights movement led by Andrei Sahkharov and very quickly became internationally known as the spokesperson for the Helsinki movement.  At the same time he applied for an exit visa to Israel, which he was denied for "security reasons".  In 1977, a Soviet newspaper alleged that Mr. Sharansky was collaborating with the CIA.  Despite denials from every level of the U.S. Government,  Mr. Sharansky was found guilty and sentenced to thirteen years in prison, including solitary confinement and hard labor.  In the courtroom prior to the announcement of his verdict, Mr. Sharansky in a public statement said: "To the court I have nothing to say – to my wife and the Jewish people I say  "Next Year in Jerusalem".  After nine years of imprisonment, due to intense international pressure, Mr. Sharansky was released on February 11, 1986, emigrated to Israel, and arrived in Jerusalem on that very day.
 
Upon his arrival to Israel he became active in the integration of Soviet Jews and formed the Zionist Forum, an umbrella organization of former Soviet activist groups dedicated to helping new Israelis and educating the public about absorption issues. The final chapter of the historic struggle for the release of Soviet Jews was the historic rally of over 250,000 in 1987 during Gorbachev's first visit in Washington of which Natan Sharansky was is the initiator and driving force.  

In early 1994, he co-founded Peace Watch - an independent non-partisan group committed to monitoring the compliance to agreements signed by Israel and the PLO.  From 1990 to 1996 Mr. Sharansky served as Associate Editor of  "The Jerusalem Report"..

In 1996, ten years after arriving in Israel, Natan Sharansky founded the political party Yisral B’Aliya which means both “Israel on the Rise” and “Israel for Immigration".  The party was established to accelerate the absorption of the massive numbers of Russian immigrants into Israeli society and to maximize their contribution.  

From 1996-2005  Natan Sharansky served as Minister, as well as Deputy Prime Minister in all of the successive governments. In November 2006 Natan Sharansky resigned from the Israeli Knesset and assumed the position of Chairman of the newly established  Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.

Natan Sharansky was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1986 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006.  He has continued to lead human rights efforts both through his writings as well as public activities since his release.

 His memoir, Fear No Evil, was published in the United States in 1988 and has been translated into nine languages. His book,  The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Freedom and Terrorattracted wide-spread attention.  President George Bush has been quoted after reading the book as saying: "If you want to understand my political DNA, read this book." His latest book,  Defending Identity, Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy published by Public Affairs was released early June 2008.

Mr. Sharansky is married to Avital .  They reside in Jerusalem and have two daughters, Rachel and Hanna.

Since 1964, IMPACT Symposium has been a student-run event that hosts an annual three-day symposium inviting speakers to discuss current events and topics of a controversial nature. Each speaker brings a different view to the topic of the discussion. Audience participation is welcome and encouraged from students ranging in age from grammar school to doctoral programs, faculty and staff from surrounding universities, and the Nashville community as a whole. This participation promotes increased enthusiasm, awareness, and discussion of controversial and current events. IMPACT Symposium has always been a highly regarded program, and can lay claim to a history of illustrious speakers.  Past programs have featured such speakers as Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, George Bush, Sr., Donald Rumsfeld, Jimmy Carter, Margaret Thatcher, and Colin Powell.