Objectivist Conferences

Faculty

ANDREW BERNSTEIN
Ph.D., Philosophy, 1986, City University of New York
Dr. Bernstein holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and is a member of the Ayn Rand Institute Speakers Bureau. He is working on a book, The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire.

CRAIG BIDDLE
B.A., Fine Arts, 1988, Virginia Commonwealth University
Craig Biddle is the author of Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It and is currently writing another book, "Good Thinking: The Science of Being Selfish." In addition to writing, he lectures on the Objectivist ethics and teaches workshops on thinking in principles.

HARRY BINSWANGER
Ph.D., Philosophy, 1973, Columbia University
Dr. Binswanger is the author of The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts, the editor of The Ayn Rand Lexicon and co-editor of the second edition of Ayn Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. Dr. Binswanger is a professor of philosophy at the Ayn Rand Institute’s Objectivist Academic Center and is a member of ARI’s Board of Directors. He is currently working on a book on the nature of consciousness.

YARON BROOK
Ph.D., Finance, 1994, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Brook is president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. A former finance professor, he has published in academic as well as popular publications, and is frequently interviewed in the media. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News Channel and PBS among others. He has lectured on Objectivism, business ethics and foreign policy at college campuses across America and in the boardrooms of large corporations.

PAT CORVINI
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, 1995, University of California at Santa Barbara
Dr. Corvini, a former engineer with twenty years' experience in semiconductor optoelectronics, is currently an independent scholar studying the history and philosophy of mathematics. Her long-term research interests focus on the nature of abstraction and the role of induction in math. She lectured on Greek mathematics at Objectivist summer conferences in 2003 and 2004.

ERIC DANIELS
Ph.D., American History, 2001, University of Wisconsin
Dr. Daniels is a visiting assistant professor of history at Duke University’s Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace. He has lectured at summer conferences and to numerous Objectivist community groups, and is an alumnus of ARI’s Objectivist Graduate Center. He is currently working on a book about American politics and ethics in the antebellum period.

ROBERT GARMONG
Ph.D., Philosophy, 2002; University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Garmong is a graduate of the Objectivist Graduate Center, and has lectured on philosophy at many Objectivist conferences. He is the author of "J.S. Mill's Re-Conceptualization of Liberty," currently under submission to publishers. Dr. Garmong teaches philosophy at Texas A&M University.

MARILYN GEORGE
B.S., Child Development, 1961, Iowa State University
AND TED GRAY
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1965, Northeastern University;
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1971, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute
Marilyn George is a retired Montessori teacher, school owner and administrator. She holds teaching certificates from both the American Montessori Society and the International Association of Progressive Montessorians and was a Montessori teacher for twenty-five years. She owned, administered and taught for 10 years in her own school, which had an international reputation for excellence. She taught Montessori courses at Seattle University for more than 10 years and has consulted for schools nationwide. Marilyn has been ballroom dancing since she met Ted Gray at a conference in 1989, at her first lesson, and today they compete at the Silver level.

Ted Gray, an engineer, has been dancing since his teens. Ted and Marilyn consider dancing primarily a social and romantic activity. Occasionally, they enter amateur dance competitions. As a couple they have given many formal and informal group lessons—at home, at conferences and on a cruise ship. Ted is a mechanical engineer with forty years experience in design and analysis of structures, and prevention of vibration. He is an amateur student of history, enjoying especially the biographies of great Americans and the history of technology. He has been a student of Objectivism for thirty-eight years.

ELLEN KENNER
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 1992, University of Rhode Island
Dr. Kenner, a clinical psychologist, has taught university courses in introductory psychology, abnormal psychology and theories of personality. She gives talks on romance, self-improvement, psychological self-defense, parenting and communication skills. She is in her eighth year as host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Rational Basis of Happiness®.

ANDREW LEWIS
Bachelor of Education (Secondary), 1988; Graduate Diploma of Applied Philosophy, 1993; Postgraduate Diploma of Philosophy, 1994, University of Melbourne, Australia
Andrew Lewis has studied philosophy at the Objectivist Academic Center, the University of Melbourne (Australia) and the University of Southern California. He worked with Dr. Peikoff on his radio show, has lectured at Objectivist conferences and is developing the history curriculum for the VanDamme Academy, where he teaches several classes.

JOHN LEWIS
Ph.D., Classics, 2001, University of Cambridge
Dr. Lewis is an assistant professor of history at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. He holds an Anthem Fellowship for Objectivist Scholarship, a Ph.D. in classics from the University of Cambridge and a B.A. in History from the University of Rhode Island. He taught ancient history at the University of London, and was a visiting scholar at Rice University and Bowling Green State University. Dr. Lewis has published in classical journals such as Polis, Dike, Bryn Mawr Classical Review and Anglo-Hellenic Review, and in Capitalism Magazine.

EDWIN A. LOCKE
Ph.D., Industrial Organizational Psychology, 1964, Cornell University.
Dr. Locke is Dean’s Professor of Leadership and Motivation (Emeritus) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is internationally known for his research and writings on work motivation, leadership and related topics, including the application of Objectivism to psychology and management. He is a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute and has published numerous op-eds.

KEITH LOCKITCH
Ph.D., Physics, 1999, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
Dr. Lockitch is a junior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, where he edits and writes op-eds and teaches in the Objectivist Academic Center. He teaches undergraduate writing and a graduate course on the history of physics. Before joining ARI, he was assistant editor of The Intellectual Activist, and did postdoctoral research in physics.

ROBERT MAYHEW
Ph.D., Philosophy, 1991, Georgetown University
Dr. Mayhew is Professor of Philosophy at Seton Hall University. He is the author of Aristotle's Criticism of Plato's Republic, The Female in Aristotle’s Biology, and Ayn Rand and "Song of Russia," and the editor of Ayn Rand’s Marginalia, The Art of Nonfiction, Essays on Ayn Rand's "We the Living," and (forthcoming) Ayn Rand Answers and Essays on Ayn Rand's "Anthem."

JOHN MCCASKEY
M.B.A. and M.S., Electrical Engineering, 1983, Case Western Reserve University; Master of Liberal Arts, 1997, Stanford University
John McCaskey is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University where he teaches and studies the history and philosophy of science. His current research focuses on the history of theories of induction. He was co-founder of E.piphany, Inc., and is founder and president of the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship.

SHOSHANA MILGRAM
Ph.D., Comparative Literature, 1978, Stanford University
Dr. Milgram, an associate professor of English at Virginia Tech, has lectured on Ayn Rand in university courses, at the Smithsonian and at academic and Objectivist conferences. Her publications include articles on Ayn Rand, Hugo and Dostoevsky; her current project is a study of Ayn Rand's life up to 1957.

LEE PIERSON
Ph.D., Psychology, Cornell University
Dr. Pierson is director of the Thinking Skills Institute of Fairleigh Dickinson University's New College of General and Continuing Studies, and presents seminars on thinking skills and other topics for academic and corporate clients in the United States and Canada.

JASON RHEINS
B.A., Philosophy and Classics, Stanford University
Mr. Rheins is a graduate student in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with honors from Stanford University in 2003 with a B.A. in philosophy and classics. He researches ancient and early-modern metaphysics, epistemology and foundations of ethics. He is currently completing his first collection of lyric poetry.

JOHN RIDPATH
Ph.D., Economics, 1974, University of Virginia
Dr. Ridpath (York University, retired) writes and speaks in defense of capitalism, and on the impact throughout Western history—including the American Founding era—of the ideas of the major philosophers. A recipient of numerous teaching awards, and nominee for Canadian Professor of the Year, he continues to lecture throughout Europe and North America.

GREG SALMIERI
B.A., Philosophy, 2001, The College of New Jersey
Greg Salmieri is a graduate student in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He specializes in epistemology and ancient philosophy, and his research interests are focused on Aristotle’s epistemology and methodology, and on theories of concepts.

RICHARD M. SALSMAN
B.A., 1981, Bowdoin College;
M.B.A., 1988, New York University
Mr. Salsman is president of InterMarket Forecasting, Inc., an investment research firm. Previously he worked for The Bank of New York, Citibank and H.C. Wainwright Economics. He is the author of two books, five chapters and numerous articles.

DINA SCHEIN
Ph.D., Philosophy, 2002, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Schein is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Auburn University. A graduate of ARI's Objectivist Graduate Center, she has lectured at Objectivist conferences on ethics, esthetics and Ayn Rand's biographical material. She has been published in The Intellectual Activist, has an essay in Essays on Ayn Rand's "We the Living," and currently is translating the Russian correspondence to Ayn Rand from her family.

PETER SCHWARTZ
M.A., Journalism, 1972, Syracuse University
Peter Schwartz, author of The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America, is the founding editor and publisher of The Intellectual Activist. He is also editor and contributing author of Ayn Rand's Return of the Primitive, and is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ayn Rand Institute.

SANDRA SCHWARTZ
M.S., Finance, 1973, State University of New York at Binghamton
Mrs. Schwartz has been an opera aficionado and a passionate observer of the opera scene for more than 35 years. She has taught opera appreciation classes, specializing in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, at the 1992, 1995 and 1997 summer conferences, and privately since 1979.

BRIAN P. SIMPSON
Dr. Simpson is an assistant professor at National University in San Diego, where he has been teaching economics since 2002. He has presented papers at scholarly conferences, has created a minor in economics with a focus on free market economics and is author of the book Markets Don't Fail!

TARA SMITH
Ph.D., Philosophy, 1989, The Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Smith is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, where she currently holds the Anthem Foundation Fellowship. She is the author of two books as well as several academic articles, primarily in moral and political philosophy, spanning such topics as welfare rights, moral perfection, forgiveness, honesty, love and objectivity.

LISA VANDAMME
B.A., Philosophy, 1994, University of Texas at Austin
Lisa VanDamme is the owner and director of VanDamme Academy, a private elementary and junior high school in Laguna Hills, California. She specializes in the application of Objectivism to educational theory. She is currently editing an education anthology which will feature Leonard Peikoff's course Philosophy of Education, and which will include her previous lectures on home schooling, hierarchy, the teaching of values and classical education.

DARRYL WRIGHT
Ph.D., Philosophy, 1991, University of Michigan
Darryl Wright is an associate professor of philosophy at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. He has written and lectured on topics in ethical theory, the history of ethics, and political philosophy and is a frequent speaker at Objectivist conferences.

GUEST SPEAKER
Captain (ret.) Talbot Manvel graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy for 29 years as an engineering officer, mostly on aircraft carriers, including U.S.S. Midway CV-41. In his final tour he was responsible for developing the Navy's newest class of nuclear aircraft carriers, the CVN-21.

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