Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

Diane White-Clayton (“Dr. Dee") is a classically-trained soprano, pianist, conductor and composer. Originally from Washington, DC, she holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Music Composition from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a B.A. in Music from Washington University in St. Louis. She studied in Paris, France as a Rotary Scholar, representing the United States as an Ambassador of Goodwill. A faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles, White-Clayton is also the former Artistic Director of the famed Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers and the Founding Director of the BYTHAX Ensemble, a professional, musically-diverse vocal group. The body of her music embraces nuances of soulful gospel, colorful jazz harmonies and classical precisions with a passion to touch the depths of our humanity. A Baptist preacher’s daughter, she has held various university and church positions and travels extensively as artist, conductor, and educator. She is an author, speaker, producer and recording artist, as well as a teaching artist for the Walt Disney Corporation. She owns a publishing and artists support company with her husband and best friend, famed R&B percussionist, Joe Clayton.

The BYTHAX Ensemble is a collective of performers with outstanding artistry who desire to serve God and humanity with their musical gifts. Under the direction of Dr. Diane White-Clayton, the ensemble features her original works as well as a vast array of music ranging from gospel to classical. Dr. Dee & BYTHAX impart transformative experiences that heal the heart and inspire the soul. Comprised of choir directors, teachers, ministers, recording artists and business professionals, they are united by their commitment to integrity, faith, and their love of music.

The BYTHAX Ensemble's Athenaeum performance is the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Event.
 
The BYTHAX Ensemble's Athenaeum performance is also part of a 4-part musical series for this academic year: Devotional and Spiritual World Music featuring Ghanian, South Asian, American Gospel, and Brazilian traditions. 
 

Stephen Michael Newby currently serves as The Lev H. Prichard III Endowed Chair in the Study of Black Worship, Professor of Music and as Ambassador for The Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University. He formerly served as Minister of Worship at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA, and as Director for the Center for African American Worship Studies at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN. He held a tenured Professor of Music post at Seattle Pacific University, where he also served as Director of University Ministries, Director for the Center for Worship, and Senior Advisor to the University President for Missional Excellence.

He has more than three decades of university-level teaching and administration to his credit. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Music Education from Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan. He received a Master of Music in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He returned to Michigan to complete his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and served as an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Computer Arts. He received his Master of Arts in Theology from Seattle Pacific Seminary.

For more than 35 years, he has served in various church music ministries in Michigan, Massachusetts, Washington, California, Georgia and Texas. His voice and works have earned awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (Continental Harmony Grant), the King County Arts Commission of Washington, The Rackham School Fellowship for Ethnomusicological Research in Dakar, Senegal, and the John Wesley Work III National Composers’ Award. For more than nine years, he served as national anthem conductor for the Seattle Sounders FC. He created concert music for The Cascade Youth Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Canton Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Savannah Symphony, and the New World Theater Orchestra, among others. His concert music works are recorded by Albany Records and Parma Recordings. His gospel music works are recorded and published by Maranatha Music and Newby’s Witness Music. His scholarly works are published by Redemption Press, Oxford University Press and Rowman & Littlefield, his worship and praise choral compositions are published by GIA, Gentry, Fred Bock, and OCP. He writes Op. Eds for Christianity Today. He is editor for PRO MUNDO—the African American Sacred Music Series with Oregon Catholic Press.

Srivani Jade is a captivating performer and story-teller of the folk and classical traditions of North India. She is a singer, composer and educator, and has performed in major festivals in India, North America, and Europe. She has recorded eight solo albums; her debut album ‘Meera’s Love’ won an IMA nomination in 2009. Her background scores for films (Tapasya, 2003, Siddhanto, 2014) and the Tom Stoppard play ‘Indian Ink’ (Sound Theater Company, 2014) received much critical acclaim worldwide. She is a three-times Washington State Master grant recipient, a Visiting Artist at the University of Washington, and has won grants, awards and residencies at the national level. In addition to vocals, Jade is a an accomplished tanpura player.

Anindita Das was born and raised in Bangladesh, where she was trained in North Indian classical music and different forms of light music by different Gurus. She was an enlisted “Nazrul Geeti” singer in Bangladesh National Television and Radio and won many prestigious music competitions at the national level. Her first Bengali album was released in 2008, for which she received the “Best Debut Singer” award in Bangladesh. 

Suchitra Iyer is an Indian classical vocalist in the Hindustani tradition. She has been passionate about music from a young age, starting her journey with the south Indian Carnatic genre. Her years of rigorous Carnatic training helped make a smooth transition to the Hindustani khayal genre.

Aryan Prakash, currently an undergraduate student at U.C. San Diego, has learnt the samvadini, or harmonium, under the tutelage of renowned gurus. He began his musical journey in Southern California as an accompanying artist, and has recently performed to acclaim in the Festival of Tabla. 

Shivam Sudame, on tabla, has been learning and playing tabla since the age of 7 and has trained and performed with leading tabla maestros in India, the U.S., and around the world.

The Srivani Jade Ensemble's Athenaeum performance is part of a 4-part musical series for this academic year: Devotional and Spiritual World Music featuring Ghanian, South Asian, American Gospel, and Brazilian traditions.

Alan J. Auerbach is Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was previously the Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law and director of the Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and also previously taught at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. 

Auerbach was Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation in 1992. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, having previously served as an Executive Committee Member and Vice President of that association and as Editor of its Journal of Economic Perspectives and American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Auerbach is a past President of the Western Economic Association International and the National Tax Association and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society.

Professor Auerbach’s Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Lowe Institute of Political Economy at CMC.

Yoshiko M. Herrera is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research on Russian politics: nationalism, identity, and ethnic politics; political economy and state statistics (national accounts); and international norms, has been published with Cambridge University Press, Cornell University Press, the American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Analysis, Journal of Peach Research, Social Science Quarterly, Post-Soviet Affairs, and other outlets.

At UW–Madison, Herrera teaches courses on comparative politics, the Russian War on Ukraine, social identities and diversity, and post-communist politics. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award at UW-Madison. 

Herrera received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Before arriving in Madison in 2007, Herrera was the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Sciences in the Government Department at Harvard University (1999-2007).  

Professor Herrera's Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at CMC.

Sharon Sliwinski is professor of Information and Media Studies at Western University in Canada. Her interdisciplinary work brings together the fields of visual culture, political theory, and psychosocial studies. She has written extensively on photography, human rights, and the social imaginary. In 2017, she was elected to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada. Her latest book, An Alphabet for Dreamers, will be published by MIT Press in October 2025.

Professor Sliwinski’s Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at CMC.

 

Henry Olsen '83 was previously an editor at UnHerd.com and a regular contributor to American Greatness, City Journal, and World Magazine. His work has been featured in many prominent publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Guardian, and The Weekly Standard.

His predictions of the 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 elections were particularly praised for their remarkable accuracy. In the 2016 campaign, he accurately identified the factors fueling the rise of Donald Trump early in the race, and his election-eve predictions were among the most accurate of any major analyst or commentator. Olsen regularly speaks about American political trends and global populism in the United State, Europe, and Australia.

Olsen has worked in senior executive positions at many center-right think tanks. He most recently served from 2006 to 2013 as Vice President and Director, National Research Initiative, at the American Enterprise Institute. He previously worked as Vice President of Programs at the Manhattan Institute and President of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Olsen has a B.A. in government from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. 

Mr. Olsen's Athenaeum presentation is sponsored by Rose Institute of State and Local Government at CMC.

Hany Farid is a professor with joint appointments in the School of Information and Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the co-founder and chief science officer at GetReal Security. His research focuses on digital forensics, forensic science, misinformation, image analysis, and human perception. 

Farid received his undergraduate degree in computer science and applied mathematics from the University of Rochester in 1989, and his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. Following a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, he joined the faculty at Dartmouth College in 1999 where he remained until 2019 when he joined the faculty at UC Berkeley. He is the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

PRO: 
Emma Ashford is a foreign-policy scholar and Senior Fellow with the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program at the Stimson Center. Prior to joining the Stimson Center, Ashford spent significant time at the Atlantic Council and the Cato Institute where she led projects related to U.S. foreign policy, international security, and the politics of global energy markets. Ashford is the author of the book "Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates" and maintains a steady presence in current discourse on international relations through her bi-weekly column “It’s Debatable,” for Foreign Policy. In addition to her role at the Stimson Center, Ashford serves as a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point and as an adjunct assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Ashford will argue the restraint position in the debate.

CON: 
Mark Gitenstein served as the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union from 2022 to 2025 and as U.S. Ambassador to Romania from 2009 t0 2012. A longtime public servant and attorney, Gitenstein spent 17 years on the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, gaining extensive experience in legislative and policy matters. Over the past decade, Gitenstein has focused much of his work on Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Romania. In his roles as ambassador and later as counsel to NGOs and private-sector clients, he has dedicated his efforts to strengthening democratic institutions through greater transparency, anti-corruption initiatives, and the advancement of the rule of law. In addition to his leadership in global politics,  Gitenstein has extensive experience navigating turbulent moments in American domestic politics. In 2020, Gitenstein assisted in President Biden’s transition into the role. He will argue the interventionist position in the debate. 

MODERATOR:
Aditya Pai ’13 is a trial attorney and recent Democratic congressional candidate in CA-45, a perennially ‘purple’ district in north Orange County. Pai’s service work at the Orange County Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity-OC and over 2,000 hours in pro bono legal aid has garnered awards from the California Bar, Harvard, the Urban Land Institute, and the Disneyland Resort. He earned a B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Claremont McKenna College, where he served as student body president, and M.Phil. and J.D. degrees in history and law from Cambridge University and Harvard Law School. Pai grew up in Irvine, CA and is a naturalized American citizen from Bombay.

This program is co-sponsored by the Dreier Roundtable at CMC, whose mission is to inspire public service.

Ken Miller (B.A. Pomona College, J.D. Harvard Law School, Ph.D. U.C. Berkeley) is Don H. and Edessa Rose Professor of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College. He became director of the Rose Institute on July 1, 2021, having served as associate director from 2009 to June 2021. He has served as a member of CMC’s Government faculty since 2003. Miller’s research focuses on state government institutions, with an emphasis on direct democracy and the interaction between law and politics. His publications include Texas vs. California: A History of Their Struggle for the Future of America (Oxford University Press, 2020), Direct Democracy and the Courts (Cambridge University Press, 2009), and co-edited volumes Parchment Barriers: Political Polarization and the Limits of Constitutional Order (University Press of Kansas, 2018) and The New Political Geography of California (Berkeley Public Policy Press, 2008). Miller was the Ann and Herbert Vaughan Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University (2011-2012) and a visiting scholar at the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University (2017-2018). At the Rose Institute, he has worked with students on numerous research projects, including the biennial Video Voter Guide project and the 24-state Miller-Rose Institute Initiative Database.

Vernon C. Grigg III is a seasoned trial lawyer and educator with a deep commitment to education, and public service. Holding degrees from Yale Law School (J.D.), the London School of Economics (G.S.C.), and the University of Michigan (BA), Vernon has served as CEO & President of Up with People, an international educational program where he built leadership programs and led a global team through the challenges of a worldwide pandemic. His legal career includes representing diverse clients, from government officials to Fortune 100 companies, and significant pro bono work in civil rights. Vernon has taught at Golden Gate University School of Law and has international experience, including groundbreaking roles in South Africa and Israel. As the Executive Director of the Kravis Lab, Vernon aims to advance CMC’s mission in civic engagement and civic leadership by bringing students knowledge, skills and inspiration.

The Civitas Sessions focus on the stuff you need to know before it becomes the stuff you wish you had known…Curated by the Kravis Lab and hosted at the Athenaeum, this lunch series is designed to build real-world civic skills and the knowledge needed to live thoughtful, productive lives as responsible community members and leaders. Each session will deliver practical knowledge and discuss how the subject matter applies to important current issues. 

Keith Nightingale ’65 commanded four rifle companies, three battalions, and two brigades throughout his military service. He was an original member of the 1/75th Rangers when formed in 1974. He served two tours in Vietnam including as unit advisor to the 52d Ranger Battalion and subsequently as a company commander with the 101st Airborne Division. 

After leaving the service, Nightingale has made an annual commitment to return to the D-Day invasion site in Normandy, France to lead “staff rides” (tours) for Airborne and Ranger soldiers. He speaks for “the originals” and takes the soldiers to the key battle sites in Normandy to showcase the invasion activity.

Mr. Nightingale's Athenaeum presentation commemorates Veterans’ Day, 2025.  

With a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at San Diego, Christina Carney is an associate professor of Black (Queer) Sexuality Studies in the Departments of Women’s & Gender Studies and Black Studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Her latest book, Disreputable Women: Black Sex Economies and the Making of San Diego (2025) was published by the University of California Press. Her work has been supported by the University of Missouri Research Board, Institute for Citizens and Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation), and U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program. She has published articles in the Journal of Popular Music Studies, American Quarterly, and Radical History Review.  Carney also serves on the editorial board for African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. 

Sam Tanenhaus, best-selling and prize-winning author of books on American politics and media, is the former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Book Review. He has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia universities as well as at the George W. Bush White House and the Clinton, Kennedy, and Johnson Presidential libraries. 

His feature articles and essays have appeared in the Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Time, Vanity Fair, Prospect, and more than two dozen other publications in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently a contributing writer for the Washington Post and Distinguished Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Mr. Tanenhaus's Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Open Academy and the Salvatori Center, both at CMC.

Photo credit: Michael N. Pressman

Robert Twomey is an artist and engineer studying the ways we share space with machines—creative, perceptual, emotional—and how emerging technologies transform sites of intimate life. He houses this work in the Machine Cohabitation Lab. His projects have been presented at SIGGRAPH (Best Paper Award), CVPR, NeurIPS, ISEA, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. He has been an artist-in-residence with Nokia Bell Labs’ Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), Carnegie Mellon’s STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, and a NYC Media Lab x Bertelsmann fellow. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, California Arts Council, Microsoft, Amazon, HP, and NVIDIA. Twomey holds a BS from Yale with majors in Art and Biomedical Engineering, an MFA from UC San Diego, and a PhD from the University of Washington. He is a professor of Computing in the Arts and a researcher with the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego.

Professor Twomey's Athenaeum presentation is the keynote for Third Annual Meeting of the World Imagination Network.

 

Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind is an international figure in architecture and urban design. Informed by a deep commitment to music, philosophy, and literature, Libeskind aims to create architecture that is resonant, original, and sustainable.

Libeskind established his architectural studio, Studio Libeskind, in Berlin, Germany, in 1989 after winning the competition to build the Jewish Museum in Berlin. In February 2003, Studio Libeskind moved its headquarters from Berlin to New York City to oversee the master plan for the World Trade Center redevelopment, which is being realized in Lower Manhattan.

Libeskind’s practice is involved in designing and realizing a diverse array of urban, cultural, and commercial projects around the globe. The Studio has completed buildings that range from museums and concert halls to convention centers, university buildings, hotels, shopping centers, and residential towers. As Principal Design Architect for Studio Libeskind, Libeskind speaks widely on the art of architecture in universities and professional summits. His architecture and ideas have been the subject of many articles and exhibitions, influencing the field of architecture and the development of cities and culture.

Libeskind has won dozens of awards for his work including the Goethe Medal, the Hiroshima Peace Prize, the Dresden Peace Prize, and the European Union Prize for Civil Rights.

Mr. Libeskind's Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the President's Office and the President's Leadership Fund.

Photo credit: Stefan Ruiz