Dean's International Council

Meetings

Power, Politics and Policies: Debating Issues of Global Importance
Dean's International Council Meeting
Chicago, Illinois
May 7-9, 2008
 

Speaker Bios
 

Dina Birman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Birman’s research is focused on understanding the process of acculturation and adaptation for immigrants and refugees across the life span. Most recently, she has studied the role of parental involvement on immigrant adolescent adaptation at school. She has conducted research on immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Central America, Somalia, and Vietnam and is currently exploring ways of designing school-based interventions aimed at improving school children's academic success.

Gregory C. Case
President and Chief Executive Officer, Aon Corporation

Greg Case is President and Chief Executive Officer of Aon Corporation, a world leader in insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital management and has lead the efforts of more than 43,000 colleagues in 120 countries. Under Case’s leadership, Aon has strengthened its position as a global organization offering integrated business solutions for its clients. In August 2006, Case congratulated his colleagues as the company was named the world’s leading pure brokerage firm by Business Insurance Magazine. However, Case has said Aon’s goal is to be recognized as the leading and most distinctive risk adviser in the world, not the biggest.

William G. Howell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies

Dr. Howell has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, especially the presidency. His recent research examines how domestic political institutions constrain the president's ability to exercise military force abroad. Howell is the co-author (with Jon Pevehouse) of While Dangers Gather: Congressional Checks on Presidential War Powers.

Charles Lipson, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Chicago Department of Political Science

As a renowned specialist on international relations and international political history, Dr. Lipson’s most recent book, Reliable Partners: How Democracies Have Made a Separate Peace (2003), explains one of the most striking features in world politics: why democracies do not fight wars against each other. He has also written extensively on international trade, debt, and investment.

Anita Ortiz Maddali
Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law's Children and Family Justice Center

Founded in 1992, the Children and Family Justice Center has developed into one of the most effective and diverse clinical programs of its kind. Attorneys, a social worker, and affiliated professionals help second- and third-year law students meet with clients, research legal issues, and learn pretrial investigation, interviewing, and counseling skills and litigate cases. Anita Maddali is a visiting clinical assistant professor of law for the Center and represents women and children seeking asylum or other forms of immigration relief.

Rick Mattoon
Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Economic Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Rick Mattoon is a senior economist and economic advisor in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Mattoon's primary research focuses on issues that face the Midwest regional economy. His analysis of electricity restructuring and energy issues, higher education policy, regional economic development and state and local government finance has appeared in numerous publications. Mattoon also serves as an adjunct associate professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mattoon began his career at the Chicago Fed in 1990. In 1997 he left the bank to serve as a policy advisor for economic development, energy and telecommunications to the Governor of Washington. He later served as director of policy and legislation for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. He returned to the bank in 2001.

Mattoon received a B.A. from Kenyon College and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.

Peter Slevin
Journalist, The Washington Post

A veteran reporter for The Washington Post, Peter Slevin has written extensively on the politics of war and the United States’ involvement in the Middle East.

Maria Woltjen
Director of the Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project, University of Chicago

Founded in 2003, the Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project provides unaccompanied immigrant children with guardians ad litem. In 2005, nearly 8,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were taken into federal custody and many of these children had to face immigration judges without any legal aid. By working with multilingual law students, The Center pairs advocates with immigrant and refugee children to ensure the child's welfare is represented, not the interests of traffickers or smugglers.