2011-2012 Breakfast at Blake Speakers

Peter Hutchinson
Business Leader, Philanthropist and Author
Thursday, May 17
7:30-8:30 am
Northrop Campus, Cherne Forum

Peter C. Hutchinson has been a courageous, transformative leader of business, government and nonprofit enterprises throughout his career. From 2007-2012, he was president of the Bush Foundation, where he led a transformation focused on three unique initiatives (increasing student achievement and closing the achievement gap; improving conditions in tribal communities; and advancing solutions to public problems).

Prior to the Bush Foundation, Hutchinson was co-founder of the Public Strategies Group, a company that redesigns governments throughout the world. As part of a unique PSG contract to lead the Minneapolis Public Schools, Peter served as the district's superintendent and directed a turnaround in achievement and reduction in achievement gaps for students. He also co-authored the book "The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis."

Hutchinson served as the vice president for external affairs for the Dayton Hudson Corporation (now Target) and chairman of the Dayton Hudson Foundation, as well as commissioner of finance for the State of Minnesota. In 2006, he was the Independence Party candidate for Minnesota governor. Hutchinson is a graduate of Dartmouth College, Princeton University, and Harvard Business School. He is a former Blake parent (Emily '01).

Hutchinson will give a presentation titled "You Have to Live Your Life to Find Its Purpose," based on his father's untimely death at age 47 and the importance of paying attention to the other messages your life is sending.

Please RSVP by May 10 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org.

Barbara Freese is the author of Coal: A Human History. Her critically-acclaimed book, selected as a New York Times Notable Book for 2003, tells the story of how burning coal transformed human civilization. The book describes the social, economic, and environmental impacts of coal burning over the centuries and its impact on the world today. Freese, an environmental attorney, worked for the Minnesota Attorney General's Office from 1986 to 1999. Her work there made her aware of coal's tremendous ongoing impact on our environment and climate, and prompted her to look more closely at the larger story behind the smoke. Today, she represents nonprofit groups in energy regulatory proceedings. As the 2012 Otis Environmental Visiting Author, Freese will be in residency at Blake during the week of April 23.

Please RSVP by April 19 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org.

Dr. Christine Sheppard earned her B.A. and Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. She developed an interest in captive propagation as a tool to save endangered species, which led her to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Bronx Zoo, where she started as an intern in 1978, and ended as curator and chair of the Ornithology Department.

Zoos deal not only with issues of their buildings causing mortality of wild birds. Glass exhibit walls, windows and handrails bring bird collision problems indoors, and curators have a vested interest in finding ways to make glass safe for birds. This issue led to Dr. Sheppard to join the board of the Bird-safe Glass Foundation as science advisor in 2007. She is also conducting research into quantifying the effectiveness of materials and patterns in preventing bird collisions. She took early retirement from WCS in April of 2009, moving to the American Bird Conservancy as collisions program manager. Dr. Sheppard has been published in peer reviewed and popular journals and, as writer of the interpretive program for the Bronx Zoo’s bird exhibit program, she is well versed in bringing science and conservation topics to general audiences.

Dr. Sheppard will give a presentation titled “How Much is That Birdie in the Window?” in which she will speak about developing non-traditional conservation techniques to address widespread threats to birds.

Please RSVP by February 9 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org.

Speaker: Mary deLaittre ’82, president of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation
Thursday, January 19
7:30-8:30 am
Northrop Campus, Cherne Forum

Mary deLaittre ’82 is the president of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation. She was the founder and principal of Groundwork, a consulting firm that operates at the intersection of design and public policy. Some of her recent projects include the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition and Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative, and 2020 Partners (developing an urban center around the Target Field and the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market in downtown Minneapolis).

Mary has been involved in design education, including teaching at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, founding and directing SiteLines, a nonprofit organization that conducts research and develops educational materials, programs and events about neighborhood planning and design, and developing SiteSeeing, a curriculum and educational program that teaches students how to see and think critically about the built and natural environment.

Mary received a B.A. in art history from Brown University and an M.A. with an emphasis in urban design from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Minneapolis with her family.

The topic of her Breakfast at Blake presentation will be “The Next Generation of Parks” in which she will speak about the parks, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and its role in city building.

Please RSVP by January 12 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org.

Speaker: Andrew Zimmern, current Blake parent, TV personality, food writer and chef
Thursday, November 17
7:30-8:30 am
Northrop Campus, Dayton Library

Andrew Zimmern is a James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, food writer and teacher. As the co-creator, host and consulting producer of the Travel Channel's hit series, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, he travels the globe, exploring food in its own terroir. From world class restaurants to street carts and jungle markets, it's all about discovering and sharing the authentic experience.

Zimmern is a contributing editor at Food & Wine Magazine, a monthly columnist at Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine and a senior editor at Delta Sky Magazine. As a freelance journalist, his work has appeared in numerous national and international publications. Zimmern has served as a corporate and product spokesperson for Target, Cascal, Pepto Bismol, Toyota and Travel Leaders. He is the author of The Bizarre Truth, and Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World of Food and has several books slated for release in the coming year.

Zimmern will give a presentation titled "Food: A Global Approach," where he will speak about traveling to eat and its implications towards solving our national food and health crisis.

Please RSVP by November 10 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org.

Speaker: Whitney MacMillan ’47, business leader and philanthropist
Thursday, October 13
7:30-8:30 am
Northrop Campus, Upper School Library

Whitney MacMillan led Cargill from 1976-1995, diversifying and growing the business to become the largest privately held company in the world. Described as a global visionary, his interests include international relations, public policy, the environment, and philanthropy. Since the completion of his career as the chief executive of Cargill he has continued to pursue his primary personal interests in international agricultural policy, feeding the world’s population, and economic growth and stability in developing countries. He is a noted expert on east-west commercial relations.

MacMillan received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. He and his wife, Betty, operate a cow/calf ranch in Montana. They have two children, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

MacMillan will speak about using the ethanol program as an example of why change is so difficult in this country.

Please RSVP by October 6 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org

Speaker: Doug Smith '81
Author, historian and recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award
Friday, September 23, 2011
7:30-9:15 am
Bovey Chapel, Hopkins Campus

Douglas Smith is an award-winning author and historian, translator and a resident scholar at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. He studied German and Russian at the University of Vermont and has a doctorate in history from UCLA. He has written three non-fiction books of history — "Working the Rough Stone," "Love and Conquest" and "The Pearl" — and is completing his latest book, “White Bone: The Destruction of the Russian Aristocracy,” which is scheduled for publication with Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2012.

Over the past 25 years, Smith has regularly traveled to Russia, and in the 1980s was a Russian-speaking guide with the U.S. State Department’s exhibition “Information USA,” which traveled throughout the USSR. He has worked as a Soviet affairs analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and served as an interpreter for the late President Ronald Reagan. Smith has lectured and taught widely in the United States, Britain and Europe and has appeared in documentaries for A&E and National Geographic. A regular contributor to the Seattle Times and other publications, Smith is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship and a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study Center.

Smith's Breakfast at Blake presentation is titled, "Love is Not a Potato," in which he will talk about his fascination with Russia - its history, culture, and people - and the various influences (particularly teachers) that has shaped him and his career as a historian.

Please RSVP by September 16 to 952-988-3477 or advancementrsvp@blakeschool.org