Born in 1988 in Türkiye, Dr. Orçun Keçeci completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in Sports Management at Ege University. He earned his Ph.D. in Sports Management and Recreation at Anadolu University, with a dissertation focused on leadership in esports. He currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of Recreation Management at Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, a public university in Turkey. Dr. Keçeci has published scholarly works in the field of esports, with a particular focus on leadership, team dynamics, and organizational structure. In addition to his academic background, Keçeci is a professional esports athlete in the field of simulation racing. He is also a former soccer player and coach. His interdisciplinary work, which bridges traditional and digital sports, enables him to make original contributions both in practice and in theory.

is widely regarded as one of America’s leading Middle East experts. After studying economics at Colgate and Arabic at Oxford, he embarked on a thirty-year diplomatic career. He is particularly noted for his expertise on Saudi Arabia, where he served as Chief of Mission, Deputy Chief of Mission, Political Counselor, Economic Counselor, and Commercial Counselor. He was stationed in Saudi Arabia during both Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 Al-Qaeda insurrection. He played important roles in negotiating Saudi entry into the World Trade Organization and is the author of the highly regarded book Vision of Mirage, Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads.

Ambassador Michael Gfoeller (ret.) is a distinguished U.S. diplomat with a 26-year career in the State Department, serving in key posts across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Russia, Armenia, Moldova, Poland, and Belgium, retiring in 2010. He advised General David Petraeus at U.S. Central Command, providing strategic insights on Middle Eastern affairs. After retirement, Gfoeller led ExxonMobil’s Middle East and North Africa government affairs, leveraging his deep regional expertise. A committed philanthropist, he founded the Gfoeller Renaissance Foundation, dedicated to advancing archeological research and cultural preservation in Armenia. His extensive diplomatic experience and leadership in energy and cultural initiatives reflect a legacy of effective global engagement.

Arthur L. Lazarus, MD, MBA, is a healthcare consultant, certified physician executive, and nationally recognized author, speaker, and champion of physician leadership and wellness. He has broad experience in clinical practice and the health insurance industry, having led programs at Cigna and Humana. At Humana, Lazarus was vice president and corporate medical director of behavioral health operations in Louisville, Kentucky, and subsequently a population health medical director in the state of Florida. Lazarus has also held leadership positions in several pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and AstraZeneca, conducting clinical trials, and reviewing promotional materials for medical accuracy and FDA compliance. He has published more than 400 articles and essays and written or edited 11 books, including 7 related to the field of narrative medicine. Lazarus attended Boston University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with distinction. He received his medical degree with honors from Temple University School of Medicine, followed by a psychiatric residency at Temple University Hospital, where he was chief resident. After residency, Lazarus joined the faculty of Temple faculty, where he currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry. He also holds non-faculty appointments as Executive-in-Residence at Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management, where he received his MBA degree, and Senior Fellow at Jefferson College of Population Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lazarus is a past president of the American Association for Psychiatric Administration and Leadership, a former member of the board of directors of the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL), and a current member of the AAPL editorial review board. In 2010, the American Psychiatric Association honored Lazarus with the Administrative Psychiatry Award for his effectiveness as an administrator of major mental health programs and expanding the body of knowledge of management science in mental health services delivery systems. Lazarus is among a select group of physicians in the United States who have been inducted into both the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society and the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society of collegiate schools of business. Lazarus enjoys walking, biking, playing piano, and listening to music. He has been happily married to his wife, Cheryl, for over 40 years. They are the proud parents of four adult children and have five grandchildren.

Steven Greer is Emeritus Professor at the University of Bristol Law School and Research Director at the Oxford Institute for British Islam. He studied law at the University of Oxford, Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and holds a Ph.D. in Law from the Queen’s University of Belfast. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, he has taught and delivered numerous papers throughout the UK and abroad, including in China and at Harvard Law School. He has published widely, particularly in the fields of criminal justice, human rights, and law and terrorism. Two of his books were shortlisted for prestigious prizes. He has also acted as consultant/advisor to various organizations, written for national and regional newspapers in the UK and Ireland, and appeared on numerous radio and TV stations.

Collin May is a Canadian lawyer and Adjunct Lecturer in Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. He has published several articles and reviews on topics in political philosophy, cancel culture, professional regulation, and countering antisemitism. His writing has appeared in the National Post, Jerusalem Post, Law and Liberty, The Hub, C2C Journal, and such academic publications as Academic Questions and Society Journal. Educated at Harvard University, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, and Dalhousie Law School, May worked with the United Nations International Telecommunication Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, before returning to Canada to study law. In 2022, following his appointment as Chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, May became the target of a cancel culture campaign that cost him his job and severely damaged his career. Since that time, May has worked to combat cancellations through his writing and public advocacy.

Ambassador Michael Gfoeller (ret.), born in 1957, is a seasoned diplomat, scholar, and independent consultant renowned for his expertise in international politics, security, and economics. With a career spanning over four decades, he has navigated complex geopolitical landscapes, advised global leaders, and contributed significantly to academic and cultural initiatives, particularly in the Middle East and Armenia. Gfoeller’s diplomatic career with the U.S. Foreign Service (1984–2010) saw him rise to the rank of Ambassador and Minister Counselor, serving in some of the world’s most critical regions. His postings included two stints in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires (2004–2008), managing U.S.-Saudi relations during a pivotal period of counterterrorism cooperation. He also served in Manama, Bahrain, fostering ties with Gulf allies; Baghdad, Iraq, during the height of the Iraq War; Moscow, Russia, across two tours amid Cold War and post-Soviet tensions; Yerevan, Armenia, supporting post-Soviet transition; Chisinau, Moldova, navigating Eastern European geopolitics; Warsaw, Poland, strengthening NATO partnerships; and Brussels, Belgium, engaging with transatlantic institutions. From 2008 to 2010, Gfoeller served as Senior Political Advisor to General David Petraeus at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, crafting political strategies for U.S. military operations across 19 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. His work bridged diplomacy and defense, earning him recognition for navigating complex tribal and political dynamics.
Upon retiring from the State Department, Gfoeller transitioned to the private sector, bringing his geopolitical acumen to global corporations. From 2010 to 2012, he led Middle East and North African affairs at ExxonMobil’s International Government Relations Department, advising on energy security and regional stability. He later consulted for prominent firms, including DynCorp, Alcoa, Kissinger Associates, KKR, and Cerberus Capital Management, providing strategic insights into government contracts and international markets. As an independent consultant, Gfoeller continues to advise on global risks and opportunities, with a focus on the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and energy markets. An accomplished scholar, Gfoeller holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University. His academic journey included intensive Arabic studies at the American University in Cairo (1979–1981), equipping him for his Middle East postings. Fluent in Arabic, Russian, German, French, Polish, Romanian, Latin, and Greek, he is a polyglot whose linguistic skills enhanced his diplomatic and scholarly work. Gfoeller taught at Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy (2000–2001), where he mentored future diplomats. His publications reflect his diverse interests, including United by the Caspian, a study of Caucasian and Central Asian geopolitics, and works on archaeology and architecture, such as A New Golden Age of Archeology: Recent Discoveries in Armenia (Academica Press, 2022). These books explore international cultural heritage, blending historical analysis with beautiful photography.
Gfoeller’s commitment to cultural preservation led him in 2001 to establish the Gfoeller Renaissance Foundation, which funds archaeological and scientific research in Armenia. The foundation supports excavations and studies illuminating Armenia’s role in human evolution and civilization, reflecting Gfoeller’s passion for history and heritage. He remains an active voice in public discourse, speaking at forums like the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations on topics such as Saudi Arabia’s evolving role in global energy markets, U.S.-Iran tensions, and Middle Eastern security dynamics. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Ben Franklin Fellowship, the Cosmos Club, and the Union League Club of New York, Gfoeller is deeply engaged in intellectual and policy circles. He is married to Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller-Volkoff, a distinguished U.S. diplomat and novelist whose career included senior roles in the State Department and postings in Europe and the Middle East. The couple, who met during their university studies, have one son, Major Emmanuel Gfoeller, an Army Ranger serving in the U.S. military. Residing primarily in Miami, Florida, Gfoeller balances his consulting work with writing and philanthropy, continuing to shape global conversations on diplomacy and culture.

Throughout his life, J. J. Penniman has immersed himself in humanist education. As an amateur Classics scholar, he has sung Homer in the original Greek to both public and scholarly audiences, lectured at the Classical Association of New England Summer Institute, and published an original translation of an anciently debated passage in Plato’s Timaeus for The Classical Journal. As a psychoanalyst, now in his 46th year of practice, he has published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, and the Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis. He trained psychology interns and psychiatric residents in psychoanalytic therapy for thirty years. In a lighter vein, the author, as a middling bridge player, produced a feuilleton for The Daily Bulletin, the newspaper of the American Contract Bridge League Championships. He also devotes two hours weekly to math. Penniman and his wife live in the shadows of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range.

Julien Delhez (b. 1991) studied classical philology at the University of Liège and ancient oriental languages with a focus on Egyptology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. From 2015 to 2024, he lived in Göttingen, Germany, where he completed a Ph.D. in Coptology, a branch of Egyptology, and was subsequently a postdoctoral researcher at the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony. His first book, Shenoute of Atripe and the Rise of Monastic Education in Egypt, was published by Academica Press in 2023. In January 2025, Delhez returned to Belgium to work for the European Research Council-funded “BICROSS” project at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), which is dedicated to bilingual manuscripts of the New Testament. His interests beyond Coptology include classical music (he has been a member of the Stavelot Music Festival since 2012), human evolution, genetics, intelligence, learning languages, traveling in Central and Eastern Europe, and hiking. He is a two-time 50/12 Megamarsch finisher.

John Staddon is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Biology Emeritus, at Duke University. He obtained his BSc at University College, London, and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at Harvard University, while also doing research at the MIT Systems Lab. He has done research at Oxford University (UK), the University of São Paulo at Riberão Preto, the University of Mexico, Ruhr Universität, Universität Konstanz, and the University of Western Australia. He is a fellow of several scientific organizations and holds an honorary doctorate from the Université Charles de Gaulle, Lille 3, France. He is a past editor of the journals Behavioural Processes and Behavior & Philosophy. His experimental and theoretical research is on the evolution and mechanisms of learning in humans and animals; he has also written on the history and philosophy of psychology, economics, and biology. Staddon frequently engages with such public policy issues as education, evolution, traffic control, IQ, the science, law, and politics of smoking, and the effects of social and psychobiological processes on financial markets. In 2021, the Wall Street Journal profiled him as a leading commentator on the current problems of science.

Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation. He writes and speaks on immigration, foreign policy, and other issues, both at Heritage and in various national media outlets. Simon writes the weekly BorderLine column for the Daily Signal. From 1999 to 2023, Hankinson was a U.S. foreign service officer, serving in India, Fiji, Ghana, Slovakia, Togo, Marseille, Nairobi, and Washington. Prior to entering the State Department, he worked as a lawyer in London and then taught history, English, and drama at a private school in Miami. Hankinson holds a Master’s degree in Modern History from the University of St. Andrews, a degree from the College of Law in London, and a second master’s degree in International Security Affairs from the National Defense University in Washington, DC.