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SPEAKERS.

We are excited to announce our talented and knowledgeable student panelists!

 

 

 

Cathryn Hoel

 

Cathryn received her BA in English Writing - Journalism and Communication and Rhetoric from The University of Pittsburgh Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She has worked for major media outlets including ESPN, Comcast, WBNS-10TV, McFadden Media. Hoel is the editor-in-chief of the Pitt Policy Journal. In addition to attending The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Cathryn currently works full time as a digital communications specialist and is the sole proprietor of Bixley Communications. Her research interests include the effects of media and communication on policy decisions and outcomes.

David Karg

 

David has over six years of experience in the financial services sector, as a consultant at Federated Investors.  At Federated, he raised assets in their asset management platforms, catering to high net worth and institutional investors.  Following his work in the asset management industry, David founded a cultural diplomacy firm that molded the worlds of geopolitics, business, and art.  His political acumen and passion for unmasking systemic trends in the international financial system led him to pursue a Masters in Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. He has written for nationally-recognized publications championing free trade and utilization of technology to underdeveloped markets and has been interviewed in international news (BBC, PressTV).  David received a B.A. in Economics from Miami University in Oxford, OH.

Nauman Afridi

 

Nauman is a Phd candidate for International  Development at GSPIA University of Pittsburgh. He plans to do research on the economic development of conflict hit areas of the tribal areas of Pakistan. He completed his Masters in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University on a Fulbright Scholarship (2012-2014). He graduated with distinction and possess skills in subjects related to public finance and quantitative methods of analysis.

 

He is a member of the civil service of Pakistan and is currently on a study leave for his PhD. He has worked on various administrative positions during his career with the government of Pakistan since 2007 where he was posted in different rural parts of the Punjab province. In his last assignment, he worked as an Assistant Commissioner in the Commissioner’s office Rawalpindi district. During his career with the government he had the experience of working with various departments like land revenue, health, education, finance and administration. He worked as a representative of the government at the local level where he had a first hand experience of the problems faced by  a common man in the rural parts of the country. 

 

Prior to joining the civil service he obtained a masters degree in Transportation Engineering from Pakistan and a bachelors degree in civil engineering from Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus. He worked for a few years in the private sector on various infrastructure development projects in the country that created in him a desire to join the government and work for the development of the marginalized sections of the society. After a rigorous self study of two years he qualified the civil services exam , which is considered the toughest in the country, and secured 12th position in the whole country. 

 

Learn about our expert panelists:

 

Dan Simpson

 

Dan Simpson holds over 35 years of experience as a United States Ambassador, throughout which he spent time working in the Central African Republic, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Libya, Burundi, South Africa, Bulgaria, Iceland, Lebanon, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Additionally, he spent time as Deputy Commandant at the US Army War College and served as Vice President at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He currently works as Associate Editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Brothers Brother Foundation. 

Marjorie Cohn

 

Marjorie Cohn is a former president of the National Lawyers Guild. She lectures throughout the world on international human rights and U.S. foreign policy.  Professor Cohn is the U.S. representative to the executive committee of the Association of American Jurists and is deputy secretary general of the Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. She has been a news consultant for CBS News and a legal analyst for Court TV, and has also provided legal and political commentary on BBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, and Pacifica Radio. She has been a criminal defense attorney at the trial and appellate levels for many years, and was staff counsel to the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. 

 

Professor Cohn testified in 2008 about government torture policy before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and she has testified at military courts-martial about the illegality of the wars, the duty to obey lawful orders, and the duty to disobey unlawful orders. She was a legal observer in Iran on behalf of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers in 1978 and she has participated in delegations to Cuba, China and Yugoslavia.

 

Professor Cohn has been honored with numerous awards including the San Diego County Bar Association's 2005 Service to Legal Education Award, San Diego's Top Attorneys in Academics for 2006, 2008 and 2009, the 2007 Bernard E. Witkin, Esq. Award for Excellence in the Teaching of the Law, the 2008 Peace Scholar of the Year Award from the Peace and Justice Studies Association, the 2009 Amnesty International-San Diego Digna Ochoa Human Rights Defender Award, and the 2010 Alumni Achievement Award from the Santa Clara University School of Law.

 

Additionally, Professor Cohn is the author of Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law and co-author of Cameras in the Courtroom: Television and the Pursuit of Justice, and Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent. Most recently, she authored Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues, which will be available for purchase at the Symposium. 

 

Student Panel Moderator

Joe Hackett

Joe Hackett is a second semester MPIA student at GSPIA with a focus on International Political Economy. He came to GSPIA after working as a Chinese language translator at an elementary school in his home town of Milwaukee, WI. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with majors in Chinese Language and Economics. His interests include language, domestic and international politics, and sanctions regimes.

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