Former Governor Jim Gilmore speaks on “The New Liberty”

Former Governor of Virginia Jim Gilmore addressed the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society on Friday, April 17, 2009. His subject was “The New Socialism vs. the New Liberty.” Mr. Gilmore touched on themes of individual freedom in the context of taxation, economic stimulus packages, global warming, health care, gun ownership, and foreign policy. He then took questions from the capacity crowd.

University of Virginia alumnus James Gilmore III has devoted a career of service to his home state of Virginia and to his nation. He served as governor of Virginia from 1998-2002. From 1999-2003, he was the chair of the U.S. Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, commonly known as the Gilmore Commission. In 2001 he served as chair of the Republican National Committee. He is currently chairman of the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness. You may read his official blog at Virginia Patriot.

Miller Center Forum: Modern Presidents and the Middle East: A World of Trouble

Patrick Tyler

Patrick Tyler

Journalist and author PATRICK TYLER was Chief Correspondent at the New York Times from 2002 to 2004, covering the invasion of Iraq and established the Baghdad Bureau after the fall of Saddam Hussein. He also served as the Times’ Bureau Chief in Moscow and Beijing, as well as Military Correspondent. Prior to that, Tyler was Middle East Bureau Chief for the Washington Post, and covered the State Department, the Pentagon, and the intelligence community. His books include A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China (Public Affairs, 1999) and Running Critical: The Silent War, Rickover, and General Dynamics (Harper & Row, 1986). Mr. Tyler spoke at a Miller Center Forum on April 6, 2009.



The Older Dominion Partnership: How Virginia Is Preparing to Ride the Age Wave

John Martin

John Martin

John W. Martin, CEO of the Southeastern Institute of Research, spoke at the April 8, 2009 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia on the Older Dominion Partnership (ODP), an initiative by business, government, foundations and non-profits to help Virginia prepare for the coming boomer age wave.

The ODP is a public/private initiative created to raise awareness and advance preparation efforts across the Commonwealth of Virginia for the coming "age wave" of older adults – when aging Boomers double the population of citizens ages 65 and older as there are today. Through John’s vision, Virginia’s ODP has ushered in a new model in age wave planning where leaders in academic, nonprofit, state government, philanthropic communities, and business all join together to plan for their community’s shared destiny.

The ODP conducted strategic research among residents and business leaders to help create a planning roadmap for the ODP. Subsequently, six ODP workgroups were established: community readiness, civic engagement, aging services communications support, healthcare access and long-term care, workforce readiness, and a shared statewide research database work group that supports all of the ODP work groups and offers a matrix of age wave preparedness performance indicators.

In addition to co-founding the Boomer Project, the nation’s authority on marketing to today’s Boomer consumer, John Martin is president and CEO of SIR Research, a 44-year-old marketing research firm that has conducted over 13,000 studies for organizations like Media General, AARP, Liberty Mutual, Lincoln Financial, American Chemical Society, the Public Relations Society of America, Johnson & Johnson, and the American SPCA.

John speaks to audiences across the country about age wave preparation, as well as generational issues and understanding today’s Boomers. He also co-authored the award-winning business book, Boomer Consumer, published in 2007.

Over the last five years, the Boomer Project has established itself as the leading authority on generational marketing. Boomer Project findings have been shared on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC, MSNBC, NPR’s "Marketplace" and recent cover stories about older Boomers by BusinessWeek and Newsweek, as well as articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Hundreds of organizations from financial services firms, healthcare associations, consumer products companies, retailers, and governmental agencies have hired the Boomer Project to speak at conferences, events, and training sessions.

Following the presentation questions were taken from the audience. Today’s program was moderated by SSV Secretary Bill Davis.

Wake-Up Call: The Meadowcreek Parkway, A Long and Winding Road

On the April 12 edition of the Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call, host Rick Moore opens with a conversation with Ari Daniels of the Earth Week Eco-Fair, scheduled for this coming Saturday, April 18, at the Charlottesville Pavilion, a free event spreading knowledge about how to repair and conserve our environment, with green-minded businesses, government organizations, conservationist societies, local food producers, natural health care practitioners, along with live music, speakers, children’s activities, and more.

Rick then turns to a conversation with John Cruikshank of the the Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club and Stratton Sallidis of the Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park about efforts to stop the controversial Meadowcreek Parkway, a project to build a road through Charlottesville’s largest public park that has been in the planning stages for 40 years.

Miller Center Forum: Of Knowledge and Power: The Complexities of National Intelligence

Robert Kennedy

Robert Kennedy

ROBERT KENNEDY, a Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, served for 35 years in various government postings, including Civilian Deputy Commandant at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of National Security Studies at the U.S. Army War College, and Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. His most recent book examines the labyrinth of complexities that the intelligence community faces in trying to provide quality intelligence to support American foreign policy and national security interests.

Mr. Kennedy spoke at a Miller Center Forum on March 27, 2009.