Featured Speakers

Patrick Bassett, President, NAIS
Sunday Evening Speaker: "The Right-Brained Future: Creating 21st Century Schools and Strategic Indicators"

Patrick F. Bassett became the president of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) in August 2001. NAIS is a voluntary membership organization for more than 1,350 independent (private) schools and associations of schools in the U.S. and abroad.

Bassett began his career in independent schools in 1970 as an English teacher and lacrosse coach at Woodberry Forrest School (Virginia), an all boys boarding school. In 1980, he became headmaster of an all-girls school, Stuart Hall (Virginia), where he remained until 1989. From 1981 to 1989, Bassett served on the Executive Committee of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS), and he was president from 1988-1989. From 1985 to 1989, he served on the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). He was named a Kellogg National Leadership Fellow from 1986-1989. Bassett became the head of Pomfret School (Connecticut), a coed, boarding-day high school, in 1989.

From 1993 to 2001, Bassett was the president of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). ISACS provides accreditation, consultations, professional development events, and statistics-gathering and-reporting for more than 200 independent schools in the 15 states of the Midwest. He also served on the board of directors of The Multicultural Alliance (1994-2000), and he has served on the board of The Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE) since 1996 and the board and Executive Committee of CAPE, the Council for American Private Education, since 2001, and on the Public Policy Committee of Independent Sector since 2006. In March 2000, Bassett was honored by The Klingenstein Center of Teachers College (Columbia University) with the Educational Leadership Award. In 2001, he was invited by the president of Teachers College to join the Advisory Board of The Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Bassett is the author of numerous books (Financing Sustainable Schools, 2006) and articles, including several commentary pieces in Education Week, such as "The End of Independent Schools" (March 13, 1996) and "Why Good Schools Are Countercultural" (February 6, 2002), and "Testing, Accountability, and Independence" (August 19, 2002) and "Searching for Great Teachers" (February 26, 2003). He has also contributed chapters and served as co-editor for Looking Ahead: Independent School Issues and Answers, Avocus Books 1994 (1st Edition) and 2004 (2nd Edition). Patrick Bassett is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Williams College (Massachusetts). He also holds a master's degree from Northwestern University (Illinois). He and his wife, Barbara, have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.

Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky was born in 1948 in Donetzk, Ukraine. Mr. Sharansky graduated from the Physical Technical Institute in Moscow with a degree in computer science. After graduating, he became active in the human rights movement led by Andrei Sahkharov and very quickly became internationally known as the spokesperson for the Helsinki movement. At the same time he applied for an exit visa to Israel, which he was denied for "security reasons". In 1977, a Soviet newspaper alleged that Mr. Sharansky was collaborating with the CIA. Despite denials from every level of the U.S. Government, Mr. Sharansky was found guilty and sentenced to thirteen years in prison, including solitary confinement and hard labor. In the courtroom prior to the announcement of his verdict, Mr. Sharansky in a public statement said: "To the court I have nothing to say - to my wife and the Jewish people I say "Next Year in Jerusalem". After nine years of imprisonment, due to intense international pressure, Mr. Sharansky was released on February 11, 1986, emigrated to Israel, and arrived in Jerusalem on that very day.

Upon his arrival to Israel he became active in the integration of Soviet Jews and formed the Zionist Forum, an umbrella organization of former Soviet activist groups dedicated to helping new Israelis and educating the public about absorption issues. The final chapter of the historic struggle for the release of Soviet Jews was the historic rally of over 250,000 in 1987 during Gorbachev's first visit in Washington of which Natan Sharansky was is the initiator and driving force.

In early 1994, he co-founded Peace Watch - an independent non-partisan group committed to monitoring the compliance to agreements signed by Israel and the PLO. From 1990 to 1996 Mr. Sharansky served as Associate Editor of "The Jerusalem Report".

In 1996, ten years after arriving in Israel, Natan Sharansky founded the political party Yisral B'Aliya which means both "Israel on the Rise" and "Israel for Immigration". The party was established to accelerate the absorption of the massive numbers of Russian immigrants into Israeli society and to maximize their contribution.

From 1996-2005 Natan Sharansky served as Minister, as well as Deputy Prime Minister in all of the successive governments. In November 2006 Natan Sharansky resigned from the Israeli Knesset and assumed the position of Chairman of the newly established Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.

Natan Sharansky was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1986 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006. He has continued to lead human rights efforts both through his writings as well as public activities since his release.

His memoir, Fear No Evil, was published in the United States in 1988 and has been translated into nine languages. His book, The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Freedom and Terror attracted wide-spread attention. President George Bush has been quoted after reading the book as saying: "If you want to understand my political DNA, read this book." He is currently working on a new book, Defending Identity, to be published by Public Affairs in the coming months.

Mr. Sharansky is married to Avital . They reside in Jerusalem and have two daughters, Rachel and Hanna.