Tue, 11 Feb 2025 03:09:50 -0800WeeblyWed, 29 Jan 2025 01:30:48 GMThttp://samgroupil.org/general-meeting/february-24-human-rights-and-peace-a-personal-odysseyWhen:  February 24
Time: 1:30pm
Where: Beth Emet Synagogue, 1224 Dempster St, in Evanston

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Speaker: Zafra Lerman

Topic: Human rights and Peace; A Personal Odyssey
BIO:
Zafra Lerman is a scientist, educator and humanitarian. She received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel and conducted research at Cornell and Northwestern Universities and the ETH, Zurich, Switzerland. She developed an innovative approach of teaching science through art, music, drama, dance, and rap which was successful with underprivileged students around the globe. She worked on human rights cases in the former Soviet Union, Russia, China, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, and South Africa and was successful in preventing executions, releasing prisoners from jail and bringing dissidents to freedom. She is the President of the Malta Conferences Foundation which uses science diplomacy as a bridge to peace in the Middle East. She received awards, including Presidential Award for Mentoring from President Clinton (1999), Award for Science Diplomacy (2015), American Physical Society Andrei Sakharov Prize for Human Rights (2016), Peace and Justice prize from the UN NOVUS summit (2016), Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2017), and she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a member of the US Congress and a member of the French Parliament (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025). On March 6, 2025 she will receive in New York the International Advocate for Peace Award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution]]>Fri, 03 Jan 2025 06:29:04 GMThttp://samgroupil.org/general-meeting/january-10-inside-the-us-secret-service-the-views-of-a-former-agentWhen: January 20th
Time: 1:30pm
Where: Zoom Only​

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Topic: “Inside the US Secret Service: The Views of a Former Agent”

Speaker: J. Branch Walton 

Mr. Walton has more than 50 years of direct experience in federal law enforcement, private security and teaching/training/program development. He was a commissioned officer in the U S Marine Corps and a special agent with NCIS before retiring from the United States Secret Service (USSS) after a 21-year career. Among other assignments he served on President Nixon, former President Carter and President Reagan security details.

He retired as the Special Agent in Charge of a field office. After retirement, he became the director of security for Cummins Engine Company and later served as Chief of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center's (FLETC) Management Institute, and on the criminal justice faculty at Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana.

He is past President of the National Association for Bank Security-Profit Protection, LLC, a company specializing in security and compliance training for the banking industry.

He is now a contract instructor for (1) the Department of Homeland Security in the fields of physical and operations security. He has been interviewed by numerous local and national news agencies on security topics of current interest and is the author of two books and numerous magazine articles.

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Meeting ID: 873 5693 7677
Passcode: SAM2020]]>Sat, 30 Nov 2024 00:49:01 GMThttp://samgroupil.org/general-meeting/december-16-the-soldiers-fell-like-autumn-leavesWhen: December 16th
Time: 1:30pm
Where: Beth Emet Synagogue 1224 Dempster St, in Evanston​

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Speaker: Rick Schoenfield

Topic:
The Soldiers Fell Like Autumn Leaves” about the 1791 battle of the Wabash River which was the worst US army defeat by Native Americans. 


Bio:
Rick M. Schoenfield earned a BA and a JD from Northwestern University. He has been a trial and appellate lawyer for over 40 years. A highlight of Rick’s legal career was taking a case pro bono, after it was lost in the federal court of appeals, getting the case to the Supreme Court and winning unanimously. With his brother Mark Schoenfield, Rick is the co-author of The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Negotiating Course and Legal Negotiations: Getting Maximum Results. He also taught negotiations at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Native American history, early American history and military history have been of particular interest to Rick throughout his life. He found that many of the skills he acquired in his legal career were equally useful in researching and writing The Soldiers Fell Like Autumn Leaves.]]>Fri, 01 Nov 2024 02:08:09 GMThttp://samgroupil.org/general-meeting/november-18-general-meetingWhen: Monday, November 18th at 1:00pm
​Where: Beth Emet address is 1224 Dempster St, Evanston, IL 60202

Guest Speaker: Gary Midkiff

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TOPIC: “Consuming The News“

Bio:

Gary is a college professor who teaches management and ethics at North Park University, American history specializing in the U.S. Civil War and the American Presidency to adult learners, and works with the Foreign Policy Association to lead “Great Decisions” foreign policy discussion groups at over 35 locations throughout the Chicago area. Gary’s foreign policy political newsletter “The View From My Balcony” is published two to four times each month.

Gary’s professional background includes executive management, international consulting and owning his own software company. He is the author of two novels and earned a Chef’s Diploma from culinary school in France in 2005.

Gary has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.]]>Wed, 09 Oct 2024 19:08:05 GMThttp://samgroupil.org/general-meeting/october-21-the-quest-for-immortalityWhen: October 21
Time: 1:30PM
Where: Beth Emet Synagogue, 1224 Dempster St, in Evanston​

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Guest Speaker: Dr. Richard Morimoto

Title of Talk: The Quest for Immortality

BIO:
Dr. Richard I. Morimoto is the Bill and Gayle Cook Professor of Biology and Director of the Rice Institute for Biomedical Research at Northwestern University.
​
Rick received his B.S. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, subsequently received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at University of Chicago in 1978. He conducted his post in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard University. He was concurrently a Tutor in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard College. In 1982, Morimoto joined the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He has served as the Chair of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology, the Dean of The Graduate School, and the Associate Provost of Graduate Education at Northwestern. He has given talks at universities and symposia throughout the world. He was a founder of the biotech company Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc in Cambridge MA, to develop small molecule therapeutics to treat diseases of protein homeostasis. ​]]>