Speakers representing a cross-section of Oklahoma State University students, staff, alumni and friends will bring ideas worth spreading to the Seretean Center for Performing Arts on the Stillwater campus April 10 from 1-5 p.m. for TEDxOStateU 2015.  

Now in its third installment, OSU’s local TEDx event brings together state, regional and national thought leaders to discuss education, health and wellness, technology, community revitalization, the arts and many more topics.

Special TEDxOStateU speakers include OSU engineering graduate Christopher White, who was recently featured on CBS News 60 Minutes for his work for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to illuminate illegal activities found on the largely hidden “dark web.” White invented the domain indexing and Web search program Memex used by law enforcement agencies to track online activities like human trafficking.  

Toni Brinker Pickens, a Dallas community activist and wife of T. Boone Pickens, brings to TEDxOStateU the idea behind her recently launched campaign Operation Blue Shield. The successful effort is bringing communities and police departments together to discuss the shared issues of safe and thriving neighborhoods through open dialogue.  

Oklahoma City businessman and OSU alumnus Richard Greenly will describe the efforts of his group Water4 to bring clean drinking water to millions of people in the developing world while planting entrepreneurial seeds.

OSU faculty and staff involved in a variety of research and artistic endeavors will bring inspiring messages to TEDxOStateU:

•           Suzy Harrington, OSU chief wellness officer – Spreading wellness

•           Jodi Jinks, assistant professor of theatre – Theatre behind bars

•           Susan Little, Regents Professor of Parasitology – Improving the human-animal bond

•           Bailey Norwood, professor of agriculture economics – A class worthy of Netflix

•           William Paiva, executive director, OSU Center for Health Systems Innovation – Improving health with data

•           Chandra Story, assistant professor of health education and promotion – Social support and wellness

•           Liz Roth, associate professor of the arts – Creativity and artistic expression  

Students are always an important and popular part of TEDxOStateU. This year’s lineup of students, selected following an open audition:

•           Aavron Estep – 3D printers on Mars

•           Macy Gleason – Your words are my currency

•           Rhonda Lawes – Retrain yourself to sustain change

•           Ben Myers – The disability conversation

•           David Neto – Black holes and time travel

•           Quinn Vandenberg/Jonathon Button – Using business to improve the world

•           Amy Huffer – Infant mental health

•           Al Saloha – Poem “My Heart Bleeds”

TEDxOStateU has always featured musical talent from the OSU community and this year attendees will hear from members of the OSU Concert Chorale, which recently performed at Carnegie Hall, and a rousing performance by a mixed brass, percussion, and organ ensemble from the OSU Department of Music. 

Tickets to TEDxOStateU are free to those who register by visiting TEDxOStateU.com. Follow TEDx at Facebook.com/TEDxOStateU and Twitter.com/TEDxOStateU.