Greetings TED Enthusiast!

The lineup for TEDxMidAtlantic 2012 Be Fearless keeps getting better, and we're thrilled to announce the addition of over a dozen thinkers, entrepreneurs, artists, and philanthropists. Whether your interest is the Mars curiosity rover, behavioral economics, or the future of privacy, our presenters will spark connections you've never considered. That's the magic of TEDxMidAtlantic making unexpected connections and revealing new insights. Tickets for TEDxMidAtlantic 2012 are going fast, but we wanted to give you one last chance to buy a ticket at a discounted rate. Please use the coupon code FEARLESS to receive a discount as a member of the TEDxMidAtlantic community by September 21, 2012. Buy your tickets now. We'll be making one more announcement with some additional presenters, and there is a possibility for a few surprises too. We look forward to seeing you on October 26th and 27th! Sincerely, David Troy, Nate Mook, James Pan and the TEDxMidAtlantic 2012 Organizing Team TEDxMidAtlantic 2012: Be Fearless October 26-27 10am-6pm (with reception afterwards each day) Sidney Harman Hall 610 F St., NW Washington, DC

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Here's a sneak peak of some of what you'll see at Be Fearless. More presenters will be announced soon!

Jonathan Haidt, Author

Jonathan Haidt (pronounced height) is a social psychologist at the NYU-Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992, and spent most of his career (1995-2011) at the University of Virginia. Haidts research examines the intuitive foundations of morality, and how morality varies across cultures. In recent years he has examined the moral cultures of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians. Haidt is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis, and of the The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion.

Marci Harris, Social Entrepreneur

Marci Harris left a career on Capitol Hill in February 2010 to build POPVOX, a neutral, nonpartisan platform for civic engagement and legislative information. Launched in January 2011, POPVOX has delivered over 500,000 messages to Congress from users in every Congressional district. In 2011, POPVOX won the SxSW BizSpark Accelerator startup competition. Harris is a recipient of a 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Disruptive Innovation Award and was named #13 of the "Top 100 Most Creative People in Business" by Fast Company magazine.

Jordan Evans, NASA, Curiosity Rover

Jordan Evans is the Engineering Development and Operations Manager for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover project at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Since 2006, in both his current role and prior role as the Deputy Flight System Manager, Mr. Evans has led the MSL team through the challenges of Curiosity's design, development, testing and operations on the surface of Mars. His past projects and experience encompass a wide array of aerospace topics including the B-2 Stealth Bomber, Hubble Space Telescope, and a space-based Gravitational Wave Detector. Publications from Mr. Evans include papers on bonded joints, compensation for "self-gravity," systems engineering challenges, managing critical tests, and cleaning of instruments for detection of organics on Mars.

Jules Polonetsky, Privacy Theorist

Jules serves as Director and Co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that seeks to advance responsible data practices. FPFs current projects to advance transparency and control in a business-practical manner focus on online data use, smart grid, mobile data, apps and social media.

Noor Siddiqui, Thiel Fellow

Noor Siddiqui's service on the founding team of a Virginia nonprofit with international reach exposed her to the tenacity and resilience of the world's poor. After graduating from high school, she set aside her university acceptance letters and opted for the Thiel Fellowship. The Thiel Fellowship grants 20 entrepreneurs under 20, $100,000 to move to Silicon Valley and pursue 'game-changing' entrepreneurial ventures. Noor is working on building a more inclusive world by harnessing untapped productive energy at the base of the pyramid.

Mario Livio, Astrophysicist

Dr Mario Livio is an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the institute which conducts the scientific program of the Hubble Space Telescope. He has published more than 400 scientific papers and received numerous awards for research, for excellence in teaching, and for his books. His interests span a broad range of topics in astrophysics, from cosmology and black holes, to extrasolar planets and the emergence of intelligent life in the universe.He also writes a regular blog entitled "A Curious Mind."

Sage Salvo, Words Liive

Sage Salvo (born Gilbert Newman Perkins) is the creator of Words Liive, an innovative literary arts program that aims to elevate the lyrical genius in hip-hop lyrics through a literary analysis which pairs historical poetry with the poetry of hip-hop by means of their respective use of literary devices. Sage is also the author of the forthcoming book, Words Liive: Hip-Hop as a Forty Year Neo-Romantic Literary Period. His Words Liive program has featured Grammy-nominated artists such as Maimouna Youssef and Carolyn Malachi. Commencing this year, Words Liive has also been adopted by a select number of Washington DC area high schools as an ancillary creative writing program.

Alessandro Acquisti, Privacy Economist

Alessandro Acquisti is an associate professor at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, a soundtrack composer, and a former motorcycle racer. Alessandro's research investigates the economics of privacy. His studies have spearheaded the application of behavioral economics to the analysis of privacy and information security decision making, and the analysis of privacy and disclosure behavior in online social networks. His studies have been published in journals across several disciplines and have been the recipients of the PET Award for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies, the IBM Best Academic Privacy Faculty Award, and multiple Best Paper awards.

Frances Hesselbein, Hesselbein Institute

One of the most highly respected experts in the field of contemporary leadership development, Frances Hesselbein is the President and CEO of The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, founded as The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management and renamed in 2012 to honor Hesselbeins legacy and ongoing contributions. Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of Americas highest civilian honor, in 1998 for her leadership as CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. from 19761990, as well as her service as a pioneer for women, volunteerism, diversity and opportunity. Her contributions were also recognized by the first President Bush, who appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service.

David Rubenstien, Carlyle Group

David M. Rubenstein is a Co-Founder and Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, one of the worlds largest private equity firms. Mr. Rubenstein co-founded the firm in 1987. Since then, Carlyle has grown into a firm managing more than $156 billion from 32 offices around the world. Mr. Rubenstein, a native of Baltimore, is a 1970 magna cum laude graduate of Duke, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. Following Duke, Mr. Rubenstein graduated in 1973 from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review.

Billy Shore, Share Our Strength

Bill Shore is the founder and chief executive officer of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit that is working to end childhood hunger in America. Shore founded Share Our Strength in 1984 with his sister Debbie and a $2,000 cash advance on a credit card. Since then, Share Our Strength has raised and invested more than $315 million in the fight against hunger, and has won the support of national leaders in many fields ranging from governors, including Marylands Martin OMalley, to Oscar winning actor Jeff Bridges.

Gautam Gulati, Physician

r. Gulati is the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Product Innovation for Physicians Interactive Holdings, where he leads a world-class team to ideate, design, build, and deploy game-changing solutions for health professionals. In addition to his executive role, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of "Medical Innovation and

Entrepreneurship" at Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.

Jaison Morgan, Incentive Engineer

Jaison Morgan is the Managing Principal of The Common Pool and Co-Founder of RAMPIT Software. Hes been recognized by the BBC as the worlds expert in designing incentives to drive innovative breakthroughs. He helped establish a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study how targeted rewards can be used to induce new approaches to engineering challenges. He was the former head of prize development for the X PRIZE Foundation, where he led teams to deliver multiple cash bounties of $10 million or more for solutions to common causes. Mr. Morgan completed graduate studies at the University of Chicago and is a frequent lecturer on the subject of Incentive Engineering.

Jason Seiken, PBS - @jseiken

Jason Seiken is Senior Vice President of PBS Interactive and oversees PBS award-winning new media services, including pbs.org, pbskids.org, pbskidsgo.org, and the PBS mobile products, such as PBS for the iPad. He is responsible for revenue from new media and from worldwide DVD distribution and download to own. Recently, Seiken's projects repurposing content from PBS' archives gained international attention.

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