Speakers

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is among China’s principal economic, infrastructure, and foreign policy projects.  Dating to 2013, the BRI is conceptualized as a “new Silk Road,” with polar, maritime, and overland dimensions.  This talk will consider the origins of this gargantuan development project and consider how it is playing out in different parts of Eurasia and other regions. 

Hugh Shapiro is an associate professor of East Asian history at the University of Nevada, Reno.  His extensive archival and fieldwork in China, Japan, and Taiwan regards the history of disease in comparative context.  His recent work appears in volumes published by Harvard University Press and Globalyceum.

Hugh has enjoyed visiting appointments at Princeton University, at universities in China, Japan, and Taiwan, and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.  Hugh’s other research and teaching interests include Sino-Russian-Central Asian relations and the history of de-colonization and authoritarianism.  

As a Smithsonian Journeys Expert, he has lectured in 20 countries in Eurasia.  He received the Li-Qing Prize for the History of Chinese Science and won his University’s highest teaching award.  Hugh earned his B.A. from Stanford University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Nicole Bishop, Regional Director for Northern Nevada at Donor Network West, joins us to share information about the lifesaving work the non-profit organization does in our community to save and heal lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. Beyond increased knowledge about the organ donation process and answering your questions, you will also benefit from knowing what you can to do today, in your own circle of influence, to increase awareness of the immense need for organ donors, grow the donor registry, and how you can join the mission to save and heal lives.

Nicole Bishop graduated from the Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Prior to joining Donor Network West, she served as a pediatric nurse leader at Renown Children’s Hospital for 22 years, caring for children in our community. She began her career at Donor Network West in 2015, as the first in-house Hospital Donation Coordinator where she provided hospital and family support through the donation process from referral through organ recovery. 

As the General Secretary (CEO) of Rotary International, John Hewko will be giving us an update on how things are going with Rotary and will talk about issues facing Rotary.

From 2004 to 2009, he was vice president for operations and compact development for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government agency established in 2004 to deliver foreign assistance to the world’s poorest countries.  Prior to joining MCC, Hewko was an international partner with the law firm Baker & McKenzie, specializing in international corporate transactions in emerging markets.  Hewko has been a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  Hewko holds a law degree from Harvard University, a master’s in modern history from Oxford University (where he studied as a Marshall Scholar) and a bachelor’s in government and Soviet studies from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.  He speaks four languages besides English: Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian.

John and his wife Margarita live in Evanston and are major donors to the Rotary Foundation.