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Gurses, Mehmet

Gurses, Mehmet

Mehmet Gurses, Ph.D. is a professor of political science at FAU. His research interests include ethnic and religious conflict, post-civil war peacebuilding, post-civil war democratization, and the Middle East. He is the author of “Anatomy of a Civil War: Sociopolitical Impacts of the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey”, (University of Michigan Press, 2018) and co-editor of “Conflict, Democratization and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria”, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). He has published extensively in journals including International Interactions, Social Science Quarterly, Defense and Peace Economics, and Political Research Quarterly.
Guttenberg, Frank and Gobor, Thomas

Gabor, Thomas and Guttenberg, Fred

Thomas Gabor, Ph.D. is President of Thomas Gabor, LLC, a criminal justice consulting firm based in Florida. Dr. Gabor served as a Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa from 1981-2011.In 1974, he completed his undergraduate degree in sociology with high honors (magna cum laude) from the University of Montreal (Loyola College Campus). He holds a Master of Arts degree in Criminology from the University of Ottawa (Canada) and a doctorate in Sociology from Ohio State University (1983). He has received the American Society of Criminology’s prestigious Gene Carte Prize for his research on Crime Displacement. The Department of Homeland Security has designated him as an individual of “Extraordinary Ability.” He has also been inducted into the Canadian and Criminology’s Who’s Who and has been nominated for several teaching awards. Dr. Gabor served on the Editorial Committee of the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice from 1990-2010. He is a recognized national and international expert in the areas of gun violence and crime prevention. He has published over 200 books, research reports, journal articles, and media articles. Dr. Gabor has written five books on gun violence, including the acclaimed Confronting Gun Violence in America (2016) and the recent bestseller, AMERICAN CARNAGE: Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence, co-authored with Fred Guttenberg, father of Parkland school shooting victim Jaime Guttenberg. He has been a contributing writer to Fortune Magazine and is a regular opinion writer for a number of newspapers. He has also contributed a chapter on Firearms and Violent Crime to the Encyclopedia of Criminology. Dr. Gabor has also served as a consultant to many international and national organizations. He has provided advice to the United Nations, Lord Cullen’s Inquiry on firearms policy in the United Kingdom, the Department of Justice Canada, the Canadian Firearms Centre, Palm Beach County’s Criminal Justice Commission (Florida), League of Women Voters of Florida, Public Safety Canada, Canada’s Border Services Agency, and the Correctional Service of Canada. He has testified in front of the House of Commons Justice Committee and the Canadian Senate and in a number of criminal and occupational safety cases, including a high-profile lawsuit involving missing and murdered Indigenous women. Dr. Gabor has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and podcasts, such as Deadline: White House, Morning Joe, Andrea Mitchell Reports, Canada AM and his views have been widely cited in the print and electronic media—e.g., BBC, Daily Telegraph, Fortune Magazine, LA Times, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Miami Herald, Orlando Weekly, Tampa Bay Times, Palm Beach Post, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Dr. Gabor has a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. Dr. Gabor is a frequent speaker on gun violence and has spoken to organizations/groups such as: Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, The League of Women Voters, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, March for Our Lives, the National Council for Jewish Women, Indivisibles, as well as religious and interfaith groups, Democratic Party clubs, organizations, and numerous community groups. For more information on Dr. Gabor’s professional activities, please visit: thomasgaborbooks.com

Fred Guttenberg began his public life after the murder of his beautiful 14 year old daughter Jaime in the Parkland school shooting on Feb 14th. The day after the murder, Fred decided to attend a public vigil in Parkland. While there, the Mayor asked him to speak. His words shook a nation and he has not stopped since. Only four months prior to the murder of his daughter, Fred’s brother Michael passed away in October 2017 from cancer related to his service in 9/11. He was one of the original first responders at the WTC with a team of doctors who got trapped in the WTC as it collapsed. Amazingly, the room that they hid out in did not collapse and Michael and his team of physicians spent 16 days at ground zero taking care of others Following his involvement in these two distinctly American Tragedies, Fred has traveled the country talking about both events but also talking about perspective, perseverance, and resilience. He discusses pivotal moments in our life and how we respond to those moments. Fred’s mission ultimately led him to write his first book Find The Helpers and his follow up book American Carnage with co-author Tom Gabor. Prior to these events, Fred Guttenberg’s professional life included over a decade of experience in sales and management with Johnson and Johnson, followed by almost 15 years as an entrepreneur, having built a business that consisted of 19 Dunkin Donuts, which he sold in November 2016. Fred and his wife Jennifer now spend time challenging our elected officials to do more. They began a nonprofit organization dedicated to Jaime’s life called “Orange Ribbons for Jaime”. He has been a regular on TV news programs and myriad of online and print media. Through the formation of the non-profit, this is now his full-time mission.
Hagood

Hagood, Taylor

Taylor Hagood, Ph.D., is a professor of American literature at FAU. He has published several books, including “Faulkner; Writer of Disability”, (winner of the 2014 C. Hugh Holman Award for Best Book in Southern Studies), has lectured in venues throughout North America and Europe and was a Fulbright Professor at the University of Munich (2009-10).
Hamer, Russell

Hamer, Russell

Russell D. Hamer, Ph.D.,is a visual neuroscientist who studies how the eye and brain process light information to create our rich visual world. He did research for 22 years at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (San Francisco), followed by seven years of research and teaching at the Institute of Psychology at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. He is one of the world’s leading experts on the visual development of human infants. His research interests and writings also include Analyses of Art & Aesthetics from the point of view of visual brain mechanisms, Perception & Illusions, the relationship between Science & Human Values, and Precision of Human Musical Rhythm.
Derek Boyd Hankerson

Hankerson, Derek Boyd

Derek Boyd Hankerson, is a faculty member, world traveler, and documentary film maker who has produced 4 films on accurate American history. These films have aired nationally and on PBS. Mr. Hankerson is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a B. A. In government and politics and Webster University with a M. A., in Management and Leadership. He has been actively engaged in government and politics for 38 years. At the age of eighteen, he started his career with the Reagan-Bush 1984 Presidential Campaign in Washington, DC and worked with “Africans- Americans for Reagan-Bush” Mr. Hankerson’s great, great grandfather Rev., J. P. Hankerson, was a free man before the Civil War. He was President of the Florida General Baptist Convention for two terms 1894-1899 and 1903-1909. During that time the Florida General Baptist Convention worked with the freedmen’s bureau to educate the newly freed slaves and poor whites. Rev., J. P. Hankerson and others were instrumental in establishing the Florida Bible Institute, which later became Florida Memorial University located in Miami, Florida. Rev., J. H. Hankerson graduated from the Florida Bible Institute with a degree in Theology. Rev., J. H. Hankerson was one of the first Black Postmasters in the state of Florida and was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson from February 9, 1915- June 10, 1918 as the first Black Postmaster of St. Johns County. St. John’s and Escambia county were the first counties established in Florida on July 2, 1821.
Herman, Helene

Herman, Helene

Helene Herman retired as President of a 400-member lifelong learning club in Florida that evolved from Brandeis Women. She lectures on a variety of historical and cultural topics. Herman has more than 30 years of executive-level experience in global marketing for a variety of American manufacturers in diverse product areas. She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from NYU; her background in cultural anthropology was instrumental in putting her on the path to her marketing career and her career as a Lifelong Learning lecturer.