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Mike Magee MD is the author of CODE BLUE: Inside the Medical-Industrial
Complex which received a Kirkus Star review. He is a medical historian and journalist at
the President’s College at the University of Hartford. He has held similar roles in a range
of academic institutions. He was a Honorary Master Scholar at NYU School of Medicine,
and a Distinquished Alumnus award recipient from the University of North Carolina.

Beginning as a country doctor in western New England, he rose to the highest levels of
his profession holding senior executive positions at Pennsylvania Hospital in
Philadelphia, and as head of global medical affairs for Pfizer. He is editor of the blog
HealthCommentary.org.

Megan Clark Torrey is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the World Affairs Council of CT. Megan became the Executive Director in March 2014, after having served as Program Director since 2003. She oversees the development and delivery of world class programming that educates the community on global affairs.

Recently, Megan implemented a nation-wide World Affairs Council series focused on global women’s health, helped pilot a leadership mission to Brazil and produced a mini-documentary on Henry Kissinger that featured several former Secretaries of State. Megan has facilitated the visits of several world leaders to the Council in Hartford. During her time at CTWAC, the Council has expanded the scope and reach of its programming by implementing new technology and communications initiatives.

Ms. Torrey has two degrees in international relations and diplomacy. Her research interests include inclusive security and the role of women in post-conflict situations and citizen participation in foreign policy. Before joining the World Affairs Council in 2003, she worked with UNESCO’s International Year for the Culture of Peace at the headquarters in Paris and at the United Nations International Training Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. A member of several professional organizations, Megan has traveled extensively all over the world.

WALTER HARRISON is president emeritus of the University of Hartford, where he led the University from 1998 until his retirement in 2017. His academic interest is in baseball and its place in American culture. Recognized as a baseball historian, he focuses on aspects of baseball that reflect on American values and concerns. From 2002-2012 he was a member of NCAA governance, chairing the executive committee (now called the board of governors), the committee on academic performance (now called the committee on academics), and President’s Council. In 2014 he received the NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award, the NCAA’s highest honor, for his lifetime involvement in intercollegiate athletics and specifically for his leadership of the academic reform movement. From 2014-2022 he served on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, the foremost watchdog organization in college sports.

Jim Bergenn handles complex criminal and civil litigation, white collar crime and government investigations, personal injury and wrongful death cases, and other trials with meaningful consequences.  Tapping into over 40 years’ experience as a trial attorney and trial skills instructor, lawyers and the media call on Jim for his insight with respect to investigations, experts and high-profile trials.

Jim’s wide range of criminal cases include representing targets of investigations, criminal defendants, grand jury and other witnesses, and victims of crime.  He works on matters prosecuted by the whole gamut of federal, state and local authorities: US Attorney’s Office; Chief State’s Attorney’s Office; state and federal Grand Juries, FBI; state and local police; SEC; DEA; ATF; DOD; IRS; FDA; FTC; Offices of Inspector General for Federal Agencies; and state regulators, including Attorneys General, DEP, DPH, DMR, DCF, and the Office of Consumer Protection.

As an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer, Jim handles matters on behalf of victims of car, truck and bicycling accidents, defective products and premises, construction accidents, drownings, boating accidents, environmental hazards, medical malpractice and sexual assaults.  Injuries include death, traumatic brain injuries, burns, paralysis, blindness and Legionnaire’s disease, among others.  He adeptly uses technology to help jurors understand complex matters in simple terms (video reconstruction, videotaped depositions, clear illustrations, charts, maps and highlighted documents).  Jim leverages his large network of contacts to his clients’ advantage, often employing video, expert witnesses, accident reconstruction experts and economic and medical experts to make his clients’ cases persuasive.

Sean Scanlon began his term as Connecticut’s 67th State Comptroller in 2023.

The son of a police officer and small business owner, Sean attended Guilford public schools and worked his way through high school and Boston College.

From 2015 to 2023, Sean served as the State Representative for the 98th District in the Connecticut General Assembly. As chairman of the legislature’s Insurance Committee, Sean wrote and passed legislation protecting people with pre-existing conditions from insurance discrimination, established the lowest monthly co-pay cap for insulin in the nation at $25, prevented insurance companies from covering mental health differently than physical health, required health insurance plans to cover ten “Essential Health Benefits,” and created Connecticut’s first prescription drug price transparency law. During his fourth and final term, Sean served as Chair of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding committee where he led the fight to create tax relief for working families and worked with Governor Lamont to pass the largest tax cut in state history.

During his first term as Comptroller, Sean successfully reformed Connecticut’s municipal and disability pension systems, strengthened the benefits of first responders, created the state’s first prescription drug discount card, dramatically expanded enrollment Connecticut’s small business retirement plan MyCTSavings and championed efforts to make health care more accessible and affordable.

Sean lives in Guilford with his wife Meghan, who is the President & CEO of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and their two sons.

With 20+ years in Sales and Management Leadership roles in Healthcare, Todd is responsible for U.S. sales of existing products and go-to-market planning and execution for new technologies.

Todd’s experience extends across Medical Devices, SaaS, Analytics and AI.  During his career he has helped many organizations grow, including Smith & Nephew, Owens & Minor, Archway Health and multiple startup companies.

Todd’s passion is building teams that solve business process problems in Healthcare. At DICOM Director he’s focused on scaling the resources required to support the rapid growth of our medical imaging technology products. ​
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Leadership & Founding Vision of TMRI Director Jay White

Dr. Jay White’s path to TMRI began long before his scientific and academic career—in the woods and fields of the working farm where he grew up. When chores were done, he spent his hours building, observing, drawing, and asking questions of the natural world. Those quiet experiences in the fields and forest sparked a lifelong curiosity that carried him into astrophysics, college leadership, and global STEM-education work—from studying explosive stars to helping build scientific capacity on six continents.

After decades in higher education and international engagement, Jay has returned to the source: pairing rigorous research with the hands-on wonder that first shaped him. TMRI reflects that origin, a place where nascent researchers and STEM scholars engage in authentic inquiry, where imagination meets method, and where scientific discovery is lived from within rather than observed from afar. Jay’s vision, as well as that of the whole Talcott Mountain Science Center, Academy, and Research Institute, is to build not only knowledge, but the next generations of discoverers.

Peter’s career has been devoted to the resolution of difficult conflicts, through his practice of over 30 years at the law firm of Shipman & Goodwin, LLP, where he engaged in healthcare and commercial litigation handling high stakes, multiparty disputes with complex factual and legal issues both in Connecticut and in courts throughout the country. He served for 10 years as Chair of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group and for four years on the Management Committee.

Peter’s commitment to and accomplishments in serving clients to find better ways to resolve disputes led to starting own dispute resolution practice in January 2010. That shift enabled him to focus entirely on dispute resolution as a mediator and arbitrator.

***My new book, We the People:  one town & the collective magic of it’s citizens, may be purchased online through the two links below…

Noah Webster House –  Online Gift Shop

Brilliant Editions

The book is also available in West Hartford CT. at River Bend Bookshop, Good Cause Gifts, Kimberly Gift and the Noah Webster House.

I’m drawn to art that doesn’t try too hard – art that’s understated, calm, and always meaningful. Not surprisingly, the photographs I love feature only the most curious detail. Regardless of the subject…beautiful architecture, forgotten object, authentic grin, zooming in beyond the noise leaves me tender-hearted. The backstory behind a person or artifact may be a mystery, but just knowing that everyone and everything has a tale to tell is reassuring. It reminds me that I’m not alone in the ups and downs of my own story.

A curiosity for the unknown and connecting with others dates back to when I was little. My sisters, cousins and I spent countless hours exploring our grandparents’ farm in Michigan. My favorite spot was a shed full of old stuff – equipment, tools, photos, even handwritten letters. Sifting, I worked hard to imagine the history and people attached to it all.

The excitement from those early days is the same feeling I have when getting to know someone as I photograph or roaming a city searching for details. I was (and am) a sucker for finding the beautiful and unexpected hidden in our busy world. Although the Michigan farm days are no longer, I still love to bring light to important narratives. Only now, a camera helps me sift.

When I’m not out photographing people or places, I can usually be found in an old green house in West Hartford, CT. It’s where I live with my husband, our three kids, and one dog…creating stories.