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2026 Symposium On Aging | Speakers

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Session 1 – Gregory Gem

James Chappel, PhD

Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

James Chappel is the Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History at Duke University and a senior fellow at the Duke Aging Center. He attended Haverford College, where he received a BA in History, and Columbia University for a PhD in History. His prizewinning first book, Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Church, was published in 2018. Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age was published by Basic Books in November 2024. In addition to many academic venues, his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Nation, and the New Republic. He is the senior warden of St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, and he is currently writing a study of C.S. Lewis and the Second World War, also under contract with Basic Books. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Website:  https://sites.duke.edu/jameschappel/

Session 1 – James Gregory Chappel

Publications

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Session 2 – Jeff Whittle

Jeff Whittle, MD, MPH, FACP

Staff Physician and Associate Chief for Clinical Research, Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Professor of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Jeff Whittle, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Associate Chief for Clinical Research at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. He is a leader in the All of Us Research Program, which is enabling research aimed at understanding how individual differences in lifestyle, environment and biology affect health and disease. Such research will support the development of more personalized approaches to maintaining health and managing disease. He also leads the Milwaukee VA’s participation in the Million Veteran Program, a similar effort that focuses on Veterans using the VA healthcare system. His personal research has focused on promoting the self-management of cardiovascular risk factors and mental health conditions. This research has been carried out in partnership with community organizations such as the American Legion. He has also worked to engage community members in the research process, from participating in choosing research topics, to advising regarding study design and helping to disseminate study results into practice.

Session 2 – Whittle Gem
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Session 3 – Epley Gem

Nicholas Epley, PhD

John Templeton Keller Professor of Behavioral Science, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago, Illinois

Nicholas Epley is the John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavior Science and Director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He studies social cognition—how thinking people think about other thinking people—to understand why smart people so routinely misunderstand each other.  He teaches an ethics and wellbeing course to MBA students called Designing a Good Life. His research has been featured by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Wired, and National Public Radio, among many others, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Templeton Foundation.  He has been awarded the 2008 Theoretical Innovation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the 2011 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association, the 2015 Book Prize for the Promotion of Social and Personality Science and the 2018 Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.  Epley was named a “professor to watch” by the Financial Times, one of the “World’s Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors” by Poets and Quants, and one of the 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics by Ethisphere.  He is the author of Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want, and of a forthcoming book to be published in May 2026 tentatively titled, A Little More Social: How Small Habits Can Make Us Happier, Healthier, and Better Connected.

Website:  www.nicholasepley.com

Session 3 – Nicholas Epley

Publications

  • “Undersociality: Miscalibrated social cognition can inhibit social connection.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(5), 406-418.
  • A prosociality paradox: How miscalibrated social cognition creates a misplaced barrier to prosocial action.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32, 33–41.
  • “Overly shallow?: Miscalibrated expectations create a barrier to deeper conversation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(3), 367–398.
  • “Insufficiently complimentary?: Underestimating the positive impact of compliments creates a barrier to expressing them.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(2), 239-256.
  • “Misplaced divides?: Discussing political disagreement with strangers can be unexpectedly positive.” Psychological Science, 35(5),471-488.
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Session 4 Susan Magsamen

Susan Magsamen, MAS

Executive Director, International Arts + Mind Lab, Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, Johns Hopkins University, Co-Director, NeuroArts Blueprint, Baltimore, Maryland

Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She co-directs the NeuroArts Blueprint project, a joint initiative with the Aspen Institute to establish neuroarts as a field integrating arts and aesthetics into medicine and public health. Susan is also the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.

Magsamen developed Impact Thinking, a translational research model that applies scientific methods to arts and aesthetics to scale, disseminate and evaluate real-world applications. Her work explores how the arts and aesthetic experiences impact us and how this knowledge is translated into solutions in medicine, education and public health.

A learning specialist entrepreneur, Susan has founded several award-winning art-based learning companies—Curiosity Kits and Curiosityville—which have earned over 600 innovation and impact awards. She is also the author of seven books on the arts for children, families and educators.

Websites:

https://www.yourbrainonart.com

https://www.neuroartsresourcecenter.com/home

https://neuroartsblueprint.org

https://www.artsandmindlab.org

Session 4 – Magsamen Gem

Publications

  • Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us (New York: Random House, 2023; ISBN 978-0593449233)
  • “Our Brains on Art: An Ancient Prescription for 21st Century Solutions,” Journal of Neuroscience 30 October 2024, 44 (44) e183324024; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1833-24.2024
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Session 5 – Campbell Gem

Bruce H. Campbell, MD, FACS

Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Bruce H. Campbell, MD FACS retired in 2022 from his position as a head and neck cancer surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) where he held faculty positions in both otolaryngology and bioethics/medical humanities. He received his MD from Rush University before completing an otolaryngology residency at the MCW and a head and neck surgical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center. In addition to a busy clinical practice and his teaching responsibilities, NIH funding allowed him to study head and neck cancer survivorship.

He completed certification in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University in 2019 and continues to work regularly with medical students and residents, coaching storytelling, editing and encouraging reflection.

He is the author or co-author of over 100 scientific manuscripts. He has published creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry and humor in both medical and creative journals. He is nonfiction editor for Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine.

Website: www.BruceCampbellMD.com

Session 5 – Bruce Campbell

Publications

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Session 6 – Robert Geraci

Robert M. Geraci, PhD

Knight Distinguished Chair for the Study of Religion & Culture, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois

Robert M. Geraci is Knight Distinguished Chair for the Study of Religion & Culture at Knox College. His research explores the intersections between religion, science and technology in the contemporary world. He is the author of Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality (Oxford 2010), Virtually Sacred: Myths and Meaning in World of Warcraft and Second Life (Oxford 2014), Temples of Modernity: Nationalism, Hinduism, and Transhumanism in South Indian Science (Lexington 2018) and Futures of Artificial Intelligence: Perspectives from India and the U.S. (Oxford 2022). He has been a visiting researcher at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, the Indian Institute of Science and the National Institute for Advanced Studies in Bangalore, India. His research has been supported by the US National Science Foundation, the Republic of Korea National Research Foundation, the American Academy of Religion and two Fulbright-Nehru research awards.

Website:  https://robertgeraci.com/

Session 6 – Geraci Gem

Publications

  • Futures of Artificial Intelligence: Perspectives from India and the United States (Oxford 2022; ISBN 978-8194831679)
  • Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality (Oxford 2010; ISBN 978-0199964000)
  • Temples of Modernity: Nationalism, Hinduism, and Transhumanism in South Indian Science (Lexington 2018; ISBN 978-1498577748)
  • “Artificial Canon: AI and the Transformation of Religion.” Current History 123(856): 296-301. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2024.123.856.296
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Session 7 – Elon Gem

Rebecca Elon, MD, MPH

Chief Medical Officer Emerita, FutureCare Health and Management, Associate Professor of Medicine, Voluntary part-time Faculty – Division of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Dr. Elon was born and raised in Milwaukee. She is a graduate of Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas School of Public Health, all of which are in Houston, Texas.  She completed her internal medicine residency and geriatric medicine fellowship at Baylor.

In 1988, Dr. Elon was selected as a W. K. Kellogg Foundation National Fellow and moved to Washington D.C. to study federal policy related to nursing home reform, while serving on the faculty at George Washington University.

Dr. Elon served as Medical Director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Center, serving on the full-time faculty at Hopkins from 1991 to 1997. She has continued to serve on as voluntary, part-time faculty at Hopkins since then.  She was employed with FutureCare Health and Management, a privately held Maryland company, from 1997 until her retirement in 2025.

In 2024, Dr. Elon was the lead negotiator for Saint John’s On The Lake in establishing a collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin for medical direction, clinical services, educational programing and scholarship in community eldercare. The collaboration was launched in October 2024.

Trained as geriatrician and policy expert in long-term care, Dr. Elon devoted her 40+ year career to the care of frail elders and to promoting performance improvement within health care delivery systems. She relocated from Maryland to Milwaukee during COVID for family caregiving duties and has been a resident of Saint John’s On The Lake since May 2020.

Session 7 – Rebecca Elon
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The Rev Seth Raymond

THE REV. SETH RAYMOND

The Rev. Seth Raymond has been the pastor/priest of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee since April 2023. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2012 and served Christ Church Whitefish Bay and the Hospitality Center and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Racine before arriving at St. Paul’s. After growing up in Colorado, Seth’s journey has been varied, including work with teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in day programs, group homes, L’Arche Communities and as an Episcopal missionary in Taiwan.

A lifelong learner, Seth earned degrees in Sociology (Boston University), Music Education (University of Colorado at Boulder), Theology (Duke Divinity School), and Nonprofit Management (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).  His broad experiences living and working with those who are the most vulnerable deeply inform his commitment to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is God with Us. Seth serves on the board of Saint John’s On The Lake and Milwaukee’s Forest Home Cemetery.

Main GEM
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