TEDxUWMadison

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Adele Houghton

  Adele Houghton, FAIA, DrPH, LEED AP, is President of Biositu, LLC where she works at the intersection of buildings, public health, and climate change. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows and received a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she also teaches. Her book Architectural Epidemiology (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), co-authored with Professor Carlos Castillo-Salgado of Johns Hopkins University, proposes a novel method for architectural design: combining neighborhood-scale environmental health data with participatory community engagement to maximize a building’s positive ripple effect on community and planetary health.

• Amanda Parkes

  Dr. Amanda Parkes is a material technologist and fashion scientist with over 25 years of experience in fashion innovation, sustainability, wearable technology, interaction design and smart materials spanning research, development, and product commercialization for start ups and major tech and fashion companies. She is currently the CTO of Mothership Materials, creating high value material streams from agriwaste streams using breakthrough molecular separation technology. She was previously the founding scientist and Chief Innovation Officer of Pangaia, a material science company and fashion brand launching first to market material innovations. Past career highlights include Chief of Technology and Research at Manufacture NY, founder of fashion tech studio Skinteractive, co-founder of Bodega Algae, a microalgae photobioreator company and teaching positions at Columbia, Harvard and NYU. She received a PhD & M.S. in Tangible Media from the MIT Media Lab and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Art History from Stanford University. She is an international speaker & lecturer including TED, COP, CES, WEF, the Vogue Innovation Prize, the World Biomarkets Summit, and the New York Times International Luxury Conference. She has been named to the Business of Fashion 500 People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry, Vanity Fair’s 8 Wildest Women of Silicon Valley, The Glossy 50: Fashion’s Digital Front Runners, a Verizon Pioneer of Humanability and as one of Alleywatch’s 10 Most Influential People in Fashion Technology.

• Angela Mudukuti

  Angela Mudukuti is a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer, specialized in international criminal law and women's rights with over 17 years of experience fighting for justice and accountability. Using a survivor/victim centred and intersectional approach Angela has worked all over the world for a variety of organisations including international courts like the International Criminal Court and civil society organisations including Human Rights Watch and the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Passionate about her field of work, Angela has focused on strategic litigation, advocacy, and capacity building. This includes investigating human rights violations and bringing precedent setting cases before domestic and international courts. She has also led strategic interventions to provide access to justice for women and girls in remote communities in sub-saharan Africa and has been published extensively in books, journals and newspapers. Her work has been featured in the media including the Financial Times and she has been named one of the top 30 Gender Equality Activists in the world by CNN.

• Angela Pacheco

  Angela Pacheco is a founder, former corporate executive, and advocate for intentional living. After nearly two decades in Human Resources leadership at global companies including Rolls-Royce North America and Bridgestone Americas, she built teams, shaped organizations, and led change at scale — always focused on helping people do their best work. At 34, an aggressive breast cancer diagnosis forced her to confront a different question: not how to move faster, but how to make space. Space to heal. Space to rethink success. Space to choose work and partnerships aligned with her values. That pause changed everything. In 2024, Angela founded Good Better Best, a Nashville-based retail and refill company designed to make healthier, less-toxic living simple for busy people. Blending her background in leadership with her passion for wellness and sustainability, she now helps others redesign their lifestyle with intention. Her work explores a simple belief: small, everyday choices can create lasting change which is Good for the Planet, Better for our communities, and Best for You.

• John Hawks

  John Hawks is a world expert on human evolution and genetics. He is Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Vilas-Borghesi Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also serves as a visiting professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Hawks’ research covers seven million years of human origins. His work in human genetics helped uncover the very rapid recent pace of genetic evolution with the rise of agriculture. He was one of the first to show how genes from ancient groups like the Neanderthals could make a difference in today’s people. For the last decade, he has worked with scientists and explorers in South Africa to bring to light new hominin fossils. Among the best known have come from the Rising Star cave system, where the team discovered the new species, Homo naledi in 2013. Hawks has done fieldwork in Africa, Asia and Europe, combining skeletal evidence from fossils with new information from genetics to uncover how humans evolved.

• Joseph Specter

  Joseph Specter has served as President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation since April 2025, bringing a strong commitment to expanding the reach and impact of cultural institutions. He previously led Arizona Opera to national recognition through innovative productions, expanded philanthropy, and community engagement, and held leadership roles at Austin Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, advancing fundraising and institutional partnerships. A former professional opera singer with five years of financial services experience, Specter combines strategic vision and deep fundraising expertise with a passion for helping mission-driven organizations grow in relevance and inspire new audiences.

• Justin Shaifer

  Justin "Mr. Fascinate" Shaifer is an award-winning STEM thought leader, educator, and keynote speaker on a mission to empower the world with innovation. At Fascinate Media, he serves as both executive producer and on-camera talent, creating educational content about innovation, AI & STEM literacy, and the Future of Work. His roster of past clients and collaborators include LinkedIn, Intuit, NVIDIA, Google, PBS, Discovery, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Al Roker.