People

We are only now, in the post-genome era, able to ask comprehensive questions about how genes and genomes evolved among groups and populations over long periods of geologic time. Chris Organ's current research takes advantage of these developments to address fundamental questions that span broad levels of biological organization, from genes and morphology to paleobiology.

Chris Rattey is the Content Strategy Director, Newsletters for GBH. Feedback? Questions? Reach out to Chris at chris.rattey@gbh.org.

**Chris Reed** is the founding director of Stoss and Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is also the co-editor of \_Projective Ecologies\_ and a member of Van Alen Institute's Climate Council. Photo: [Chris Reed on Twitter](https://twitter.com/chrisreedstoss "Chris Reed on Twitter")

Chris Schmidt is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked as executive producer, writer, director and editor with a focus on documentary and non-fiction television programming. He has traveled the world to produce and direct movies and television programs for PBS, Dreamworks Animation, The Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic and others.

Considered one of Intel's visionaries charting future directions for industry and computing, Chris S. Thomas directs a worldwide team of solutions architects establishing technology solutions for Intel’s “Next Billion” customers. His team develops strategies and architectures for education, health care, small business and other areas. He engages governments, industry, NGOs and development agencies worldwide in effective use of IT for emerging markets and is an active participant in world economic forum IT, internet and cloud computing activities. Thomas is well known for driving computer industry standardization and next generation solutions, including founding the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), directing Intel’s Distributed Enterprise Architecture Lab, and architecting core technologies behind the LANDesk™ Management Suite. He is also co-author of the book “Mashup Corporations” providing a very human perspective of the implications of Web2.0 and Services Oriented Solutions. Thomas is a member of the Board of Directors of Agilix Labs Inc. developing the BrainHoney™ Learning Environment for occasionally connected and mobile learning and a member of the advisory board of the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC). Thomas received a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Spanish from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

One of the world’s most beloved children’s book author/illustrators, Chris Van Allsburg has delighted millions with classics such as The Polar Express, winner of the 1986 Caldecott Medal now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Jumanji, also a Caldecott Medal winner, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, a Caldecott Honor winner, Zathura, The Widow’s Broom, and many others. His carbon pencil and charcoal illustrations combined with captivating storylines are neither simplistic nor formulaic, but rather fascinating, mysterious, and occasionally menacing, always attempting to answer the question "What if?" What if a boy awoke one night to find a massive steam engine in front of his house? What if a roll of the dice on a simple board game could actually bring the game to life? What if a witch had to retire her flying broom? Three of his books, Jumanji (1995), The Polar Express (2004) and Zathura (2005), have been made into blockbuster feature films and both The Widow's Broom and The Sweetest Fig are in development for the big screen. Chris was formerly an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design. He currently lives in Rhode Island with his wife and two children.

Millions of fans know Chris Webber best for his outstanding athletic ability on the basketball court but C-Webb, as he is affectionately known, leads the pack in more than just sports. Businessman, broadcaster and philanthropist are also a part of his impressive repertoire. Demonstrating impressive leadership abilities at a young age, Webber’s “win-win” attitude, along with his ability to inspire others, propelled his Detroit Country Day High School basketball team to an unprecedented three Michigan state high school basketball titles. At the University of Michigan, Webber excelled at an even higher level. As one-fifth of the Wolverines’ all-freshmen line-up, dubbed the “Fab Five,” Webber helped give college basketball a facelift as well as set fashion trends. Millions fell in love with the Fab Five as they made consecutive NCAA Finals appearances in 1992 and 1993. Along the way, they set some of the highest television ratings, merchandise sales marks and attendance records in NCAA history. Not only was Webber the first player in history to make the NCAA All-Tournament team as both a freshmen and a sophomore but, when he entered the NBA Draft in 1993, he became the first college sophomore since fellow Michigan native and NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson to garner the #1 overall pick.

Since his salad days as a teenage skateboarder, Chris Wrenn has focused on two tasks: releasing albums for his favorite bands and finding unusual ways to pay for it. The indie record label that he started three decades ago in his college dorm room, Bridge Nine, has gained an international following by releasing over three hundred recordings from some of the most impactful bands in the punk music underground. At the same time, Sully’s, the Beantown-centric brand that Chris founded with an initial goal: to earn the money needed to fund the record label, went from profiting on bitter sports rivalries to celebrating all things Boston.

Christa Case Bryant is the new editor of The Christian Science Monitor, and is the second woman to hold the position since the paper’s founding in 1908. She brings a combination of national and international reporting experience gained over two decades since she started as an intern at the paper.

Christi Showman Farrar is a Consultant at the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) where she sees herself as a “librarian’s librarian”, providing continuing education and support to MLS member libraries across the Commonwealth. Her professional interests cover a wide range of library topics, including user research (UX), information literacy, early literacy and reading development, outreach and programming, readers' advisory, and digital resources. She’s honed her teaching and presentation skills over the course of many years and has taught workshops on topics such as collection development, social media for public libraries, informational text and text complexity, and student research behavior. Prior to working at MLS, Christi worked as a children’s and teen librarian in Massachusetts public libraries for a decade, and was the Director of the School and Public Library division at a well-known local library vendor. Christi holds a Master’s degree in Language, Reading & Culture from the University of Arizona, as well as a Master’s degree in Library & Information Science from Simmons University. She is also a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Library Media Studies graduate program at Salem State University.

Chris is currently a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While working on his BA in American Studies at Amherst College during the 1970s, Chris was inspired by a wave of new historical work that was exploring the lives of poor and working-class people and a host of other subjects long ignored by conventional scholars. He subsequently wrote an honors thesis on Appalachian coal miners. Chris continued on to graduate studies at Harvard University, getting a PhD in the History of American Civilization. His dissertation on American combat soldiers in the Vietnam War received the American Studies Associations prize for the years best dissertation in the field and became the basis for his book *Working-Class War*, which was published by the University of North Carolina Press and has been used in many college and university courses on modern U.S. history.

Christian Di Spigna is a writer based in New York City and Williamsburg, Virginia. A regular speaker and volunteer at Colonial Williamsburg, Di Spigna is an expert on the history of the era and educates a wide array of audiences.