Dr. Helen Fisher has written five internationally best-selling books on the brain science of human social behavior and is the most referenced scholar on the topic of love. Her data and ideas are based on her analysis of four biologically-based personality dimensions in 100,000 people, as well as data from genetics and neurochemistry. Over 10 million people in 40 countries have taken her Fisher Temperaments Scale. Dr. Fisher is Senior Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute, and has spoken for (among others) The World Economic Forum (Davos), TED, Harvard Medical School, American Association for the Advancement of Science, The United Nations, The Salk Institute, The Smithsonian Institution, the American Psychiatric Association, and countless business and organizations. She has published in various scientific journals and is seen regularly on The Today Show and other network television shows. She is, perhaps, best known for her work in the evolution and future of human sexuality, monogamy, adultery and divorce, gender differences in the brain, and the chemistry of romantic love. She is currently studying the biological basis of personality and is a pioneer in examining the neurochemistry of leadership. More about Helen Fisher’s work.

Clark Freshman is the world’s most sought-after speaker on lie detection and nonverbal communication for negotiators. His engagements include the national meeting of federal administrative law judges, Peter Thiel - the angel investor behind Facebook, General Electric Oil and Gas lead negotiators in Florence, and compliance officers at Edwards Life Sciences. He has been an invited speaker at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, and Columbia law schools, and Harvard and Columbia Business Schools. He is a tenured Professor of Law at the University of California. Professor Freshman has collaborated for years with Paul Ekman, scientific advisor to TV’s Lie to Me. Professor Freshman received his B.A. from Harvard College, an M.A. from University College, Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. Prior to teaching, he clerked for a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge and practiced at the Los Angeles firm of Manatt Phelps. Professor Freshman’s published research appears in journals at Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, and elsewhere. International media from Danish Broadcasting to PBS to the Wall Street Journal have covered his work. More about Clark Freshman.

After graduating Arizona’s Technology & Leadership Academy, Lieutenant Jarod McPherson enlisted in the United States Air Force to become an Aircraft Avionics Systems Maintainer. While at Sheppard Air Force Base, he rose through the ranks to become an Airman Leader, leading over 500 fellow Airmen in military training. After serving 2 years in the Air Force, he was selected to attend The United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School, after which he earned a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Management from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) where he undertook independent studies in transformative leadership, ontology, and coaching. Over the past several years, as a member of the Air Force, Lt. McPherson has led seminars for high school and college students, leadership “invitationals,” family workshops, performance coaching workshops, and business management workshops. Lt. McPherson is currently stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base.

Co-starring with greats such as Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder in the theatrical comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil; and Goldie Hawn in Bird on a Wire, actress Joan Severance has been performing onscreen for twenty-plus years, appearing in over 25 films and several hit TV shows to date. She was received with acclaim for her portrayal as a villainess with Kevin Spacey in a brother/sister criminal pair on the hit TV series Wiseguy. Her career has allowed her to portray characters as diverse as quirky, hippy mom; sexy villainess; attorney; and psychologist (among many others). In addition to her acting expertise, Joan is the creator of the family-friendly game, txTylz® that combines symbolic, numeric, phonetic, and literal expression in a new whimsical method of communication. Joan also holds a BA in natural health, is a certified healer, and has combined her background in performing with her commitment to healing in SeverancePlay™. This fun, transformative workshop focuses on character development with intentional role-play to set the stage for a new direction in the next act of your life. More about Joan Severance.

After receiving his commission in the United States Air Force (USAF), USAF Academy (USAFA) graduate, Lieutenant Colonel Rodric “Rod” Smith served in various USAF positions, including chief of training, combat crew commander, executive officer in nuclear missile operations, and USAFA Assistant Professor and assistant director for the Academy’s core leadership class. In this role, he designed, directed, presented, and facilitated leadership seminars for cadets; designed and implemented leadership coaching programs; designed and directed a facilitation for resiliency among the 900-members of the Dean’s staff; and taught leadership for both students and faculty. When Lieutenant Colonel Smith was assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, he served as an executive officer for the Inspector General and as a strategic planner for Air Force Global Strike Command. In these positions, he designed a first-ever performance assessment of and a “bottom-up” goal-creation process for the 900-member staff; designed and facilitated discussions about resiliency for hundreds of staff members; and through a one-day leadership seminar, introduced Air Force Global Strike Command to the Air Force Academy’s cutting-edge leadership development efforts. Lieutenant Colonel Smith is currently a doctoral student in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. His study interests include the assessment and role of compassionate love in leadership theory, development, and practice.

Pamela Paresky is the Director of the Aspen Center for Human Development. She collaborates with the ACHD faculty and others in researching leadership, happiness, the good life, and other topics in human development, and creating and delivering courses that point to the merging of action and awareness available in Flow, while leaving students with a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

A psychologist, consultant, speaker, and author, Dr. Paresky writes a blog for Psychology Today online, and holds positions as Adjunct Researcher at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), and Adjunct Professor at Colorado Mountain College. She received her PhD in Human Development and Psychology from the University of Chicago where her work at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) focused on happiness, relationships, and “Flow,” a construct describing optimal experience developed by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, a pioneer in the study of both happiness and performance. Building on his discovery that the best moments in life often occur when people stretch themselves while working toward something worthwhile, Pamela has spent the past twenty years investigating the source of both optimal performance and a life worth living. Bringing together a distinguished faculty to collaborate in this center for advanced study in Human Development is one fulfillment of her research efforts.

Pamela works with individuals, companies, families, and nonprofits that seek to create optimal relationships and organizations through her consulting practice, MultiGenerational Consulting Services, LLC, and is the author of A Year of Kindness, a research-based guided journal that encourages people to record daily acts of kindness and thoughts of gratitude.

Before her work at NORC, Pamela conducted field research in both the North West Territories of Canada where she lived with and photographed the Inuit, and in New York City where she studied the city's Native American population. She later taught anthropology, and practiced psychotherapy with a philosophical focus. Pamela also briefly had a career as a professional actor, and taught acting—skills she brings to the experiential aspects of the Center’s programs.

In addition to her interdisciplinary PhD, she holds a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology, and a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology with a concentration in Culture and Native American Studies. The focus and goal of her current research is for each individual to lead the most fulfilling life possible – a life that matters.

Dr. Pamela Paresky can be reached by email at Pamela@AspenCHD.org