Month: December 2023

Program: Wen Chen, “Human Rights Movement in China,” May 2, 2024

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring Cal Tech biologist and information scientist Wen Chen. She was brought up during the Cultural Revolution in China.

The program will be presented in person and on Zoom on Thursday morning with the Zoom line opening at 7:00 a.m.  The formal meeting including the program runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required, and the program is free. The Zoom link can be found here.

The in-person meeting will be at the Wedgwood Community Church at 8201 30th Ave NE, Seattle. Doors open at 7:00 a.m. and the program begins at 7:30 a.m.

Wen was born in China at the end of the Great Cultural Revolution. Being the victim of this horrific atrocity that killed two million intellectuals and destroyed traditional Chinese culture, Wen’s parents had mixed feelings about her education.

Despite their discouragement, Wen eventually won a national prize at a science competition when she was 16. Hence, she went to a top university for undergraduate study and then came to the U.S. in 1994 for graduate school. Wen received a Ph.D. in Biology at the California Institute of Technology in 2000.

Because of her personal experience of being brainwashed in China, she decided to voice for the voiceless. Since 2012, she has given hundreds of presentations to community organizations about Chinese culture, history, and society.

Wen has been working for Caltech since 2000 as a biologist and information scientist. Her everyday work includes scientific outreach by speaking at conferences and seminars at universities.

In her personal life, she is an active member of Amnesty International, focusing on human rights in China. She serves as a board member and community liaison for Caltech Women in Biology and Biological Engineering. She has a blog: https://wenchenview.blogspot.com/

Program: David Bobanick, Executive Director, Harvest Against Hunger, “Building Healthy Food Systems Across our Community,” Dec. 14, 2023

David Bobanick, Executive Director of Harvest Against Hunger (HAH), has nearly three decades of experience in non-profit executive management.  Since David joined in 2001, the organization has significantly expanded its impact at the local, national and international levels, resulting in the delivery of nearly half a billion healthy servings of produce for those in need. 

David has led the creation and development of the national Harvest VISTA program, as well as innovative and award-winning programs focusing on shortening the connections from Farm to Community. In addition, David and the HAH team continue to build and scale nationally-recognized programs with partners like the Corporation for National and Community Service, AmeriCorps, USDA, WSDA, Washington State University, the University of Washington and other partners to enhance food systems in communities across the United States.

David has a degree in communications from Penn State University and has studied at the Non-Profit Executive Leadership Institute at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, as well as the Non-Profit Management Institute at Stanford University. David was also recently named a “Food Waste Innovator” by ReFED, and currently serves as a board officer for four local, statewide, and regional non-profit organizations.

Program: David Woodson, “Energy Renewal at University of Washington,” December 7, 2023

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring the University of Washington’s David Woodson.

The program will be presented in person and on Zoom on Thursday morning with the Zoom line opening at 7:00 a.m.  The formal meeting including the program runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required, and the program is free.

The in-person meeting will be at the Wedgwood Community Church at 8201 30th Ave NE, Seattle. Doors open at 7:00 a.m. and the program begins at 7:30 a.m.

The meeting will be available via Zoom. Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning.  The Zoom line will open shortly after 7:00 a.m.

David Woodson is the Executive Director of Campus Energy, Utilities & Operations at the University of Washington. David spent most of his career at the University of British Columbia where he had been responsible for the Energy and Water Services group prior to leaving to join the UW in November 2021. David’s primary role at the UW is to decarbonize the steam plant and recapitalize energy infrastructure.  David is a UW Alumni with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and also has an MBA from the University of British Columbia.