2012-2013

Monday, September 24th, 4:00 pm, Casey Kuczik, Video game developer

Casey Kuczik, PC ‘03, was born in New York and raised in New Jersey and Florida before matriculating to Yale University. After graduation, Casey relocated to Los Angeles where he worked in the video gaming industry for the next several years. To complement his experiences as a producer, designer, writer and tester in gaming, Casey enrolled at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to complete his Master of Business Administration focused in Management.While developing games, Casey has worked on high profile games for a variety of platforms. He has contributed to a host of projects, most notably: Medal of Honor, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Fantastic Four, Monopoly, GI Joe and the SIMS. His experiences vary from mobile phone development, including the iPhone, to previous and current generation consoles. Among the companies that Casey has worked with are Electronic Arts, Seven Studios, Hasbro, and Disney. Casey is currently Head of Mobile development at Bigpoint GmbH in Hamburg, Germany.

Monday, October 1st, 4:00 pm, Jared Redick

Jared Redick, Artistic Director of New Haven Ballet, has an extensive background as a professional dancer for 20 years and strong experience in arts leadership, teaching and administration. Redick began his performance career with San Francisco Ballet and danced with Texas Ballet Theater, Miami City Ballet and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, before joining Boston Ballet where he danced for seven years as a soloist. Following his retirement in 2009, Redick continued his work with Boston Ballet as Principal of Boston Ballet School’s South Shore studio in Norwell, MA. Redick has extensive teaching experience with many schools, and is also the recipient of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts award for exceptional artistic achievement.

This Master’s Tea is co-sponsored by Yaledancers.

Tuesday, October 2nd, 4:30 pm, Larissa Lam

Larissa Lam is an accomplished singer, composer and TV host. She has released three solo albums and toured the U.S. and Asia. She has written music for The Oprah Winfrey Show, E! Channel and TLC among other programs. Her song, “Breathing More” is featured in the Dance Dance Revolution video game. Previously, Larissa has worked musically on projects for Nickelodeon, Disney and more. She has brought her soaring vocals and musical energy to headlining shows at the Knitting Factory, the Kodak Theatre and arenas like The Staples Center singing the national anthem for the Lakers and the Sparks. Larissa can also be seen every week hosting a national talk show, “Top 3” on JCTV. She has also starred in a series of vocal training videos for Expert Village that have had over 1 million views. In recent years, she teamed up with her husband, Only Won, for the viral video hit, “Cantonese Boy” and collaborated with author C.Y. Lee (Flower Drum Song) on a new musical, Lady of Joy.

This Master’s Tea is co-sponsored by CASA.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 4:00 pm, Judge James Buckley

Judge James L Buckley has had a long and distinguished career in public service, serving in high offices in all three branches of government. He was a U.S. senator from New York from 1971-1977 on the Conservative party ticket. He served as Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance from 1981-1982. And, finally, he is a retired judge on United States Court of Appeals DC Circuit. He received his BA from Yale (TD, 1943) and graduated from the Yale Law School. Judge Buckley is also a board member of the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale.

This Master’s Tea is co-sponsored by the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale.

Monday, October 15th, 4:00 pm, Brian Reed

Brian Reed is a producer at This American Life, where he first started as an intern in 2010. Before joining the TAL staff, Brian was a producer at StoryCorps and also worked as a reporter for NPR, WNYC, and KPLU in Seattle. He got his start in radio as an NPR Kroc Fellow, and reported for NPR’s foreign desk as their first Above the Fray Fellow. He’s a winner of the 2012 Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition for the TAL story “What Happened at Dos Erres.” Brian is a Yale College alum, Class of ‘07.

This Master’s Tea is sponsored by the Traphagen Alumni Speakers Series, Yale College Office of Student Affairs

Tuesday, October 16th, 4:00 pm, Martin Sturgeon

Lieutenant Colonel Sturgeon, a 2012 World Fellow at Yale, has more than 20 years of military leadership experience and international engagement across the spectrum of conflict, including war-fighting in the Gulf, peace support operations in the Balkans, and high-intensity counter-insurgency in Afghanistan. He currently works in the Ministry of Defence, shaping British defense reform following the Strategic Defence and Security Review. Previously, he established and ran the Afghan National Security Forces Transformation Program, which was unique in its comprehensive approach to training, logistics, leadership, and facilities construction. The resulting program became a fundamental element of the NATO strategy for achieving transition to Afghan control in the southwest of the country, and was recognized in the UK as ‘Programme of the Year 2011.’

This Master’s Tea is co-sponsored by the Yale Leadership Initiative

Wednesday, October 17th, 4:00 pm, Keneth Kiyija

Keneth Kiyija is the founder and director of Hope for African Children. He started the organization in 2007 after a visit to Rakai, his grandmother’s village, which left him painfully aware of how much need there was in the rural villages of Uganda. After much hard work, dedication, and networking, Keneth has been able to establish HAC as a respected NGO in Uganda. Hope for African Children is a registered non-governmental organization founded to address the enormous problems faced by thousands of Uganda children who have either been orphaned by AIDS or live with parents or relatives struggling with illnesses related to their HIV infection. HAC strives to increase the capacity of local communities to provide support services to orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda. The organization believes that African communities have been plagued with unrelenting poverty and disease for far too long and the only way to change this pattern is to reach children. HAC strives to help this generation of children in their own lives and in their communities.

This Master’s Tea is co-sponsored by Uganda Hope Network