2007 NATIONAL CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Hugh Hewitt graduated from Harvard College cum laude with an A.B. in Government in 1978.

He was Order of the Coif at the University of Michigan Law School and received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1983, magna cum laude, then clerked for Judges Roger Robb and George MacKinnon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983-84.

Hewitt worked in the Reagan White House in several jobs: Special Assistant to Attorneys General William French Smith and Edwin Meese, Assistant Counsel in the White House Counsel's Office, General Counsel for the National Endowment for the Humanities. He finished his career in the Reagan Administration as Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, having been confirmed by a voice vote in the Senate.

Hewitt returned to California to oversee construction of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace as the Library's executive director from groundbreaking through dedication and opening at the request of former President Richard Nixon, for whom he had worked as a ghostwriter between college and law school in San Clemente, California, and New York City. In 1990 Hewitt sparked controversy by proposing screening of researchers wishing to use the library resources — for example, Hewitt suggested refusing admission to Bob Woodward because he was "not a responsible journalist" — but was overruled by Nixon himself.

When he left the library to practice law, Hewitt also began a weekend radio talk show for Los Angeles radio station KFI, where he broadcast from late 1990 to 1995. In the spring of 1992 he began co-hosting Los Angeles PBS member station KCET's nightly news and public affairs program Life & Times, and remained with the program until the fall of 2001, when he began broadcasting his radio show in the afternoons. Hewitt received three Emmys for his work on Life & Times on KCET, and also conceived and hosted the 1996 PBS series Searching for God in America.

Hewitt is also became a Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law during that time. He currently teaches constitutional law. Hewitt is a weekly columnist for The Daily Standard (the online edition of the Weekly Standard) and World. He also occasionally appears as a political/social commentator on programs such as The Dennis Miller Show,Hardball with Chris Matthews,Larry King Live,The O'Reilly Factor and The Today Show. On 24 April 2006, Hewitt appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report.  Hewitt became Executive Editor of Townhall.com in 2006, when Salem Communications purchased it and re-engineered it from a web magazine into a conservative new-media and activism forum.

Hewitt has been criticized by Andrew Sullivan, who calls him a "Christianist", a term which Hewitt says Sullivan has never properly defined. When Sullivan appeared on Hewitt's radio show to promote his book The Conservative Soul, a lively exchange resulted, during which Hewitt said Sullivan's book was "intellectually a mess".

Teresa Stanton Collett graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and began her legal career practicing as a member of the trusts and estates law section of Crowe & Dunlevy, P.C, in Oklahoma City . During that time she also served on a joint legislative task force to reform Oklahoma ’s guardianship law, which resulted in greater statutory protections for the elderly and people of limited mental capacity in the state. She began her teaching career at the University of Oklahoma College of Law as a visiting professor. At the end of her visitorship, Professor Collett accepted an appointment to the faculty at South Texas College of Law in Houston .  Since 2003 she has been Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis , MN where she teaches bioethics, property law, and professional responsibility. Professor Collett has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Houston Law Center, Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law, and Notre Dame Law School.

A nationally prominent speaker and scholar, she is active in attempts to rebuild the Culture of Life and protect the institutions of marriage and family.   She often represents groups of state legislators, the Catholic Medical Association, and the Christian Medical and Dental Association in appellate case related to medical-legal matters.  She recently represented the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota before the United States Supreme Court as amici curiae regarding the effectiveness of those states’ parental involvement laws.  She currently serves as special attorney general for Oklahoma and Kansas related to legislation designed to protect the well-being of minors.

She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and has testified before committees of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittees on the Constitution, as well as numerous legislative committees in the states.  Most recently she appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee during a hearing to examine the consequences of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton (June 23, 2005).

Benjamin W. Bull, Esquire:  Mr. Bull is Executive Vice-President and Chief Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund and practices exclusively in the area of constitutional law. He has served as Executive Director of the EuropeanCenter for Law and Justice (Strasbourg, France), Senior Counsel of the AmericanCenter for Law and Justice, founding General Counsel of the AmericanFamilyAssociationLawCenter, General Counsel of the Children’s Legal Foundation, and was a founding director of the SlavicCenter for Law and Justice (Moscow, Russia). He has been lead attorney in over 300 trial and appellate cases, including over 35 reported decisions addressing Constitutional questions.  Several of Mr. Bull’s cases have been decided by the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Bull has lectured widely on religious freedom issues throughout the United States and Europe.  He is the author of two books and several law review articles. He obtained his J.D. from the University of South Carolina Law Center (1975) and has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from the Institute of Law and Religion in Moscow, Russia.  He has been a popular speaker on First Amendment litigation at numerous state and federal attorney associations, including the United States Department of Justice and American Bar Association National Convention.  He has appeared on many television and radio shows, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, NightLine, Crossfire, Headlines on Trial, CSPAN, and National Public Radio. He has testified as expert witness in United States Congress and many state legislatures. He is currently serving as an elder at Scottsdale Bible Church , Scottsdale Arizona .

John Lynch serves on Leadership Catalyst’s staff, speaking, filming and writing with Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol.  A phenomenal communicator, John Lynch will delight you with his engaging humor and realistic approach to today’s issues.  Leadership Catalyst’s recent release of the TrueFaced Experience Edition book, guide and DVD features John’s engaging humor and authentic storytelling.

Since 1985 John has served as a teaching pastor and elder at Open Door Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona and is co-founder and playwright for Sharkey Productions, a theater troupe that focuses on Gospel-anchored productions for those seeking Christ.

He and his wife, Stacey, reside in Phoenix and have three children, Caleb, Amy and Carly.

Bill Thrall, a former CPA, management consultant, and First Deputy Auditor General of Arizona , has served as leadership mentor for Leadership Catalyst since 1995.

Prior to joining Leadership Catalyst, Bill founded and pastored the influential church, Open Door Fellowship for over 20 years.  While leading this ministry he developed training and mentoring programs addressing high trust cultures, grace environments and character maturity.  The environment of Open Door Fellowship nurtured many visionaries, including Kit Danley, founder of Neighborhood Ministries.

Bill’s discerning wisdom and integrity, forged in the trenches of shepherding others for three decades, is a rich benefit to many leaders. Bill has mentored leaders world-wide in churches, missions, ministries and corporate settings.

He is co-author of the books, The Ascent of a Leader, Beyond Your Best, and the TrueFaced Experience resources.  Along with Bruce McNicol and John Lynch of Leadership Catalyst, Bill is currently working on a new book to continue in their mission of leaving in their wake thousands of environments of grace around the globe.

Bill and his wife, Grace, have three grown children–– Wende, Bill, and Joy––and nine grandchildren. They live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Cordell Schulten serves as CLS chaplain in the Greater St. Louis Missouri Metropolitan area where he has lead the Spirit of St. Louis Pilot Project in Marketplace Discipleship since April 2006.  He also serves as Associate Pastor of Discipleship with WestHillsCommunityChurch in St. Louis.  He has taught ethics, law and religion at FontbonneUniversity, HandongInternationalLawSchool in Pohang, Korea and MissouriBaptistUniversity. Schulten practiced law for ten years in St. Louis, specializing in commercial litigation and death penalty cases. Schulten earned his M.A. in Theological Studies from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis in 2004 and his J.D.  from Saint LouisUniversitySchool of Law in 1986. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Theology and Culture at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.  Cordell and his wife Sandy have four grown children and two beautiful grand daughters.