Discussing Big Ideas Over Lunch: A Meeting with Former President Jimmy Carter
By Cathy Hulbert, Social Worker, LCSW
Imagine the lunch-time conversation between a renowned mathematician, an expert in international law and human rights, a former president, a former diplomat and a medical doctor who has seen the best of times and the worst of times in the care of people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
Events at The Carter Center in Atlanta often attract some of the brightest minds in Georgia. Recently, that roster included Emory University hematologist Sidney F. Stein, MD, and other highly-regarded guests who gathered for lunch in a private dining room at The Carter Center. With Secret Service agents posted nearby, guests had an opportunity to converse while viewing dining room walls covered with family paintings from the most significant periods in the life of former President Jimmy Carter.
President Carter occasionally hosts these lunches, bringing in experts from different walks of life, according to Dr. Stein. “The subjects we discussed were far-ranging and thought-provoking, and allowed the former President to exchange points of view on a wide variety of scholarly topics,” he said. “We each had some time to talk about the work we had done and to discuss the latest developments in our respective fields of study.”
The Carter Center works in partnership with Emory University on a variety of projects that include economic, medical and human rights-related problems around the world.
Dr. Stein holds an endowed chair in Hemophilia and Hemostasis and is a Professor of Hematology/Medical Oncology at Emory University, as well as serving as Chief of Hematology/Medical Oncology at Grady Memorial Hospital.
During lunch he addressed such topics as Ebola and how it creates a type of acquired bleeding disorder, as well as the HIV epidemic and the devastating impact it had on the hemophilia community beginning three decades ago. He shared advances in research and the many improvements in bleeding disorder care in the United States. The Emory-based Hemophilia Treatment Center is the third largest HTC program in the country, he said.
Another guest at the gathering was David Tkeshelashvili, who has held several ministry posts in the Republic of Georgia including service as the Minister of Health, Labor and Social Welfare. He is currently an Adjunct Professor in International Law and International Human Rights in the Emory Law School. He received training at The Carter Center Human Rights Program and has teamed with the Emory Law School on issues related to judicial reform in Georgia.
A third guest whose career fascinated Dr. Stein was Ken Ono, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Emory University. In April 2014, Ono announced that he and two colleagues had found a framework for the Rogers-Ramanujan identities and their arithmetic properties, solving a long-standing mathematical mystery. Their work made world news that year and was ranked 15th among the top 100 stories of 2014 in science in Discover Magazine.
Hosting with President Carter was Ambassador (Retired) Mary Ann Peters, who is now the Chief Executive Officer of The Carter Center. Peters was formerly provost of the U.S. Naval War College. From 2000 to 2003, she was U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, leading the mission's efforts in support of the campaign against international terrorism and other key U.S. foreign policy objectives. She received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award in 2003 for her work there.
Also participating in the lunch was Steven Hochman, Ph.D., the Director of Research at The Carter Center and Faculty Assistant to President Carter.
At the conclusion of the lunch, President Carter kindly took photographs with each of his guests.