Adjunct Professor of Food and Drug Law, University of Connecticut; Retired, Senior Counsel, Ropes & Gray

Alan Bennett is a 1969 Honors graduate of the UConn College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He received his JD degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1972. He began his legal career as associate chief counsel at the Food and Drug Administration, then was Counsel to the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. After leaving the Hill, he founded a 22-lawyer firm, eventually merging into a large law firm, Ropes & Gray. His practice emphasized policy, legislation, and regulatory matters, mostly involving the FDA.

Bennett retired from active practice of law in 2017. He currently serves on the boards of the UConn Foundation, several gun violence prevention organizations, and a startup pharmaceutical company.

Executive Director, Afghanistan War Commission

Vice President, U.S. Export-Import Bank in Washington

Partner and Head of Government Affairs, SoftBank Group International

Jeffrey Dressler is a partner in SoftBank’s global government affairs office in Washington, D.C. Previously, he served as the National Security Advisor to Speakers of the House Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy. Prior to working with leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Dressler was a professional staff member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee responsible for terrorism, trade, and non-proliferation. Mr. Dressler began his career as an expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Institute for the Study of War, in which capacity he served as a terrorism and counterinsurgency advisor to senior commanders in Afghanistan. Mr. Dressler has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and in leading publications as a subject matter expert on foreign policy and national security issues.

President of Fata Advisory, LLC

Daniel Fata is the President of Fata Advisory, LLC, a strategic consulting firm based in Virginia. He is both a board director and an advisory board member with numerous dual-use technology start-up efforts. He has nearly three decades of experience working at the highest levels in Washington, D.C., as a Congressional leadership staffer in both the House and the Senate, a senior Pentagon official responsible for Europe/Russia/NATO, as a VP at a global strategic consulting firm, and as an executive with Lockheed Martin. His expertise focuses on aerospace and defense, transatlantic security, emerging technologies, supply chain, and renewable energy.  He is also a Senior Advisor (Non-Resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and a commissioner on the congressionally mandated Afghanistan War Commission. He received his BA with honors in political science from UConn in 1994 and an MA in international relations from Boston University. In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from UConn.

Professor of Political Science and President Emeritus, UConn

Susan Herbst was appointed the University of Connecticut's first president on Dec. 20, 2010, by the University’s Board of Trustees. She stepped down as President on July 1, 2019, and returned to the faculty.

Prior to her appointment to the presidency, Herbst served as Executive Vice Chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Before coming to Georgia, she was Provost and Executive Vice President at The University at Albany (SUNY) and served as Officer in Charge (acting president) of the school from 2006 to 2007. She previously served as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University. Herbst joined Northwestern University as an assistant professor in 1989 and remained there until 2003.

Professor Herbst is a scholar of public opinion, media, and American politics. She is the author of five books and many articles in these areas. Along with Lawrence R. Jacobs, Adam J. Berinsky, and Frances Lee, she edits the University of Chicago Press Studies in American Politics. Her most recent book, A Troubled Birth: The 1930s and American Public Opinion, was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.

Research Associate for Global Governance, Council on Foreign Relations

Julia Katsovich is a research associate for global governance at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Before joining CFR, she interned at the Wilson Center's Science and Technology Innovation Program and at the U.S. Senate. At UConn, she participated in clubs such as UConn Model United Nations (UCMUN) and the UConn Law Society. She graduated from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) in May 2023, where she studied political science and statistics and minored in mathematics, while completing an honors thesis.

Co-Founder and CEO, Legal Innovations

Bryan Parker is a co-founder and CEO of Washington, D.C. based Legal Innovators, an end-to-end, technology-enabled, talent management solution, which has innovated the way in which new attorneys come into the practice of Big Law. It partners with top-tier law firms and corporate legal departments to place lawyers in a two-year apprenticeship-style experience. With a background in law, finance, and business, He is skilled at managing and leading large companies with billion-dollar budgets. He began his career as an M&A attorney at Shearman & Sterling before continuing to take leadership roles in investment banking and entrepreneurship opportunities. He is a frequent speaker on innovation, data, and efficiency, mental health, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the practice of Big Law.

Parker attended the University of California at Berkeley (BA) and New York University School of Law (JD) and is now completing a Master of Divinity degree at Howard University (at night). He is a member of the California and New York Bar Associations.

Alan R. Bennett Honors Professor of Political Science, UConn

Matthew Singer currently serves as the Alan R. Bennett Honors Professor of Political Science and the director of the political science honors program. He is generally interested in questions of how voters achieve political representation and how the political and social context affects political behavior. His research studies how the public evaluates government performance, looking at the impact of economic and political outcomes on support for the incumbent and democracy. He is particularly interested in the conditions under which economic performance is salient to different groups and in different places. He studies this question in a broad comparative context, with many projects focused specifically on Latin America, while others focus on broader samples of countries.

Senior Vice President, Actum LLC

Founding Partner, Backstory Strategies

J. Toscano is a founding partner at Backstory, a boutique political media firm. He is an experienced media strategist who uses communication strategies that tiptoe outside traditional bounds to engage increasingly skeptical audiences across all media platforms. His creative-forward ads and videos express the authentic voices of the candidates he is helping to elect and the causes he believes in, tapping into emotions that move ideas, opinions, and votes.

He's helped elect officeholders at all levels, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA07), Steven Horsford (NV04), Kim Schrier (WA08), and Donna Edwards (MD04); Gov. Jim Doyle (WI), Senators Max Baucus (MT) and Byron Dorgan (ND). His work with DCCC, Emily’s List/Women Vote, House Majority PAC, League of Conservation Voters, Priorities USA, and VoteVets has helped elect dozens of Members of Congress.

J. got his start in politics as Communications Director for the House Democratic Caucus under Rep. Steny Hoyer, was a Clinton Administration appointee as Director of Public Affairs for AmeriCorps, and helped build the political practice as a Partner in the most prominent media firm in Democratic politics, GMMB, before starting Backstory. As a personal-passion side project, he does workshops on feeling-centered filmmaking, creativity, and writing. He is currently working on a documentary focused on volunteers serving in the war in Ukraine.