TEDxFIU announces speakers for fifth annual event

Autism philanthropist Patricia Kayser speaking at TEDxFIU 2015

Eight speakers will introduce their unexpected discoveries this November at the biggest TEDxFIU to date.

The event has moved from the Wertheim Performing Arts Center to the new Student Academic Success Center, which houses the largest lecture hall on campus, in order to accommodate TEDxFIU’s growing audience. This year, 700 tickets will go on sale in October for the Nov. 16 event.

“Our new venue will allow more people than ever before to experience the live event,” said TEDxFIU organizer Eduardo Merille.

That night, the audience will meet an aquatic ecologist who translated high-frequency data collected from lakes into musical compositions; a modern businessman who found love through a traditional arranged marriage; and a spoken word performer who hopes to inspire his high school English students through creative expression.

The 2016 TEDxFIU speakers are:

• Women’s rights activist Valeriana Chikoti-Bandua ’14
• REBUILD Globally founder Julie Colombino ’03
• Neurogeneticist Matthew DeGennaro
• Financial analyst Omar Durrani ’13, MBA ’
• Aquatic ecologist Evelyn Gaiser
• Diversity advocate Isra Amin Ibrahim
• Spoken word performer Christopher James ’15
• Developmental psychologist Lindsay Malloy

For more about the speakers, read their bios here.

“This is our fifth event, and we have sold out the last three, so I urge you to reserve your seat early,” said Merille.

Because of the bigger venue, organizers were able to lower the advanced-sale ticket price to $40.
Ticket sales will be announced in the next two weeks. For more information, visit TEDxFIU.com. To be notified the moment tickets go on sale, subscribe to TEDxFIU email updates here.