A symposium sponsored by the Yale University Provost Committee on Resources for Students and Employees with Disabilities, the Yale College Dean’s Office, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the
Yale School of Medicine

Monday, April 24, 2006
7-9:00 P.M. with reception following

Luce Hall Auditorium (Room 101), 34 Hillhouse Ave.
Reception will be held in Luce Common Room, 2nd floor
No registration is required. No admission fee.
Opening remarks by Provost Andrew Hamilton

Featured Presenters

Paul Orfalea, Founder and Chairperson Emeritus of Kinko’s and author of his 2005 unconventional biography, Copy This! Lessons from a hyperactive dyslexic who turned a bright idea into one of America’s best companies. Scroll down for a full biography.

Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine, author of national bestseller, Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at any Level (2003).

Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D. is Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and Chief of Pediatric Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine.

Doctors Sally and Bennett Shaywitz are leaders in applying rigorous science, including brain imaging, to advocate for and to benefit children, young adults and adults who are dyslexic. Scroll down for more information on both.

Parking
Free parking is available behind Luce Hall on Prospect St. in Lot #38. The entrance is located across from 124 Prospect St. There are several handicapped parking spaces. Other Yale lots on Prospect St. will be open to public parking.

Directions
Take Exit # 3 Trumbull St. from I-91 No or So. Go straight off exit. Intersection for Hillhouse Ave. will be at the fourth light. Take a Right. Luce Hall is on the left set back from the street.
Prospect St. for Yale Lot Parking will be at the fifth light. Take a right. Lot # 38 will be on the right.
For printable map, go to: http://www.yale.edu/rod/accessmap/hillhs.htm

Handicapped Access
Handicapped accessible entrance for Luce Hall is located facing Hillhouse Ave.
Elevator and accessible bathrooms are available within the building. American Sign Language Interpreters will be available. Other special services that are needed can be requested by calling 203-432-2324 or by e-mailing judith.york@yale.edu.

Other
A selection of books by our presenters will be available for purchase at the event courtesy of the Yale Bookstore.

Biographies:

Paul Orfalea, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Kinko’s founded Kinko’s in 1970 near the University of California at Santa Barbara with a simple idea: provide college students with products and services they need at a competitive price. Today, there are over 1,200 Kinko’s worldwide.

Much of Kinko’s success can be traced directly to Orfalea’s unique business philosophy that was based on the founder’s freethinking, creative style. Orfalea’s theories and instincts on how to operate a successful business were grounded in his passion for retailing, his insistence on taking care of his co-workers and customers, and a sharp eye for opportunity. Through Paul Orfalea’s leadership, Kinko’s has taken an exemplary leading role in environmental responsibility.

Orfalea encouraged active participation from all 23,000 co-workers, and generous incentive programs were implemented to stimulate creativity. In fact, co-workers at every level were encouraged to share ideas freely in organizational decisions. A reflection of this success is that Fortune Magazine selected Kinko’s as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work with in America” for several years. Forbes Magazine also ranked Kinko’s 84th on its year 2000 “Forbes 500 Biggest Private Companies”. Working Mother Magazine listed Kinko’s in its Best Companies for Working Mother’s 2001 issue.

The year 2000 brought about many changes for Orfalea as he retired from his position as Kinko’s Chairperson, and assumed the role as Chairperson Emeritus for Kinko’s, Orfalea is no longer involved with Kinko’s business management. He refers to his retirement as being “repurposed”, and is now involved in a range of activities, including West Coast Asset Management Inc., Stone Canyon Venture Partners LP and other business ventures.

Orfalea, his family, and Kinko’s have a long history of supporting educational initiatives including scholarships and child development programs. In 2000, the family started the Orfalea Family Foundation, which supports various philanthropic areas. Grants have been concentrated in California, especially child development facilities on college campuses, along with other children’s centers and programs for underprivileged youth. The foundation specifically focuses on early care and education, caregiver training and intergenerational programs and facilities. The Orfaleas also support organizations addressing “learning differences” for those challenged with different learning styles.

Another of Paul Orfalea’s efforts is to increase public awareness of the important need for corporate responsibility by businesses to support “family-friendly” work/life policies including flex time and quality early care for children of working parents. Orfalea is working with government leaders to encourage businesses and educational institutions to provide these benefits to co-workers and students.

Orfalea is in high demand for public speaking, often addressing business organizations, such as entrepreneurs and working people, and learning-challenged groups with his inspirational messages. He frequently teaches at University of Southern California (his alma mater), UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, as well as various community and state colleges, and he has taught at NYU, Princeton, Harvard, UCLA and Wharton School of Business among others. Both USC and Cal Poly plan to dedicate business schools in the Orfalea name in honor of his ongoing contributions.

Forbes, People and Fortune magazines, along with the New York Times profiled Orfalea as one of several prominent leaders who has overcome dyslexia and gone on to have illustrious careers. Other recent prestigious awards are the 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year award from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business; the 2000 Philanthropist of the Year and 2003 Friend of the California Community Colleges; in 2001 the Conrad Hilton Entrepreneur award, the Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneurship, CEO Hall of Fame, the Salvation Army’s “Sally Award”; USC’s 2003 R.O.S.E Award (Recognition of Outstanding Support for Education), honored in 2003 by the Cosby Family’s “Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation”, along with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and various senate recognitions.

Despite all of these high profile activities, you will find Paul Orfalea very down to earth, friendly, compassionate and continually curious about the world around him - he is a true modern adventurer.

Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine, received her AB (with Honors) from the City University where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Together with her husband, Dr. Bennett A. Shaywitz, Dr. Sally Shaywitz conceptualized, established and is currently Co-Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Learning, Reading, and Attention. Dr. Sally Shaywitz has devoted her career to better understanding and helping children and adults who are dyslexic. Her research provides the basic framework: conceptual model, epidemiology and neurobiology for the scientific study of dyslexia. Together, the Drs. Shaywitz originated and championed the “Sea of Strengths” model of dyslexia which emphasizes a sea of strengths of higher critical thinking and creativity surrounding the encapsulated weakness found in children and adults who are dyslexic. Dr. Sally Shaywitz is the author of over 200 scientific articles, chapters and books, including the widely acclaimed national bestseller, Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at any Level (Knopf, 2003; Vintage, 2005) which received the Margo Marek Book Award and the NAMI Book Award.

Dr. Shaywitz, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, has been honored for her work in advancing the scientific understanding of reading and dyslexia; most recently, in June 2005, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Williams College in recognition of her contributions. Among her many awards, she received the Townsend Harris Medal of the City College of New York and was the recipient of the Achievement Award in Women’s Health of the Society for the Advancement of Women’s Health Research and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Each year, Dr. Shaywitz has been chosen as one of the “Best Doctors in America,” one of “America’s Top Doctors” and one of “New York’s Top Doctors.” In recognition of her contributions to the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Shaywitz was honored by the distinction of being named a National Associate of the National Academies. Dr. Shaywitz recently served on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS), and currently serves on the National Research Council Committee on Women in Science and Engineering, the National Board for Education Sciences, the National Advisory Board of the National Center for Learning Disabilities and the scientific advisory board of the March of Dimes. Dr. Shaywitz co-chairs the National Research Council Committee on Gender Differences in the Careers of Science, Engineering and Mathematics Faculty; she has most recently served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Understanding the Biology of Sex and Gender Differences; on the National Reading Panel and on the Committee to Prevent Reading Difficulties in Young Children of the National Research Council. Dr. Shaywitz also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Learning Disabilities and Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal.

Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D. is Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and Chief of Pediatric Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Shaywitz received his AB from Washington University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and his MD from Washington University School of Medicine. He completed his Pediatric training, including serving as Chief Resident, and then a Postdoctoral fellowship in Child Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Together with his wife, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Dr. Bennett Shaywitz conceptualized, established and is currently Co-Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Learning, Reading, and Attention. Dr. Shaywitz has a long-standing interest in disorders of learning and attention in children and young adults. He has devoted his career to better understanding and elucidating the neurobiological basis of reading and dyslexia and to ensuring that this new knowledge is translated into the better care and treatment of children and adults who are dyslexic.

Dr. Bennett Shaywitz early on recognized the great potential of functional brain imaging and led a national effort to apply functional imaging, especially, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to the study of reading and dyslexia in children and adults.
Dr. Shaywitz has made major contributions to understanding the neurobiology, specifically the brain organization for reading including: the identification and localization of specific neural systems for reading; delineation of differences in these systems between good and poor readers (including a neural signature for dyslexia); the functional role of the system for fluency; the finding of at least two neurobiological subtypes of reading disability (one, primarily, inherent; the other, more environmentally influenced); and the demonstration of plasticity in the neural systems for reading and their ability to reorganize in response to an effective evidence-based intervention.

The author of over three hundred scientific papers, Dr. Shaywitz has received many honors for his contributions to the understanding of the basic neurobiology of reading and dyslexia, including election to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Washington University and selection to deliver the 2005 New York University Medical Scientist Training Program Honors Lecture. Dr. Shaywitz was also selected, along with Dr. Sally Shaywitz, as recipient of the 2005 Haggerty-Friedman Distinguished Lectureship at the University of Rochester; the 2004 Lawrence G. Crowley Distinguished Lectureship at Stanford University, the 2004 Waldo E. Nelson lectureship at St. Christopher’s Children Hospital and the 2001 Leonard Apt Lectureship of the American Academy of Pediatrics and to receive the Sidney Berman Award for the Study and Treatment of Learning Disabilities presented by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Each year Dr. Shaywitz has been chosen one of the “Best Doctors in America,” one of “America’s Top Doctors,” and one of “New York’s Top Doctors.” Dr. Shaywitz currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the March of Dimes, on the Functional Brain Imaging Advisory Board of the Haan Foundation for Children and has served on the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee. Dr. Shaywitz also serves on the editorial board of Pediatrics in Review, Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, and Child Neuropsychology.

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