Events

Darren Kew (Ph.D. in International Relations, Tufts

University, 2002) is Dean of the Joan B. Kroc

School of Peace Studies, at the University of San Diegop, where he is also a

professor. He studies the relationship between

conflict resolution methods – particularly interfaith

and inter-ethnic peacebuilding – and democratic

development in Africa, Northern Ireland, and the

United States. Much of his work focuses on the role

of civil society groups in this development. He has

also been a consultant on peace and democracy

initiatives to the United Nations, USAID, US

Institute of Peace, the US State Department, and to

a number of NGOs, including the Carter Center. He

monitored the last seven Nigerian elections and the

2007 elections in Sierra Leone, and in 2023-24 cofacilitated

a working group of religious leaders

focusing on religion and peacebuilding in Belfast,

Northern Ireland. Professor Kew was asked by the

British and American governments to join an

influential international commission requested by

the Nigerian government in 2010, which contributed

to a major overhaul of its election system. He is

author of numerous works on Nigerian politics and

conflict resolution, including the book Civil Society,

Conflict Resolution, and Democracy in Nigeria

(Syracuse UP, 2016), and his articles have

appeared in International Negotiation, the Journal

of Democracy, and Current History, among others.

Scott Wahl was promoted to serve as the City ofSan Diego’s 36th Chief of Police on June 7, 2024.Chief Wahl oversees the police department for the eighth-largest city in the nation.

Chief Wahl is a fourth-generation San Diegan who grew up in the Clairemont community. He has adeep love for San Diego and the San Diego PoliceDepartment, which both he and his father, a 34-year veteran, have been proud to be a part of.

Chief Wahl’s vision for the San Diego Police Department is to build an inclusive organization that is reflective of the city we serve and worthy of our community’s trust and collaboration.

Chief Wahl has risen through the ranks since joining the San Diego Police Department on April 13, 1998. He has worked many of the department's patrol commands, investigations and specialized assignments such as legislative affairs, critical incident management, operational support, establishing a new division to address neighborhood quality of life issues, and managing large-scale events and conferences, among others.

Chief Wahl received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from San Diego State University in 1995 and his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from National University in 2005. He has taught as an adjunct professor for the San Diego Regional Police Academy and Ashford University.

Chief Wahl has received numerous awards and commanding officer citations throughout his career.

In his spare time, Chief Wahl enjoys running, fishing, golfing and spending time with his wife and four kids.

Everyone seems to think that science and religion have been in conflict since Galileo, but historians have shown that to be largely mythical.  Moreover, common wisdom has it that contemporary religious people are in conflict with science.  But, is that true?  

John H. Evans is the Tata Chancellor’s Chair in Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at the University of California, San Diego.  He has been a visiting member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University and has held visiting professorial fellowships or honorary professorships at the Universities of Edinburgh, Muenster, Ben Gurion, and Queensland.  He is the author seven books and 65 articles and book chapters.  

He has focused his research on a number of overlapping areas, all of which concern the foundational humanistic questions behind scientific and technological development.  

He is an expert on the ethics of human gene editing, and more generally in the ethics of science and technology Following this research interest he co-directs the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC, San Diego. 

He is also a leader in the sociological study of the relationship between religion and science, an area in which he co-leads a small scholarly network and a 2.9 million dollar re-granting project. 

A number of his research projects are sociological studies of the public’s views of the foundational questions in technology such as “what is a human?” and “what is enhancement?”  He has a long time interest and expertise in explaining the forms of argument that are dominant in the field now called bioethics.  

Joe LaCava is the San Diego City Council President and District 1 Councilmember (representing areas like La Jolla and Pacific Beach), in office since 2020. A Democrat, civil engineer, and environmentalist, he focuses on infrastructure, housing, and budget management. He is currently navigating a $110 million budget deficit in 2026.

Councilmember LaCava is honored to represent the residents and businesses of San Diego City Council District 1 where he is currently serving his second term. Councilmember LaCava was unanimously elected by his colleagues as the President of the City Council and chairs the Council's Rules Committee. He continues his work on the Environment Committee and is First Vice Chair on the SANDAG Board of Directors.

In 2024, he served as chair of the Board of Directors for San Diego Community Power and the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, and chaired SANDAG's Regional Planning Committee.

He is a San Diego native and San Diego State University graduate. He has lived in District 1 since 1983 with his wife Lorene, a retired kindergarten teacher, where they raised two daughters.

President LaCava is a licensed civil engineer bringing extensive experience on land use, housing, infrastructure, climate change, and the environment. Prior to his election in 2020, he served on nearly 30 civic boards, planning groups, and commissions. The combination of technical expertise and community engagement makes him an effective leader on policies, legislation, and budgets that meet the needs of his district and all San Diegans.

Adam Gordon is a career prosecutor who became a nationally-recognized expert on prosecutorial strategies to combat the fentanyl epidemic. Gordon joined the office in 2019 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving as the district’s Criminal Division Opioid Coordinator and most recently as a cartel prosecutor in the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces Unit. 

Gordon was instrumental in creating the Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team known as “FAST” in San Diego County which is now a national model. Formed in September 2022, FAST is a multi-agency task force led by Homeland Security Investigations that targets significant fentanyl distributors in San Diego County to reduce the overdose death rate. He also has personally achieved justice for the victims of fatal fentanyl poisonings by prosecuting the responsible drug dealers, including one who supplied a deadly dose to a 13-year-old boy in Coronado. Gordon received the 2025 Prosecutor of the Year Award from the California Narcotic Officer’s Association for Region IV.

Adam Gordon's outreach and prevention strategies have included unique ways to grab the attention of young people and warn them about the dangers of fentanyl, such as the production of a public service announcement that was a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Department of Justice and the Name Image Likeness Collective of the San Diego State Men’s Basketball Team in honor of National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day.

Additionally, Gordon extended his influence to law enforcement audiences around the nation by coauthoring an article for the Department of Justice’s Journal of Federal Law and Practice, Confronting the Chaos: Outreach and Prevention Strategies for the Fentanyl Epidemic from the Southern District of California.

Prior to serving as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Gordon was a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County where he focused mostly on violent crimes. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Gordon was in private practice in San Diego. Gordon received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University in 2004, and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2008. Mr. Gordon is also a Master at the Wallace Inn of Court.