The George W. Gay Lecture at Harvard Medical School
October 29, 2015

Amy Gutmann,
President, University of Pennsylvania
Chair, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and
President and Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and
Professor of Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Alan Garber, Provost, Harvard University
Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Public Policy in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health


From http://bioethics.hms.harvard.edu/news/making-difficult-decisions

"Making the Difficult Decisions"
-- UPenn's Gutmann and Harvard's Garber to speak at annual bioethics lecture --

When politicians become polarized, is there really any effective way to break the stalemate and end the disagreement?

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, an eminent political philosopher and lifelong educator, has a theory about that.

Gutmann’s 1996 book Democracy and Disagreement, based on a theory of deliberative democracy and developed in collaboration with Harvard political scientist Dennis Thompson, has been praised as an effective remedy for polarized politics.

The work, considered a major contribution to political philosophy, calls for more reasoned argument in every day politics.

The theory poses that deliberation can inform decision-making through reasoned argument, developing society’s collective capacity to pursue justice while finding mutually acceptable terms of social cooperation—even when disagreements persist.

This year Gutmann will join Harvard University Provost Alan Garber at the annual George W. Gay Lecture, both speaking on the topic: “Why Care About Bioethics?”

The George W. Gay Lecture was established in 1917 by George Washington Gay, an 1868 graduate of Harvard Medical School. It is the oldest endowed lectureship at HMS and quite possibly the oldest medical ethics lecture in the country.

Since its inception, many of the nation's most influential physicians, scientists, researchers and social observers have come to campus to share their experiences, opinions and concerns with the Harvard community.

Former speakers include Elie Wiesel, Marian Wright Edelman, Nicholas Kristof and Paul Krugman.

Inaugurated as Penn's eighth president in 2004, Gutmann earned her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1971, her master’s degree in political science from the London School of Economics in 1972, and her doctorate in political science from Harvard University in 1976.

Garber, also a Harvard alumnus, graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude in 1977 and received his doctorate in economics from Harvard University. He received his MD with research honors from Stanford University and trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Garber is a distinguished academic leader with an extraordinary breadth of experience across two large fields within Harvard—medical research and practice as well as the social sciences.

“We are thrilled to have both President Gutmann and Provost Garber participate this year,” said Robert Truog, director of the HMS Center for Bioethics.

“Between President Gutmann's unique experience as the chair of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and Provost Garber’s background in health care, economics and public policy, we’ve set the stage for what I’m sure will be a fascinating and enlightening conversation,” he said.

For more information about the Gay lecture, go to bioethics.hms.harvard.edu/gay-lecture