Presenter Biographies

Denver Brunsman is Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at George Washington University, where his courses include “George Washington and His World,” taught annually at the Mount Vernon estate. He is an award-winning author of the books George Washington and His World: Enslaver, Revolutionary, President (2026) and The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World (2013), co-author of a leading college and AP U.S. History textbook, Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of theAmer ican People (2016; 2020), and co-editor of The American Revolution Reader (2014), among other publications.

Ryan Reft is a historian in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress where he oversees collections pertaining to 20th and 21st domestic politics and policies. Reft is one of the lead curators of the Library of Congress A250 exhibit The Declaration’s Promise opening in early July 2026. Reft will give a feature presentation at the 'Declaration at 250' Keynote Dinner.

Emily Sneff is an early American historian and leading expert on the Declaration of Independence. She earned her Ph.D. in History from William & Mary. She is the author of When the Declaration of Independence Was News and has contributed to numerous museum exhibitions and scholarly volumes marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration in 2026. 

Gary V. Wood is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI. Originally from California, Wood attended both La Sierra University and Newbold college as an undergraduate. He continued his studies with an interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree from Cal State San Bernardino in History/Philosophy/Political Science, and moved on to Claremont University for another MA, concentrating on political science this time. His book, Heir to the Fathers: John Quincy Adams and the Spirit of Constitutional Government (Lexington Books, 2003) grew out of his Ph.D. dissertation study on John Quincy Adams' political thought and understanding of the U.S. Constitution.

Christopher Banks serves as the Dean of WAU's Betty Howard Center for Student Success. Banks earned his Honors B.A. in International Relations from Brown University, followed by a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University. He then completed his Ph.D. in Politics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, establishing a strong foundation in global affairs and policy analysis. Banks frequently teaches courses in international relations and political studies for the WAU Honors College.

Nicholas Miller is a Professor of Law and Religion at Washington Adventist University, is the Co-Director of the Center for Law and Public Policy, and leads the Pre-Law and Legal Studies program at WAU. He received his B.A. in theology from Pacific Union College and a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, where he was a Stone Scholar and an editor of the Columbia Law Review.  He also has a Ph.D. in American Religious and Legal History from the University of Notre Dame, where he received the award for the best dissertation of the year for 2010 from the History Department. Miller is also a practicing attorney and has his own practice in Maryland and California.

Jonathan Scriven is the Associate Director of the Washington Adventist University Honors College and a member of the teaching faculty in the area of history and political Studies. He also leads the WAU Center for Global Programs and Co-Directs the Center for Law and Public Policy. Scriven holds a Bachelors degree in history and economics from Andrews University (MI), a Masters degree in history and education from the Johns Hopkins University (MD), and a Doctorate in international relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Nelu Burcea is the Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He holds a PhD. in Economics specializing in Management Business Ethics, a Masters degree in Management of Business Development, and a Theology degree. He has also completed postgraduate study in Media and Marketing and Diplomatic Protocol and Communication. He is currently a Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University focusing on the area of “Religious Freedom in Former Communist Countries.”  In 2025 he was elected Secretary General of the International Religious Liberty Association.

Sonja Dewitt is an attorny a the Pekich Law Firm. She has 20 years of experience in discrimination law, handling both private and federal sector employment discrimination cases.  She has extensive experience handling all types of discrimination cases, including disparate treatment, harassment, reasonable accommodation, religious accommodation, and retaliation involving all the protected bases. She worked for six years as an EEO Specialist in the Civil Rights Division of a major federal Agency, drafted Final Agency Decisions (FAD) for multiple federal Agencies, as well as litigation documents for cases in federal and state courts.   

Olive Hemmings is Chair of the Henry and Sharon Fordham Department of Religion at Washington Adventist University. She has been teaching in Seventh-day Adventist higher education since 1982. Her Masters is in New Testament and Biblical Languages and Ph. D is in Theology, Ethics and Culture (CGU, 2005). She is an ordained minister of Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and pursues a yearly itinerary of preaching and teaching. She is engaged in an active writing/publication ministry mainly on topics of current ethical concerns in church and society, with the prophetic origins of the gospel as foundation. She is a BCCI Certified chaplain and her pastoral activities occur at Georgetown University Hospital where she serves as a contract chaplain.

Tara D. Hargrove is Chair of Communication and World Languages, Associate Professor of Communication, and Online Campus Director at Pacific Union College. She co-founded Unchart(Ed), a faculty–staff collaborative focused on innovation in teaching and interdisciplinary learning, and co-hosts the Unchart(Ed) podcast. Hargrove holds a BA in Speech Communication from Colorado State University, an MA in Communication Studies with a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies, and a Graduate Certificate in Social Media Marketing from Cornell University. Her teaching and scholarship explore communication, media, pedagogy, gender, and organizational culture, and she regularly presents on communication research, online learning, and the ethical use of AI in higher education. 

Savonna Greer is an Assistant Professor at Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL. She holds a bachelors degree in history from Walla Walla University and a Master's degree from California State Univeristy. Greer is pursuing a doctorate in history from the University of Alabama.

Carl McRoy is an ordained minister who frequently writes from the intersection of history, agitation, and hope. He has published articles in Adventist Review, Adventist Today, Liberty, Message, Spectrum, and Three-Fifths magazines, along with several small missionary books for mass distribution. He is a graduate of Oakwood University (BA in Ministerial Theology) and Bethany Theological Seminary (MA in Theopoetics and Writing), where his focus was “Illuminating Theopoetics Through Black Liberation Literature in Speech and Song.” 

Niq Ruud is an assistant professor in the Department of History and Political Studies at Pacific Union College in California and is a PhD student at The University of Edinburgh, researching the history and philosophy of science, religion, and their intersection with US politics. 

Charles Scriven is a Seventh-day Adventist theologian who served as Presidents of Washington Adventist Univeristy (then Columbia Union College) and Kettering College. He also served as Senior Pastor of the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church. His books include The Demons Have Had It: A Theological ABC (1976), The Transformation of Culture: Christian social ethics after H. Richard Niebuhr (1988), and The Promise of Peace: Dare to Experience the Advent Hope (2009). Scriven holds a Ph.D. in systematic theology and Christian social ethics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

James Standish served as executive director of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, as a member of the White House Taskforce on Interfaith Dialogue & Cooperation, and he focuses on religious freedom, humanitarian aid, and complex international issues. James earned his JD, cum laude, from Georgetown, his MBA from the University of Virginia, and his BBA from Newbold College, England. James was born in Sydney, grew up in South-east Asia, and resides in Washington.  James is married to Dr. Leisa Morton-Standish, and has three children, Shea (WAU graduate, 2026, currently in law school), Skye (current WAU student), and Boyi (4th grade at Beltsville Adventist School).  

David Trim was born in Bombay, India, to missionary parents and spent his childhood in Sydney, Australia. Educated in Australia and England, he earned a BA in history from Newbold College and PhD in history from King’s College in London. Trim was on the faculty of Newbold College for a decade, and held the Walter C. Utt Chair in History at Pacific Union College. He has also held visiting fellowships at the Huntington Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. In 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. A prolific author, he has authored, co-authored or edited seventeen books, and his other publications include over 150 articles and chapters in scholarly journals, popular magazines, and books. He has served as Director of the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research since 2010.