The Dallas Philosophers Forum Board

Our latest board meeting at Aboca's in Richardson
DPF Board Meeting 11-14-2023

Rob Olson, President


Rob Olson picture
Rob.O@irmi.com

Robin (Rob) Olson serves as the president of the Dallas Philosopher’s Forum.  He holds an MLA in philosophy from Southern Methodist University. As a vocation, he is the author and senior research analyst for International Risk Management Institute’s Personal Risk Management and Insurance, a 3,300-page reference manual. He also writes and lectures frequently on emerging trends in the risk management business, specializing in the impact of genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics, and nanotechnology on the industry and society.  He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and holds five other risk management designations.  Mr. Olson is also an active member of the CPCU Society, having held a number of chairmanships and offices, including president of the Dallas Chapter and national interest group governor. 

In addition, Mr. Olson serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas where he teaches classes on enterprise risk management classes. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas.  Lastly, Mr. Olson is active in community service, teaching life skills classes to inmates and jailers at the Dallas County Jail.


David G. Drumm, Treasurer

David Drumm picture

ddrumm@ccsb.com

David G. Drumm serves as the Treasurer of the Dallas Philosopher’s Forum.  David received a BA from the University of Texas at Austin with a major in anthropology and a JD from Southern Methodist University Law School.

For the last 40 years, David has been with the Dallas law firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP.  David is currently a partner and a member of the Executive Committee of the firm and practices in the area of real estate and oil and gas transactions.

David is currently the Treasurer, and for seven years was President, of the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation, a private foundation pursuing a mission of promoting civic education and participation.

David is a licensed Unity teacher credentialed by the Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute and lectures and teaches at Unity of Dallas and other venues in the areas of comparative religion, philosophical theology, and cultural and intellectual history.



Ken Sauter, Audio-Visual Operations

 Ken Sauter-2014
kwsauter@netzero.net

Ken Sauter is an independent designer who graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a degree in Design.  He subsequently earned an MBA at LeTourneau University.   Ken has designed three night vision sights for the Military, as well as designing commercial speed ovens for a Dallas R&D firm.  Ken has been operating his own business, Sauter Industrial Design, since 2007.

Ken’s interest in Philosophy began when he realized that there are some questions in life that don’t lend themselves to black and white answers.  There is a philosophy behind every answer to a question, and it makes a difference in the answer if there’s a different philosophy behind it.  

Ken has been handling A/V needs for the Dallas Philosophers Forum for about 20 years.

Rob McKellar, Speaker Coordinator

Rob McKellar-2024

rob.mckellar91@gmail.com

Rob has been on the board since about 2018. He coordinates the Speaker Schedule for the Forum and manages the collaborative workspace. Rob has a B.S. degree from Southern Methodist University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. McKellar has conducted research in areas ranging from Medicinal Chemistry to Material Science at the Air Force Research Laboratories, the University of Dayton Research Institute, the University of Cincinnati, Wright State University, Alcon Laboratories and with a couple of small companies. He has taught Chemistry at the college level and at the high school level.  He is certified, in Texas, to teach all science subjects, 7th to 12th grade. Dr. McKellar is an independent inventor with five U.S. utility patents granted for which he is currently pursuing marketing and licensing. In addition, Dr. McKellar is a Chemistry tutor as well as a tutor for other science subjects.

So far, Dr. McKellar has given two talks at the Dallas Philosophers Forum: one on “Consciousness” (Fall 2021) and a second on “Follow the Science? Stories of When the Consensus Scientific Belief was Wrong and One Person was Right: Implications for Public Policy, Science and Education.”  (Spring 2023) (Videos of these talks can be found on the Dallas Philosophers Forum website under “archives.”) Dr. McKellar is an avid reader and beyond science is interested in all intellectual pursuits especially philosophy, religion, history, language, and psychology and the intersectionality of these disciplines.

Dr. McKellar is currently working on a grant from the MSW (Ministry of Silly Walks). His recent results include the following: his right leg does a half turn every alternate step, but, unfortunately, his left leg still isn’t silly at all.

Jack Sezer, Board Member

Rob McKellar-2024

jacksezer86@gmail.com

Jack holds a Bachelor's degree in Christian studies and theology from Dallas Baptist University, a Master's degree in Biblical and theological studies from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is currently acquiring a Master's in philosophy at the University of Dallas. He continues to publish on Substack where he writes essays regarding politics, philosophy, and theology. He also hosts the Veridical Podcast where he conducts interviews, analyzes essays, and reviews literature. He says "I have benefited greatly from the Dallas Philosopher's Forum and am excited to be a part of its future."

TJ Williams, Board Member

Rob McKellar-2024

tjwilliams87031@gmail.com

Raised just up the road in Southwest Arkansas, TJ Williams studied Mechanical Engineering at Oklahoma State.  After graduation he lived and worked for 20 years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he also completed his Masters in Mechanical Engineering Controls at the University of New Mexico.  TJ has 25 years’ experience in the defense industry working computer modeling and simulation, Systems Engineer, and team leadership.

TJ is an amateur student of history, theology, and philosophy, with a special emphasis in moral and political philosophy  Being a strong devotee of Alasdair MacIntyre’s Thomistic Aristotelianism, TJ spends a lot of time in the works of Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas; as well as their modern interpreters.

TJ and his wife have three adult children and live in Garland.  TJ is a comfortably mediocre rock guitarist, an enthusiastic fan of music, a decent French chef, and is weirdly obsessed with Batman.

 


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