Pfaudler Lecture Series

Listen to a thought-provoking lecture given by a guest speaker every Thursday at 12:15 pm during our Fall, Winter, and Spring terms! These lectures are presented in the hybrid format which means that you can attend in either person or via Zoom—just register using the links for each lecture listed below to get the meeting details.

What's in a Name?

Marge Pfaudler, one of the founding members of our original lifelong learning group (The Athenaeum), had a vision: she wanted to establish a relationship with the Rochester community beyond RIT. Toward that end, she sought to bring in people like the city mayor, state representatives, and other guest lecturers to provide members with information about the local political, social, religious, and cultural environment.

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September 17, 12:15 pm
Presented by Mitch Gruber, Foodlink’s Senior VP/Chief Impact Officer

While teaching at Head Start, Mitch Gruber connected with Foodlink founder Tom Ferraro to reduce food waste and improve food quality for his students, a partnership that led him to Foodlink, where he rose to Senior Vice President/Chief Impact Officer. There he helped develop effective public health and anti-poverty programs, including the Curbside Market, the Lexington Avenue Urban Farm, and a culinary Career Fellowship. Mitch will speak on food equity, the historical roots of urban food insecurity, and the intersections of public health, nonprofit innovation, and local government.

Mitch Gruber, Ph.D., has worn many hats at Foodlink since joining the organization in 2008. After graduating from Binghamton University, he began his career as a Head Start teacher for Action for a Better Community, an experience that sparked his lifelong commitment to community-based food work. Since then, he has held several positions at Foodlink, each driven by a common goal: deepening the organization's partnerships within the communities it serves. Mitch holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Rochester and has served on the Rochester City Council since 2018. He lives in the city of Rochester with his wife and two sons.

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September 24, 12:15 pm
Presented by Gary Craig, Author, Retired Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Journalist

On a freezing night in January 1993, masked gunmen walked through laughably lax security at the Rochester Brink’s depot, tied up the guards, and unhurriedly made off with $7.4 million. Gary Craig, Rochester’s award-winning former investigative reporter, will discuss the highs and lows of creating his book, Seven Million, sharing insights into the reporting and writing that brought the story to life, and detailing what it takes to bring a book from the page to the screen.

Gary Craig retired from the Democrat and Chronicle in 2025 after nearly 45 years in newspapers, capping a career that earned him more than two dozen state, regional, and national honors for investigative reporting and writing. He is the author of Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink's Heist and co-author of The Prison Guard's Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica. Gary now freelances and writes an active Substack. He and his wife, Charlotte, live in Brighton and have two adult daughters.

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October 1, 12:15 pm
Presented by Susan Ashline, Nationally Acclaimed Author of True Crime Books

Susan Ashline departs from the traditional lecture format for this session. Rather than prepared remarks, the discussion unfolds as a Q&A, with the audience setting the agenda. Bring your questions about true crime: the cases, the psychology, the ethical gray areas, the realities behind the headlines. Bring your questions about traditional publishing: finding an agent, submitting to publishers, navigating contracts, and what happens behind the scenes as a book enters the world. Expect candor, storytelling, and insight into the parts of the process most people never see. Come curious; leave informed.

Susan Ashline, whose journalism career spans more than 25 years, is the author of A Jacket Off the Gorge and the nationally acclaimed true crime books Ungrateful Bastard and Without a Prayer. She is featured in two Hulu docuseries, How I Escaped My Cult and Cult Justice, in episodes based on Without a Prayer. Her long-time role as a court correspondent sparked a deep interest in the criminal justice system, an interest that would go on to shape her true crime writing. Her work has earned major recognition, including an Emmy nomination for a public broadcasting societal-concerns program, a first-place Associated Press award for general excellence in individual reporting, and a Democrat and Chronicle Gold Medal Award for online excellence.

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October 8, 12:15 pm
Presented by Mary Rose McBride, Lifespan’s VP of Marketing & Communications

Lifespan of Greater Rochester is growing and now partners with 85 primary care physician practices and 30 specialized services. Lifespan promotes independence and helps older adults age with confidence by enhancing caregiving support, advocating on clients' behalf, and assisting with in-home services. It offers education and scam prevention, protective services, Medicare plan guidance, and supportive care, along with unbiased advice on future planning and help organizing legal, financial, and health documents.

Mary Rose McBride is the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Lifespan of Greater Rochester, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting older adults and their caregivers. Based in Rochester, NY, Mary Rose brings a strong background in public relations to her role, having previously served as a Public Relations Coordinator in the NYS Senate. Her passion for writing took root during her education at Nazareth Academy and continues to shape her work today.

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October 15, 12:15 pm
Presented by Edward Ashton, Ph.D., Author

If you saw the film Mickey 17 last year, you might have stopped to wonder how an obscure mid-list author managed to have one of his books brought to the screen by four-time Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho. Well, Edward Ashton is just as confused about that as you are. Join him on a journey from the literary world to quantum land and through the mysteries of the multiverse in search of an answer more convincing than “You’re probably actually in an ICU right now, hooked up to a particularly heavy morphine drip.”

Edward Ashton is the author of seven published novels, including Mickey7 (now a motion picture—Mickey 17—directed by Bong Joon Ho and starring Robert Pattinson and Mark Ruffalo), Antimatter Blues, The Fourth Consort, and After the Fall. His short fiction has appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. In his spare time, he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.

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October 22, 12:15 pm
Presented by Gap Mangione, Professional Jazz Pianist, Composer, Arranger, and Bandleader

Gap Mangione, a 2015 Rochester Music Hall of Fame inductee, has spent nearly seven decades at the center of Upstate NY's jazz royalty. In this engaging presentation, Gap will explore jazz history, percussion techniques, and the rich legacy of Rochester's iconic music scene. He'll captivate audiences with first-hand stories of growing up in Rochester alongside his brother and fellow Rochester music icon, Chuck Mangione. Gap will also reflect on the enduring magic of his Friday night residency at the Woodcliff Hotel, and, with any luck, he'll treat us to a song or two.

Born in Rochester, NY, Gap (Gaspare) Mangione was raised in a close-knit Italian family where music poured from the radio and phonograph. Papa Mangione would regularly invite visiting musicians home for pasta dinners, gatherings that often gave way to impromptu jazz sessions late into the night. By age 13, Gap was already playing the blues on the family piano and drawing his younger brother, Chuck, into improvisations alongside him; by 15, he was writing and arranging for local big bands. Eventually, the Mangione brothers decided it was time to form a band of their own; they called themselves The Jazz Brothers. From May 1987 through May 2019, The Lodge at Woodcliff in Rochester served as home base for Gap's solo piano and group performances, a remarkable 32-year residency.

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October 29, 12:15 pm
Presented by Emily Clasper, Director, Rochester Public Library

Led by groups like Friends & Foundation of Rochester Public Library, the library of the future is evolving from a quiet book warehouse into a dynamic, high-tech community hub, social anchor, and center for digital equity. Far from obsolete in the age of search engines, libraries are filling critical gaps in today's digital and social landscape. Modern libraries maximize space with collaborative worktables and shared workspaces, and now lend tools, instruments, fishing poles, sewing machines, and artwork. They're also becoming proving grounds for AI literacy, helping patrons identify AI-generated content, use AI tools ethically, and understand algorithmic decision-making.

Before being appointed to this role in 2025, Emily Clasper served as Associate Director overseeing operations at the Central Library. Prior to that, she was Director of Service Strategies for the University of Rochester's River Campus Libraries, where she managed the Patron Services Department. Earlier in her career, she spent 13 years with the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, providing support to 56 public libraries across Suffolk County, NY. Emily is a certified Project Management Professional and a Certified Alma Administrator, a former American Library Association Councilor-at-Large, and a 2012 Library Journal Mover and Shaker. She is known for her forward-thinking approach and her dedication to empowering library staff.

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November 5, 12:15 pm
Presented by Justice Stephen Lindley, NYS Supreme Court, Appellate Div., 4th Department

Drawing on 24 years of judicial experience, Justice Stephen Lindley will discuss controversial rulings, compare his early career as a prosecutor with his time on the bench as a neutral arbiter, and offer an inside look at the appellate court. A Rochester native and graduate of Emory University and the University at Buffalo School of Law, Justice Lindley was designated by Governor Paterson in 2010 to serve on the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, which hears appeals from 22 counties across Central and Western NY.

Admitted to the NY bar in 1990, Stephen K. Lindley began his legal career as a confidential law clerk to several judges. He went on to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in Monroe County and spent three years in private practice. In January 2002, he was appointed by Rochester Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr. to fill a vacancy on the Rochester City Court bench, and that November he was elected to a full 10-year term. After three years on City Court, Justice Lindley was designated to sit as Acting Monroe County Court Judge, a role he held until his election to the Supreme Court, Seventh Judicial District, in November 2006. Justice Lindley is married to Ardis Mangione-Lindley, and the couple has four children.

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November 12, 12:15 pm
Presented by Jennifer Faringer, MS Ed, CPP-G

Jennifer Faringer is the Director of DePaul's National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence–Rochester Area (NCADD-RA). In this presentation, she will discuss the risks specific to older adults around the potential misuse of alcohol and other drugs, as well as problem gambling. Topics will include signs and symptoms, medication interactions, and the critical importance of medication safety. Attendees will leave with a wide variety of free takeaways, including medication lock boxes, lock bags, medication safe-disposal pouches, fact sheets, referral directories, and much more!

Jennifer Faringer has worked in the field of prevention since 1988, serving as Director of NCADD-RA for over 20 years and delivering education and training to professionals and communities throughout that time. She has developed and expanded continuing education opportunities in the addictions field and currently delivers workplace wellness workshops while overseeing multiple NCADD-RA programs, including the 350-hour Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) program. Jennifer received her bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and her master's in Health Education from SUNY Brockport. She was awarded the Eileen Pencer Award in 2017 for outstanding contributions to the field, named Prevention Practitioner of the Year by NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) in 2011, and recognized regionally in 2001 by CASAC for her outstanding contributions to the field.

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November 19, 12:15 pm
Presented by Rt. Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester

In a time when political divisions run through families, communities, schools, and religious institutions alike, how can faith leaders and communities of faith offer a relevant voice that rises above the noise, anger, and fear? With congregations already divided along racial lines, will they now retreat into ideological bubbles as well? And as church membership continues to decline, does the institution still have the authority to speak to a world that has grown suspicious of institutions altogether?

The Rt. Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer is the ninth, and first woman, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester. A lifelong Episcopalian, she has served in ministry across the US and in England. Kara spent 21 years in Chicago, including 19 as rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, where she focused on building community, promoting justice, and advancing inclusion. Now, as bishop, she leads a diocese of 46 congregations across eight counties stretching from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border and strives to be a light of love and service in diverse communities.