Printer Friendly Version - Dan Rabin: Bringing Education and Intellect through Branford Forum

After a career in medical research, Dan Rabin found the Branford Forum an invaluable tool for staying updated on important issues—so much so he;s now the group’s president. Photo courtesy of Dan Rabin

For the past decade, the Branford Forum, which was founded by Marc Schwartz, has hosted a free public education series for residents. The presentations and subsequent discussions are held monthly on Sundays at the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library. Five years ago, Dan Rabin discovered the series and began attending on a regular basis.

After three years of regular attendance, Dan was nearing retirement and Schwartz was looking to step down as president.

“Marc asked if I’d be interested in taking it over,” says Dan. “I agreed and while I realized it was a big responsibility, I was retiring at about that time so the timing was right.”

As president, Dan is responsible for all aspects of the forum. He works closely with the steering committee, which also includes Schwartz, Barry Mann, Steve Rolnick, and Lloyd Buzzell, and now counts those in the group as “friends who have great discussions that are always challenging and stimulating.” The group identifies areas of interest for the community and researches appropriate speakers.

“The most difficult thing we do is to identify really great speakers—we discuss topics of interest and who we can recruit to speak to those topics,” says Dan. “We then go through screening process to find the best people in the local area and look for presentations on YouTube to see if they’re good, compelling speakers. “We bring people who are experts in different areas who can speak to issues that are important to the community and for the times,” he continues. “We try to get a wide variety of things that will interest our participants.”

Past presentation topics have included “The Assassination of Obamacare and What Might Follow,” “Luckey Climbers: Interactive Art for Kids,” “Big Data and Incentives for Economic Behavior,” and “Before You Know It: Unconscious Influences on Everyday Life.”

The next presentation, which is on Sunday, Jan. 27, will be “Looking Down on the Earth: Satellites, Science, and Societal Benefit” presented by Dr. Michael Freilich, director of NASA Earth Science Division. “NASA satellites carry instruments critical for monitoring weather, climate, air pollution, as well as the impact of clean air policies. Dr. Michael Freilich will illuminate how NASA uses the unique vantage point of space to learn about environmental evolution on our planet,” according to a Branford Forum press release.

Over the years, the Branford Forum has amassed an email list that exceeds 400 and about two years ago, the group surveyed the recipients to discover more topics of interest. It also accepts ideas at the monthly presentations. The group often draws faculty from local universities such as Southern Connecticut, Yale, and Quinnipiac.

In addition to finding engaging topics and securing speakers, Dan also manages the “nuts and bolts” operation of the Branford Forum, including working with the library on dates for the presentations, publicizing the events, and introducing the speaker and moderating the event on the day of the presentation.

The presentations are generally 90 minutes long with 45 minutes dedicated to the speaker and then 45 minutes for questions and answers and discussion. Dan and the steering committee focus on finding speakers who actively engage those in attendance. He enjoys the discussion and one of his favorite parts about the Branford Forum is that there is no cost involved.

“It’s really important for people who attend to be able to ask questions, share their point of view, and, have a robust discussion in the group,” says Dan. “The library contributes the space, the steering committee and I contribute time and energy, and the speakers volunteer their time and expertise, so we don’t have to charge any admission and there is no fundraising involved. It’s a public service with a primary role of benefiting the community and bringing free public education to those who may not to be exposed to this variety of things in every day lives.”

The presentations have proven to be popular with about 40 people attending each session learning about a variety of topics. While Dan is happy with the turnout, one of his goals is to encourage more young people to attend the discussions.

“It’s a wonderful entrée almost as a professions fair to show the kinds of things that different types of professionals are involved with,” says Dan. “The series is excellent for young people because it’s accessible but sophisticated and can be used as an example of what you might become if you go into a certain area.”

Dan has always enjoyed learning, working in research at Bayer for 20 years before finishing his professional career with the France Foundation, a medical education company in Old Lyme.

Dan and his wife, Gritli, have been married for 33 years. The couple has two children—Nina, an attorney in Westport practicing maritime and family law, and Jeremy, who is getting his master’s in business administration at Southern Connecticut State University. Jeremy and his wife Gloria recently had a baby named Eva. Dan and his wife enjoy spending time with their family as well as walking Nina’s dog (whom they are fostering) at land trust sites.

Dan and Gritli, a visual artist who recently had an exhibition at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, was involved with IRIS in New Haven in the past, a group that sponsored a refugee family from Iraq and helped them get settled in the area. The couples also volunteers for the Greater New Haven chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby, which has a goal of passing legislation for a carbon fee and dividend program to reduce carbon dioxide and slow global warming.

Many of the areas that Dan and his family are interested in have been topics of the Branford Forum in the past. Dan has enjoyed learning more about a variety of topics both through the presentations and his expanded reading that has been allowed by retirement. He has found a symbiotic relationship between his reading and the researching of the topics for discussions.

“For me it’s been a wonderful opportunity to look into all kinds of different things. We’re able to bring a topic that’s of deep interest to the community, things at the nexus of public interest as well as our own interests,” says Dan. “With each of our speakers, in preparing for them, I’ve delved into a whole variety of different areas from sleep medicine to social psychology and read several of the books our speakers have published so it has really broadened my perspective and my interest.”

Sunday, Jan. 27: Dr. Michael Freilich, director of NASA Earth Science Division: Looking Down on the Earth: Satellites, Science, and Societal Benefit

All talks take place at 2 p.m. at the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library, 146 Thimble Island Road, Branford. For more information, email RabinKux@sbcglobal.net