MUS to Host TEDxMemphis

TEDxMemphis 2024 will come to life in Hyde Chapel on September 28, thanks to a long-standing partnership between New Memphis and the MUS students and faculty who power the conference as volunteers.
Patton Orr ’16 and Luke Jensen ’07 with support and encouragement from Clay Smythe ’85 (now Robert J. Hussey, Sr. Chair of Religion) helped launch the first TEDxMemphis in 2015.

“The school immediately gave us their full support, and since then, MUS students, faculty, and administration have played a vital role in the conference,” says Jensen, associate vice president at Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors.

Orr started the MUS TED Club in 2014 to screen TED Talks, recorded presentations by experts and thinkers from around the world. After he and Jensen attended a TEDActive conference in Whistler, British Columbia, they applied for a TEDx license and worked with community partners, including New Memphis, to bring the conference to life.

President and CEO of New Memphis Anna Mullins Ellis says MUS instilled in the TEDxMemphis founders not just a sense of civic pride but a responsibility to make Memphis better, just as the conference has done.

“Now nine years later, it inspires me to see the vast footprint of the annual event,” she says. “More than 100 local leaders have taken to the TED stage, and each TED Talk we have mounted exemplifies the New Memphis ethos that our city is one full of talent, possibility, and creativity.”

MUS Technical Director of Theater Robert Fudge has been with TEDxMemphis from the beginning, working with students behind the scenes to produce the conferences.

“I remember being asked in the hallway by Patton if our stage crew could build some letters for his TED Club,” Fudge says. “That initial idea has grown to allow our theater company to do service that shines a spotlight on others: important groups, causes, and discussions. Producing ‘ideas worth sharing’ not only provides project leadership opportunities for stage crew but also helps them think about our city’s future in a broad, well-rounded way.”

Learn more and get tickets at tedx-memphis.com. Watch past speakers, including Classical and Modern Languages Chair Ryan Sellers, at tinyurl.com/MemphisTED.
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