Invited Speakers

CAPT Erik Burian
U.S. Navy (ret.)
Submarine Greybeard, NSTCP

Erik Burian is a retired U.S. Navy Captain and career Submarine Officer. He is a native of Middle Island, New York and now calls Kailua, Oahu home. After retiring from more than 28 years of active duty in 2017, he began his current position as a Submarine Tactical Greybeard at the Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific in Pearl Harbor, where he mentors and teaches tactics, leadership, and team dynamics.

During his career in the Submarine Force, he served on seven submarines and commanded USS LOS ANGELES, USS LA JOLLA, and USS MICHIGAN. While in command, his crews were continually recognized for operational excellence and a resilient culture of genuine camaraderie and teamwork.

Erik earned a BS in Systems Engineering with the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1989, an SM in Ocean Engineering from the MIT-Woods Hole Joint Program, and an MBA in Organizational Change and Development from Hawaii Pacific University.

When not training and mentoring the next generation of Submariners, Erik enjoys playing tennis, swimming, mountain biking, outrigger paddling, gardening bonsai and orchids, reading, and cooking.

Erik shares his life’s journey with his wife, Dr. Brenda Jensen, the Dean of the College of Natural and Computational Sciences at Hawaii Pacific University, their children Kelsey and River, and their Labrador-Doberman mixes, Kaja and Mahina.

Jay Wellons, MD, MSPH

Jay Wellons MD, MSPH holds the Cal Turner Chair of Pediatric Neurosurgery and is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. He is a Professor in the Departments of Neurological Surgery, Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, and Radiology and Radiological Sciences. He also is the Vice Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Vice Chair for Clinical Research in the Section of Surgical Sciences, and serves as the Medical Director of the Surgical Outcomes Center for Kids, which he co-founded in 2015. He also served as Program Director of the Neurosurgery Residency Training Program at Vanderbilt from 2014-2018.

He received his medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical School and completed his residency in neurologic surgery at Duke University Medical Center in 2001. This was followed by a one-year fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and the Children’s Hospital of Alabama. After his fellowship was complete in 2002, he remained on faculty at UAB for a total of 10 years, obtaining an MSPH during that time. He came to Vanderbilt in September of 2012.

Dr. Wellons has participated as a site investigator in two multi-institutional research networks centered on pediatric hydrocephalus and Chiari malformation surgical and patient-centered outcomes. His expertise in the surgical management of Chiari Malformation, congenital neurosurgery, intrauterine neurosurgery, and lesions of the brachial plexus has informed additional research endeavors evaluating health disparities, quality of life and in utero vs. post-natal surgery outcomes.

He has served on the editorial board of Journal of Neurosurgery – Pediatrics, Co-hosted the AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery Annual Meeting in Nashville in 2018, and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons in the capacity of Treasurer.

In addition to his scientific writing, he has been a contributor to the New York Times Sunday Review and has a book, All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and their Stories of Grace and Resilience, to be published by Penguin Random House in June of 2022. His non-scientific writing focuses on the field of pediatric neurosurgery and the lessons learned from the children and parents that we care for.

Jeff Hellmer

Jeff Hellmer, Director of Jazz Studies at the Butler School of Music, maintains an extremely active performing and teaching profile, appearing frequently on the central Texas scene as well as throughout the United States at venues ranging from the Litchfield Jazz Festival to the Idyllwild Arts Academy. Twice named a finalist in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, he has performed, taught and adjudicated jazz throughout the United States as well as in Russia and Taiwan. His recording, Peak Moments, was declared an “exciting addition to the modern jazz piano catalog” by the All Music Guide. He has been a soloist and guest conductor with the Dallas Wind Symphony eight times, and has recorded with classical saxophonists Dan Goble and Harvey Pittel.

Hellmer developed a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in Jazz Appreciation that was received with critical acclaim on the EdX platform, with an enrollment of over 19,000 students! He has also partnered with the learning technology company Cerego to create innovative new online content in jazz studies.

As the long-time director of the UT Jazz Orchestra, he led performances of the band at the North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals, as well as appearances with jazz masters such as Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, John Clayton, and Kenny Garrett. In 2009, Professor Hellmer was named to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, one of the highest awards given for teaching at the university. His current and former jazz piano students have garnered impressive recognition for their creativity and individuality. He is co-author of the textbook Jazz Theory and Practice, published by Alfred.