Summit 2026

Dr. Belle Liang is a Professor of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Her research focuses on cultivating purpose and belonging as systemic drivers of equity and well-being in schools and workplaces. She serves as the inaugural Ascione Fellow and Faculty Fellow in University Mission and Ministry, where she connects her scholarship to campus-wide initiatives supporting holistic and justice-oriented development in educational and professional settings.

 

For over two decades at Boston College, Dr. Liang has led research-practice partnerships funded by the National Science Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and others. Her work includes the design of evidence-based curricula, tools, and technologies that foster inclusive, purpose-driven cultures in schools and organizations. She has authored over 100 scholarly publications and is co-author of How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, & Beyond, a widely adopted book that translates purpose research into accessible tools for students, educators, and communities.

 

Her contributions to psychology, teaching, and mentoring have earned her numerous honors, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University–Bloomington. She is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 17). Across all her roles, Dr. Liang bridges research and practice to help diverse communities thrive—by transforming not only how individuals develop, but how systems support their sense of purpose and belonging.

 

 

 

 

Aziz Rana is the J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor of Law and Government. He joins Boston College from Cornell Law School, where he was the Richard and Lois Cole Professor of Law.

His research and teaching center on American constitutional law and political development. In particular, Rana’s work focuses on how shifting notions of race, citizenship, and empire have shaped legal and political identity since the founding of the country.

His first book, The Two Faces of American Freedom (Harvard University Press) situates the American experience within the global history of colonialism, examining the intertwined relationship in American constitutional practice between internal accounts of freedom and external projects of power and expansion. His latest book, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document that Fails Them (University of Chicago Press, 2024), explores the modern emergence of constitutional veneration in the twentieth century -- especially against the backdrop of growing American global authority -- and how veneration has influenced the boundaries of popular politics.

Rana has written essays and op-eds for such venues as n+1, Dissent, The Boston Review, The Washington Post, The New York Times,  New Labor Forum, Jacobin, The Guardian, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Nation, Jadaliyya, Salon, and The Law and Political Economy Blog. He has articles and chapter contributions published or forthcoming with Yale and Oxford University Presses, The University of Chicago Law Review, California Law Review, UCLA Law Review, Texas Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal Forum, among others.

Rana is an editorial board member of Dissent, The Law and Political Economy Blog, Just Security, and The Journal of American Constitutional History. He is also a Life Member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

​He received his A.B. from Harvard College summa cum laude and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He earned a Ph.D. in political science at Harvard University, where his dissertation was awarded the University's Charles Sumner Prize.

Rachel Spooner is an Associate Professor of the Practice in Business Law at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Rachel teaches Business Law, the Carroll School’s Portico course, and Securities Regulation to undergraduate students. She also has experience teaching Executive and MBA students. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and received her JD from Georgetown University Law Center. After clerking for the Honorable William C. Conner in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Rachel worked in the Trial Department of Goodwin Procter LLP for five years, focusing on commercial, securities, and bankruptcy litigation, as well as engaging in extensive pro bono work for prisoners, indigent criminal defendants, and on a death penalty case.

Rachel is also the author of Tales from a Professor’s Office: An Insider’s Guide to Thriving in College, a book that offers students practical advice on how to navigate the challenges of college life, from academic strategies to personal development. In connection with the book, she regularly speaks to high school students and families about college preparation, trains university advising staff on best practices for student success, and serves on panels for university administrators, focusing on enhancing the first-year student experience.