Relevance, Purpose, and Meaning After a Major Life Transition - UChicago | Leadership and Society Initiative
Source: https://graham.uchicago.edu/event/relevance-purpose-and-meaning-after-a-major-life-transition
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:39
Relevance, Purpose, and Meaning After a Major Life Transition - UChicago | Leadership and Society Initiative
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The University of Chicago
LSI Fellow Conversations
Relevance, Purpose, and Meaning After a Major Life Transition
What happens when the drive that built your career becomes the thing that prevents you from ever truly knowing yourself? Geoff Curtis spent nearly 30 years in healthcare communications before an acquisition erased his role — and forced him to confront what it really means to find purpose after a major life transition.
Date:
Monday, April 27, 2026
Time:
7:30 am - 9:15 am CT
Cost:
Free
Location:
Gleacher Center
Register Now
About the Event
After a nearly 30-year career in healthcare communications, Geoff Curtis lost his professional identity when an acquisition eliminated his role. In the aftermath, he realized that everything he thought he knew about purpose rested on a foundation he had never truly built.
In this fireside conversation based on his new book
Embracing Your Own Purgatory
, Geoff will explore the hidden cost of achievement addiction: how the same drive that fuels successful careers and leadership can quietly become the force that prevents people from ever truly knowing themselves.
Drawing on his own experience with professional identity loss, the search for purpose after professional success, and the seductive trap of filling every void with the next goal, Geoff will reflect on what it means to rediscover relevance, purpose, and meaning after a major life transition.
This event offers something rare: not a framework for bouncing back faster, but an honest argument for why slowing down, even when it feels uncomfortable or uncertain, may be the most strategic and meaningful step forward.
Join us for a light breakfast from 7:30–8:00 a.m., followed by the conversation, moderated by Seth Green, Dean of the Graham School, from 8:00–9:15 a.m.
Who's Speaking
Geoffrey Curtis
LSI Fellow '24. Former Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer, Horizon Therapeutics
Geoffrey Curtis is former Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and Chief Communications Officer at Horizon Therapeutics. During his more than 25-year health care communications career, he has worked domestically and internationally in various roles on both the client and agency side including at Abbott Laboratories, Edelman, GCI and W2O Group...
Geoffrey Curtis is former Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and Chief Communications Officer at Horizon Therapeutics. During his more than 25-year health care communications career, he has worked domestically and internationally in various roles on both the client and agency side including at Abbott Laboratories, Edelman, GCI and W2O Group (now Real Chemistry). Geoff is a committed mentor and coach to young professionals and undergraduate students, and is an avid philanthropist committed to education equity and access.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Lake Forest College and a Master of Arts from DePaul University in public relations and advertising. Geoff currently serves as a trustee for Lake Forest College, the Institute for Public Relations and is a member of the Page Society, the Public Relations Society of America, and Mixing Board. He previously served as chair of the board of directors of the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition and served as a board member for the Child Restoration Outreach and Support Organization.
Seth Green
Dean, Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies
Seth Green was appointed Dean of the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies on July 1, 2021. Before joining Graham, Green served as Founding Director of the Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility at Loyola University Chicago. During his tenure, the Center launched a top-ranked specialty MBA...
Seth Green was appointed Dean of the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies on July 1, 2021.
Before joining Graham, Green served as Founding Director of the Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility at Loyola University Chicago. During his tenure, the Center launched a top-ranked specialty MBA program, a globally significant award for social innovation in business, and an array of educational programs that annually engage more than 4,000 learners. Green also served as an Executive Lecturer in Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business, teaching classes on social entrepreneurship and receiving recognition as the Mission-Driven Faculty Member of the Year in 2021.
Prior to Loyola, Green led Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.), a nonprofit organization that prepares low-income youth for post-secondary and life success. At Y.O.U., Green oversaw the fourfold expansion of programs and a $16.4 million fundraising campaign to build a state-of-the-art youth center. He also spearheaded two strategic planning processes, resulting in an enhanced program model and deepened impact. Alongside Y.O.U., Green taught courses on nonprofit management as an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University.
Earlier in his career, Green worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, guiding private sector clients through strategy development and change management. A recipient of McKinsey’s Community Fellowship, he spent one year of his time at the firm supporting nonprofit clients, including the Gates Foundation and United Way.
Green speaks and writes on social innovation. His commentaries and research have appeared in the
Christian Science Monitor
,
Fortune Magazine
, the
Journal of Business Research
, and the
Social Innovations Journal
, and he serves on the Editorial Review Board of the
Business and Society Review
. Green has been a featured guest on Slate Podcasts, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, MSNBC, and CNN, and his efforts have been covered by the
New York Times
, the
Washington Post
, and the
Chronicle of Higher Education
. In 2008,
Utne Reader
named him one of 50 “Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.”
Green is civically engaged in Chicago, serving on the Campaign Cabinet of the United Way of Metro Chicago, the Impact Investing Advisory Council of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, the Advisory Board of Concordia Place, the Reception Committee of the Economic Club of Chicago, and the Advisory Board of the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
A Marshall Scholar, Green holds a J.D. from Yale University, a master’s in women’s studies from Oxford University, a master’s in development studies from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University.
Relevance, Purpose, and Meaning After a Major Life Transition
Monday, April 27, 2026 from
7:30 am - 9:15 am CT
Register Now
Registration
Fill out my
online form
.
Back to Events
We use
cookies
to enhance your experience on our site.
Skip to main content
This is the search overlay. Use the Escape key to close it.
The University of Chicago
LSI Fellow Conversations
Relevance, Purpose, and Meaning After a Major Life Transition
What happens when the drive that built your career becomes the thing that prevents you from ever truly knowing yourself? Geoff Curtis spent nearly 30 years in healthcare communications before an acquisition erased his role — and forced him to confront what it really means to find purpose after a major life transition.
Date:
Monday, April 27, 2026
Time:
7:30 am - 9:15 am CT
Cost:
Free
Location:
Gleacher Center
Register Now
About the Event
After a nearly 30-year career in healthcare communications, Geoff Curtis lost his professional identity when an acquisition eliminated his role. In the aftermath, he realized that everything he thought he knew about purpose rested on a foundation he had never truly built.
In this fireside conversation based on his new book
Embracing Your Own Purgatory
, Geoff will explore the hidden cost of achievement addiction: how the same drive that fuels successful careers and leadership can quietly become the force that prevents people from ever truly knowing themselves.
Drawing on his own experience with professional identity loss, the search for purpose after professional success, and the seductive trap of filling every void with the next goal, Geoff will reflect on what it means to rediscover relevance, purpose, and meaning after a major life transition.
This event offers something rare: not a framework for bouncing back faster, but an honest argument for why slowing down, even when it feels uncomfortable or uncertain, may be the most strategic and meaningful step forward.
Join us for a light breakfast from 7:30–8:00 a.m., followed by the conversation, moderated by Seth Green, Dean of the Graham School, from 8:00–9:15 a.m.
Who's Speaking
Geoffrey Curtis
LSI Fellow '24. Former Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer, Horizon Therapeutics
Geoffrey Curtis is former Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and Chief Communications Officer at Horizon Therapeutics. During his more than 25-year health care communications career, he has worked domestically and internationally in various roles on both the client and agency side including at Abbott Laboratories, Edelman, GCI and W2O Group...
Geoffrey Curtis is former Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and Chief Communications Officer at Horizon Therapeutics. During his more than 25-year health care communications career, he has worked domestically and internationally in various roles on both the client and agency side including at Abbott Laboratories, Edelman, GCI and W2O Group (now Real Chemistry). Geoff is a committed mentor and coach to young professionals and undergraduate students, and is an avid philanthropist committed to education equity and access.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Lake Forest College and a Master of Arts from DePaul University in public relations and advertising. Geoff currently serves as a trustee for Lake Forest College, the Institute for Public Relations and is a member of the Page Society, the Public Relations Society of America, and Mixing Board. He previously served as chair of the board of directors of the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition and served as a board member for the Child Restoration Outreach and Support Organization.
Seth Green
Dean, Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies
Seth Green was appointed Dean of the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies on July 1, 2021. Before joining Graham, Green served as Founding Director of the Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility at Loyola University Chicago. During his tenure, the Center launched a top-ranked specialty MBA...
Seth Green was appointed Dean of the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies on July 1, 2021.
Before joining Graham, Green served as Founding Director of the Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility at Loyola University Chicago. During his tenure, the Center launched a top-ranked specialty MBA program, a globally significant award for social innovation in business, and an array of educational programs that annually engage more than 4,000 learners. Green also served as an Executive Lecturer in Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business, teaching classes on social entrepreneurship and receiving recognition as the Mission-Driven Faculty Member of the Year in 2021.
Prior to Loyola, Green led Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.), a nonprofit organization that prepares low-income youth for post-secondary and life success. At Y.O.U., Green oversaw the fourfold expansion of programs and a $16.4 million fundraising campaign to build a state-of-the-art youth center. He also spearheaded two strategic planning processes, resulting in an enhanced program model and deepened impact. Alongside Y.O.U., Green taught courses on nonprofit management as an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University.
Earlier in his career, Green worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, guiding private sector clients through strategy development and change management. A recipient of McKinsey’s Community Fellowship, he spent one year of his time at the firm supporting nonprofit clients, including the Gates Foundation and United Way.
Green speaks and writes on social innovation. His commentaries and research have appeared in the
Christian Science Monitor
,
Fortune Magazine
, the
Journal of Business Research
, and the
Social Innovations Journal
, and he serves on the Editorial Review Board of the
Business and Society Review
. Green has been a featured guest on Slate Podcasts, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, MSNBC, and CNN, and his efforts have been covered by the
New York Times
, the
Washington Post
, and the
Chronicle of Higher Education
. In 2008,
Utne Reader
named him one of 50 “Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.”
Green is civically engaged in Chicago, serving on the Campaign Cabinet of the United Way of Metro Chicago, the Impact Investing Advisory Council of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, the Advisory Board of Concordia Place, the Reception Committee of the Economic Club of Chicago, and the Advisory Board of the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
A Marshall Scholar, Green holds a J.D. from Yale University, a master’s in women’s studies from Oxford University, a master’s in development studies from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University.
Relevance, Purpose, and Meaning After a Major Life Transition
Monday, April 27, 2026 from
7:30 am - 9:15 am CT
Register Now
Registration
Fill out my
online form
.
Back to Events