Upcoming and Past Speakers

2023-2024 Speakers

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2023 - DAVID POGUE 

THE POST AI AND ROBOT WORLD: LIFE IN 2050

The go-to expert on disruptive tech and science in a fast-changing world, David Pogue is a New York Times best-selling author, beloved CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, NOVA host on PBS, and New York Times contributor. Whether he is covering AI, autonomous vehicles, the future of technology in healthcare, a post-robot world, or climate change, David is a master communicator who brings even the most non-technical audiences up to speed. He provides invaluable insights on how technology impacts our work, businesses, health, society, and connections with each other – now and into the future. He is one of the world’s best-selling “how-to” authors, with more than 120 titles  and three million copies in print. His work on CBS Sunday Morning has garnered six  Emmy awards.



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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 – WILLIAM BURKE-WHITE

THE FIVE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD 

William Burke-White is Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania and Inaugural Director of Perry World House, Penn’s international affairs institute. He is an expert on international law and global governance. Burke-White has written extensively on the issues of post-conflict justice, the International Criminal Court, international human rights, and international arbitration. This lecture ponders the question of who the most powerful people in the world are by examining military might, globalization, technology, ideology, and economic interdependence. He considers specific individuals who are calling the shots in global affairs today. The lecture concludes with a detailed look at what their influence means for our global future.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024 – JEFFREY ENGEL

THE NEW COLD WAR: RUSSIA AND THE U.S 

Jeffrey Engel is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University and Professor in the Clements Department of History. He is a Senior Fellow of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and formerly a Senior Fellow of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. Engel graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University, studied at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in American history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a John M. Olin 

Postdoctoral Fellow in International Security Studies at Yale. Engel taught American history, international relations, and grand strategy at the University of Wisconsin, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and  Haverford College. He served until 2012 at Texas A&M University’s Bush School of  Government and Public Service.



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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024 – JENNIFER TOBIN 

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 

Jennifer Tobin is an archaeologist who has participated in excavations in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories.  With degrees from Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania, she has held teaching positions at Arizona State University and Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. She is now Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she has won several 

teaching awards. Tobin has led study tours to Greece, Turkey, North Africa, and the Black Sea region for the Smithsonian and Road Scholars. Her research focuses on ancient architecture and explores questions of who built these monuments, what role they played in society, and  how they were experienced in antiquity. Her lively examination of ancient monuments  in their original context provides a window into the ancient world, rendering the people  of the past tangible to us in the present.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2024 – JESSICA PAYNE 

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE BRAIN 

Dr. Jessica Payne holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and the University of Notre Dame where she is currently Associate Professor of Psychology and Nancy O’Neill Collegiate Chair. She is also the director of the Sleep, Stress, and Memory (SAM) Lab. Payne’s research focuses on how sleep and stress independently and interactively influence human memory, emotion, creativity, and performance. She teaches various courses in psychology and neurobiology and has won many awards for teaching excellence. Payne is also dedicated to applying her research findings to business organizations, striving to help leaders understand how to work with, rather than against,  the natural abilities of the human brain. Her work has been profiled in The New York  Times, Scientific American, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Bloomberg Businessweek,  National Geographic, and many other media outlets.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2024 – STEVE CURWOOD

LIVING ON EARTH 

Steve Curwood is the executive producer and host of “Living on Earth.” He created the pilot in 1990, and the show has run continuously since April of 1991. “Living on Earth” is currently aired on more than 250 National Public Radio/Public Radio International affiliates and XM/Sirius Satellite Radio. Curwood’s relationship with NPR dates to 1979 when he began as a reporter and host of “Weekend All Things Considered.” He shared the 1975 Pulitzer Prize  for Public Service as part of The Boston Globe’s education team. He is also the recipient of the 2003 Global Green Award for Media Design, the 2003 David A. Brower Award from the Sierra Club for excellence in environmental  reporting, and the 1992 New England Environmental Leadership Award from Tufts  University for his work on promoting environmental awareness.

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Past Speakers

Below is an alphabetical list of past speakers.