Chef Madhu Gadia (left) was the featured speaker for the annual Joan Christy Lecture on Food and Culture.

Renowned says her passions are cooking and nutrition, and the way she shares her fondness for cooking and nutrition is through teaching.

In late October, students from the in the were able to witness Gadia’s enthusiasm firsthand and benefit from her teaching lessons as she was the featured speaker for the Joan Christy Lecture Series on Food and Culture.

The lecture series is made possible by the Christy Food and Culture Fund, which was established in 2005 through the generosity of ���ϲ����� nutrition alumna Joan Christy ’78, G’81 to provide support for a lecture series in the nutrition program. The annual event involves a discussion of the cultural foodways and a demonstration and tasting of select dishes from the cultural cuisine.

“These lecture series give students the opportunity to learn more outside the classroom and get exposed to new cultures and cuisines,” says nutrition science master’s student Kirsten Gunderson ’23. “I try to attend at least one lecture a semester through the nutrition department’s different lecture series because it allows me to gain a deeper insight on the many paths nutrition can take us. With Chef Gadia’s knowledge, students had the opportunity to learn how cooking can be joyous, healthy and nurturing.”

Working with students from Teaching Professor and Chef Mary Kiernan’s Food Service Operations class, Chef Madhu Gadia helped students create an Indian menu of basmati rice, chickpea curry, spicy new potatoes and Cream of Wheat halwa for dessert.

Gadia, a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes educator, is known for her homestyle, healthy and authentic Indian cooking. The author of two popular books, “” and “,” Gadia has more than 25 years of experience as a nutrition counselor, diabetes educator, writer and speaker. Her areas of expertise include healthy eating, weight loss, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health/nutrition-related topics.

Before becoming a best-selling author, Gadia worked as a clinical dietician and diabetes educator. That led to invitations to conduct cooking classes in her hometown of Ames, Iowa, and as she started to accumulate recipes, she decided to write her first book, which eventually was purchased and distributed by the Penguin Publishing Group.

“During the first few years (after the success of ‘Indian Home Cooking’), I did a lot of cooking demos around the country,” Gadia says. “I’ve done them for chefs, communities and cooking schools, and then I wrote ‘The Indian Vegan Kitchen’ and that led to more cooking demos and sharing my passion through teaching.”

Gadia spent several hours in the morning of her day in ���ϲ����� with students from Teaching Professor and Chef ’s Food Service Operations class. During the class, the students created an Indian menu of basmati rice, chickpea curry, spicy new potatoes and Cream of Wheat halwa for dessert.

“During prep, I admired her meticulous approach to layering flavors; she emphasized that spices should not blend too early and provided specific instructions on when to add each one to enhance the aroma,” says nutrition major Daphnee Chu ’27, who oversaw the preparation of the chickpea curry. “I enjoyed discussing Indian cuisine with her, particularly the distinctions between North and South Indian dishes, which I find intriguing.”

Chu says learning from Gadia was a “fascinating experience,” and Gadia says she is always excited to impart her knowledge on a younger generation.

“The most important thing is that the teacher (Kiernan) is giving them exposure to other cuisines and expanding their repertoire and interests,” Gadia says. “Maybe 10 years down the road they’ll say, ‘The first time I had Indian cuisine was when this teacher came in and told us how it all works.’”

In the evening, Falk College students, faculty and staff packed Room 204 for Gadia’s demonstration, where she explained in detail how she cooked each of the dishes that the students helped make in the morning.

Nutrition Science major Daphnee Chu ’27 (left) and Nutrition Science master’s student Kirsten Gunderson ’23.

“Having tasted authentic Indian food before, I noticed that some of the spices Chef Gadia used were different from what I was accustomed to, despite both being labeled as ‘chickpea curry,’” Chu says. “During her lecture, she explained how ‘spiced’ Indian cuisine is, mentioning that 95 percent of Indian households don’t use curry powder.

“This insight surprised me, as I had never considered it before, and it made me realize that I had never encountered two Indian dishes that tasted exactly the same,” Chu adds. “This experience deepened my understanding of Indian food culture, and I’m grateful to Falk for the chance to work closely with Chef Gadia.”

As Gadia described her preparation and cooking methods during the demonstration, she emphasized that Indian foods are relatively easy to make, and they don’t have to be spicy. At the end of the demonstration, all attendees enjoyed samples of the food that Gadia and the students had prepared in the morning.

“My cooking mantra would be Indian cuisine is simple and easy, and people think it’s so complicated,” Gadia says. “I disagree with that, and my job is to show them how it’s simple and easy.”

Gadia says her nutrition mantra is that all foods, even some of the ones we consider unhealthy, can fit into a healthy diet. Gunderson says she appreciated the opportunity to spend time with a well-known chef and dietician who is equally focused on cooking and nutrition.

“Between her expertise in Indian cuisine and my novice understanding of it, I was able to take away so much,” Gunderson says. “Her comforting nature in the kitchen and the joy she got from cooking was evident throughout her presentation.

“I had not had a prior experience learning about Indian cuisine, but I was most interested in learning about the different spices and how they truly add to a dish,” Gunderson says. “Getting the opportunity to smell and try some spices that I never had before was exciting.”

Please visit the webpage to learn more about academic programs, facilities and career opportunities.

The first-ever Bisignano Speaker Series event will feature ���ϲ����� women’s basketball head coach Felisha Legette-Jack ’89 and four-time Paralympian Mallory Weggemann.

The rise of women’s sports has sparked a significant cultural shift in the last year, inspiring countless athletes and breaking barriers across the globe as national viewership numbers and stadium attendance for women’s sporting events have seen a dramatic rise.

���ϲ����� is proud to celebrate this through the first-ever Bisignano Speaker Series, “Tenacity and Triumph: Leadership Lessons and Resiliency.” The event will be held on Friday, Sept. 27 from 10-11:30 a.m. in the K.G. Tan Auditorium in the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building and is open to all.

Featuring two powerhouse figures in sports, this event brings together ���ϲ����� women’s basketball head coach and Mallory Weggemann, a four-time Paralympic gold medalist, world record holder, passionate advocate and NBC Sports reporter and in-studio correspondent.

Weggemann, known for her determination in and out of the pool, will share how she overcame obstacles and achieved greatness as a Paralympic athlete. She was both a gold and silver medalist for Team USA during the 2024 Paralympic Games and made her hosting debut for NBC during the 2024 Summer Olympics.

“The Paris 2024 Games marked my fourth Paralympics but more notably, my first as a mom. Throughout this entire journey, from navigating through IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) as a professional athlete, competing through pregnancy and balancing sport and postpartum as a breastfeeding mom—I have experienced firsthand the stigma that still relates to female athletes as they continue their career through motherhood. As a result, at each turn I have been passionate to serve as an example that motherhood is a comma, not a period as it relates to our identity as women,” says Weggemann. “We are at a time where women in sport are rising, and it is important that we continue to utilize our voices and platforms to ensure the next generation, my daughter’s generation, has the access, opportunity and equality they deserve.”

Legette-Jack, an All-American during her days at ���ϲ�����, has become a trailblazer in women’s sports, including winning the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coach of the Year, the first ���ϲ����� coach to earn the honor in basketball since the University joined the ACC.

Moderated by Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Candace Campbell Jackson, these remarkable women will explore the themes of resilience, leadership and the ever-evolving landscape of women’s sports. Their conversation will offer powerful insights into how they’ve navigated their respective careers, driven by perseverance, hard work and a commitment to breaking boundaries.

The popularity of women’s sports experienced a tremendous boost in 2023, with the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball championship game experiencing a 103% increase in viewership (Louisiana State University beat Caitlin Clark and the University of Iowa), and the 2023 women’s World Cup enjoyed record-breaking audiences in several countries around the world. This rise has not only made athletes like Clark and Megan Rapinoe household names,��it has also ignited an industry that’s expected to bring in more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2024.

Visit the for more information and to RSVP.

Rumman Chowdhury

Data scientist and artificial intelligence (AI) expert will visit campus on Wednesday, March 6, as the featured speaker for the University’s annual Spring Lecture. Her talk, “Generative AI and the Future of Humanity,” will begin at 7 p.m. in the Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium.

Chowdhury’s remarks will touch on how AI will impact the lives of students, what policymakers have missed—both positively and negatively—that will significantly affect students and what bearing AI will have on the upcoming U.S. election cycle.

Chowdhury will also participate in a Q&A session with , associate provost for faculty affairs, and , University professor and director of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The event is free and open to the public, but for entry. Additionally, the University’s will be enforced.

Chowdhury is a data scientist and social scientist. She is the CEO of the tech nonprofit Humane Intelligence, which builds a community of practice around evaluations of AI models. She is also the Responsible AI Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

Previously, Chowdhury was the director of the Machine Learning, Ethics, Transparency and Accountability (META) team at Twitter (now X), as well as the global lead for responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence. She was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, BBC’s 100 Women, Worthy Magazine’s Top 100, recognized by San Francisco Business Times as one of the Bay Area’s top 40 under 40 and named by Forbes as one of Five Who are Shaping AI.

Chowdhury holds two undergraduate degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in quantitative methods of the social sciences from Columbia University and a doctorate in political science from the University of California San Diego.

Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available. For more information, or to request additional accommodations, contact Sarah McAndrew at provost@syr.edu.

from the ���ϲ����� Student Box Office.

Robert B. Menschel

“Bob was truly a model of service to ���ϲ�����,” says Board chair Kathleen A. Walters ’73. “First elected to the Board of Trustees in 1981, he served as a voting trustee for more than two decades, becoming a trustee emeritus and part of a select group of honorary trustees recognized for their contributions. From exhibitions to lecture series to professorships and endowed chairs, Bob supported creativity, innovation and academic excellence that defines this university.”

Menschel earned a bachelor of science degree from the College of Business Administration in 1951. After earning a degree from the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York University in 1954, he joined Goldman Sachs & Co. where he founded the first Institutional Department, which became the model for the securities industry. Menschel subsequently became a partner in charge of institutional sales and later rose to become one of the firm’s senior directors. In 2002, he published “Markets, Mobs & Mayhem: A Modern Look at the Madness of Crowds,” where he explored the phenomenon of crowd psychology and its effects on business and culture.

Along with his Board of Trustees work, which included serving on the executive and investment and endowment committees, Menschel served on the Commitment to Learning Campaign, the Schine National Committee and the Ballentine Center Committee. His philanthropic support was widespread, including the Paul Volcker Endowed Chair in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; the Robert B. Menschel Endowed Fund; the Maxwell-Eggers Building Fund; the Tolley Distinguished Teaching Professorship in the Humanities; and the William Safire Chair in Modern Letters. He was lauded for his foresight when he provided a gift in 2001 to establish The University Lectures, a cross-disciplinary lecture series bringing to ���ϲ����� individuals of exceptional accomplishment in the areas of architecture and design; the humanities and the sciences; and public policy, management and communications.

His philanthropy supported the renovation of Light Work and Community Darkrooms in the Watson Theater Complex, which was dedicated as the Robert B. Menschel Media Center. He was the major sustaining private supporter of Light Work and Community Darkrooms, providing financial support, resources and extensive collections of photographs to the Light Work holdings and for exhibitions in the Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery.

Similarly, Menschel was widely praised and recognized for his support of photography exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography��at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. The 2016-17 MoMA exhibition titled “The Shape of Things: Photographs from Robert B. Menschel”��told the story of photography over 150 years from its start in 1843, and featured works acquired over 40 years with Menschel’s support. Menschel was a member of the Committee on Photography at MoMA with building the vast photography collection through financial support and donations from his personal collection.

The 2017 exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, titled “Posing for the Camera: Gifts from Robert B. Menschel,”��once again demonstrated his passionate advocacy for photography. The exhibition explored portraiture and featured photographs acquired with funds from Menschel or pledged as gifts from his personal collection.

Robert Menschel, second from left, accepts the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy from Harvey Fineberg of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2015. Judy Woodruff and Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corp. of New York, in background, were also on stage at the event at the New York Public Library. Photo by Filip Wolak (Source: Carnegie Corp. of New York)

In 2015, Robert and his brother Richard L. Menschel ’55 shared the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, which honors those who that “with wealth comes a responsibility to contribute to the world’s betterment and a more open and just society.” In the medal presentation, it was noted that the brothers’ “dedication and talent took them both to the top of the investment banking field at prestigious Goldman Sachs, and they have been giving back in countless ways for decades.” Robert was quoted as saying “there is no mode of disposing of surplus wealth creditable to thoughtful and earnest men into whose hands it flows save by using it year by year for the general good.”

Menschel received the University’s George Arents Pioneer Medal in 1980 for “excellence in business, excellence in life” and was awarded an honorary degree by ���ϲ����� in 1991. In 1999, he was awarded the Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s Jonathan J. Holtz Alumnus of the Year award.

Beyond his Board work at ���ϲ�����, Menschel served as chairman of The Vital Projects Fund Inc., a charitable foundation with an interest in human rights and criminal justice reform; chairman emeritus and former president of MoMA; member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the New York Presbyterian Hospital; honorary trustee and former board president of the Dalton School; member of the trustee council of the National Gallery of Art; and member of the Council on Foreign��Relations where he is the namesake of the Robert B. Menschel Economics Symposium.

He is survived by his partner, Janet Wallach; his former wife, Joyce Frank Menschel; his children, David Frank Menschel and Lauren Elizabeth Menschel; several grandchildren; and his brother and sister-in-law, Richard Menschel ’55 and Ronay Menschel.

All events will follow public health guidance, and students are reminded to adhere to their commitment to the .

For the full schedule of events, visit the .

Check out the list below for a sampling of the activities:

• The Barnes Center at The Arch has a available on Tuesday. Register in the (registration opens six hours before each class).
• If you have ever considered joining the pet therapy team at the Barnes Center, participate in an .
• As part of the , the Office of Student Activities and Traditions Commission are hosting a panel discussion with the Homecoming Court and de-stress paint night. (Students Only)
• Visit to participate in sled hockey, curling or skating lessons.
• Reserve a spot at the Crowley Family MindSpa on the .
• The Health Hub will pop-up at Flint and Day halls. Follow day-of for the announced time.
• Take part in the . (Students Only)
• The welcomes Nyle DiMarco as its final speaker for the spring semester.
• Hendricks Chapel and the chaplaincies will offer such activities as service projects, crafts and Ultimate Frisbee.
• ���ϲ����� Libraries has compiled a , outlining University and local resources for health, well-being and personal care for mind and body.
• Practice self-guided mindfulness and meditation techniques through your free access to the number one mobile app for stress, anxiety and depression management, .
• The is also sponsoring for faculty and staff. These activities are in addition to the resources that are .

In January, Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost John Liu announced two Wellness Days in the Spring 2021 semester for all main campus courses (whether in-person, hybrid or online) to support the well-being of the community. On Tuesday, March 23, and Wednesday, April 21, no classes will be held, no class work will be due and no exams will be administered. Rehearsals, music recitals, productions, filming or other hands-on activities may still take place.

Nyle DiMarco

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures bring to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51, H’91. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and be presented in an interview-style format. Following public health guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lecture will be virtual and viewable via Zoom webinar. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Those attending should register in advance at to receive the Zoom link. Communication Access Real-Time Translation and American Sign Language interpretation will be available.

DiMarco will be interviewed by Kate Corbett Pollack, coordinator for SU’s Disability Cultural Center (DCC). The lecture is co-sponsored by the DCC and the Barnes Center at the Arch.

DiMarco is a deaf activist and ambassador for the deaf community. He won the mirror ball trophy on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” (Season 22) and was the last model standing on The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” (Cycle 22).

Born into a multigenerational deaf family, he is an honorary spokesperson for Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) and founder of the Nyle DiMarco Foundation, which works to improve the lives of deaf people around the world. DiMarco produced the 2018 return to Broadway of “Children of a Lesser God” and was a creative collaborator on The ASL App, developed by native deaf signers to teach conversational American Sign Language.

With a passion for language, literacy and advocacy within the deaf community and beyond, DiMarco shares his barrier-breaking story as a deaf man who has risen above stereotypes to take the world by storm. Believing that his deafness is “an asset rather than a limitation,” he builds a bridge between the deaf and hearing by shining a light on not only the struggles, but also the triumphs of the deaf culture.

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures bring to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

Stephane Johnson-Cunningham

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and be presented in an interview-style format. Following public health guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this spring’s lectures will continue to be all virtual and viewable via Zoom webinar. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Those attending should register in advance at to receive the Zoom link. Communication Access Real-Time Translation will be available.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the graduate program in museum studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ School of Design. Johnson-Cunningham will be interviewed by Andrew Saluti, assistant professor and coordinator of the graduate program in museum studies. A welcome will be offered by Craig Boise, dean of the College of Law.

This lecture is the keynote to “,” a two-day virtual symposium that aims to comprehensively address collections and deaccessioning in the context of the economic fallout of the pandemic and the national call to rethink the role and responsibilities of museums and their collections in an increasingly diverse and complex world. The symposium’s agenda reflects a broad set of perspectives and taps experts from across the art and museum world, from directors and trustees to seasoned museum professionals, scholars, legal experts, artists, auction houses, journalists and influencers.

Johnson-Cunningham is an agent for arts and culture, and she centers cultural equity as an essential part of achieving social justice. She co-founded and serves as director of Museum Hue, an organization supporting Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC). She built the first online directory and system to map BIPOC museums across the United States. She is currently working on a larger cultural mapping project specific to New York City with support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

As a United Nations Human Rights fellow centering on arts and culture, Johnson-Cunningham applies the UN’s ratification of cultural rights to her work to call for a greater recognition and representation in the arts ecosystem. She received the Americans for the Arts 2019 American Express Emerging Leader Award for her work.

She has also hosted and produced “On Display,” a show for WNET’s ALL ARTS Network that focuses on ways museums readdress societal issues that resulted from intersecting histories and connect to contemporary life. Each episode covers various topics including immigration, mass incarceration, transportation and preservation of Black cultural spaces.

The University Lectures’ spring season will conclude on Tuesday, March 23, with Nyle DiMarco, deaf activist and winner of “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Next Top Model.”

Misty Copeland (Photo by Gregg Delman)

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures, brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through and is supported by the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

The virtual lecture, via Zoom webinar, will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Those attending should register in advance at to receive the Zoom link. Communication Access Real-Time Translation will be available.

Copeland will be interviewed by Broadway and television actress Shanel Bailey ’19. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Advancement.

Copeland began her ballet studies at 13 years old, and at 15, won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. She studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) Summer Intensive on a full scholarship and was declared ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000. She joined the ABT’s Studio Company in September 2000 and the ABT as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001.

In August 2007, Copeland became the company’s second African American soloist and the first in two decades. She was promoted to principal dancer in August 2015, making her the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history. She made her Broadway debut in the role of Ivy Smith/Miss Turnstiles with the critically acclaimed show “On the Town.”

She has performed in a variety of classical and contemporary roles with ABT, including the title role in “Firebird,” Clara in “The Nutcracker,” Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” and Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty.”

She holds a number of honors and endorsements, but has found her passion in giving back. She was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2013, and was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition by President Obama in 2014. She has been a Turnaround Arts Ambassador since 2016, representing the Gregory Jocko Jackson School in Brooklyn.

Copeland received an honorary degree from the University of Hartford in 2014 for her contributions to classical ballet and for helping to diversify the art form.

Other guests of the University Lectures this season include Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham, agent for arts and culture (March 17) and Nyle DiMarco, deaf activist and winner of “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Next Top Model” (March 23).

The University’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. Following public health guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lecture will be virtual and viewable via Zoom webinar. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Those attending should register in advance at to receive the Zoom link. Communication Access Real-Time Translation will be available.

Nguyen will be interviewed by Dana Spiotta, award-winning author and associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). The lecture is co-sponsored by A&S.

Nguyen and his family came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam in 1975. As he grew up, he observed that movies and books about the Vietnam War only focused on Americans. He turned his writing toward lifting the voices and perspectives of the Vietnamese.

His debut novel, “The Sympathizer,” won the Pulitzer Prize (2016), the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. The New York Times says that the novel “fills a void … giving voice to the previously voiceless while it compels the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light.” His follow-up novel, “The Committed,” is due to be published this year.

Nguyen is also the author of “Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War,” a finalist for the National Book Award, and “The Refugees,” a collection of short stories. In 2018, he joined with 17 fellow refugee writers to create “The Displaced,” with proceeds supporting the International Rescue Committee.

He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. Nguyen teaches at the University of Southern California and works as a cultural critic-at-large at The Los Angeles Times.

Other lecture guests this season include Misty Copeland, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater (Feb. 23); Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham, agent for arts and culture (March 17); and Nyle DiMarco, deaf activist and winner of “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Next Top Model” (March 23).

The continues its 20th season this spring with four dynamic speakers: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, on Tuesday, Feb. 16; Misty Copeland, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, on Tuesday, Feb. 23; Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham, agent for arts and culture, on Wednesday, March 17; and Nyle DiMarco, deaf activist and winner of “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Next Top Model,” on Tuesday, March 23.

The University’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

All lectures will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST and (EDT after March 14) and be presented in an interview-style format. Following public health guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this spring’s lectures will continue to be all virtual and viewable via Zoom webinar. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Those attending should register in advance at to receive the Zoom link. Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART) will be available for each lecture.

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Nguyen will be interviewed by Dana Spiotta, award-winning author and associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). The lecture is co-sponsored by A&S.

Nguyen and his family came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam in 1975. As he grew up, he observed that movies and books about the Vietnam War only focused on Americans. He turned his writing toward lifting the voices and perspectives of the Vietnamese.

His debut novel, “The Sympathizer,” won the Pulitzer Prize (2016), the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. The New York Times says that the novel “fills a void … giving voice to the previously voiceless while it compels the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light.” His follow-up novel, “The Committed,” is due to be published this year.

Nguyen is also the author of “Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War,” a finalist for the National Book Award, and “The Refugees,” a collection of short stories. In 2018, he joined with 17 fellow refugee writers to create “The Displaced,” with proceeds supporting the International Rescue Committee.

He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. Nguyen teaches at the University of Southern California and works as a cultural critic-at-large at the Los Angeles Times.

Misty Copeland

Tuesday, Feb. 23

Copeland will be interviewed by Broadway and television actress Shanel Bailey ’19. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Advancement.

Copeland began her ballet studies at 13, and at 15 won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. She studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) Summer Intensive on a full scholarship and was declared ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000. She joined the ABT’s Studio Company in September 2000 and the ABT as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001.

In August 2007, Copeland became the company’s second African American soloist and the first in two decades. She was promoted to principal dancer in August 2015, making her the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history. She made her Broadway debut in the role of “Ivy Smith/Miss Turnstiles” with the critically acclaimed show “On the Town.”

She has performed in a variety of classical and contemporary roles with ABT, including the title role in “Firebird,” Clara in “The Nutcracker,” Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” and Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty.”

She holds a number of honors and endorsements, but has found her passion in giving back. She was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2013, and was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition by President Obama in 2014. She has been a Turnaround Arts Ambassador since 2016, representing the Gregory Jocko Jackson School in Brooklyn.

Copeland received an honorary degree from the University of Hartford in 2014 for her contributions to classical ballet and for helping to diversify the art form.

Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham

Wednesday, March 17

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Graduate Program in Museum Studies, School of Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts. Johnson-Cunningham will be interviewed by Andrew Saluti, assistant professor and coordinator of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies.

This lecture is also the keynote to “,” a two-day virtual symposium that aims to comprehensively address collections and deaccessioning in the context of the economic fallout of the pandemic and the national call to rethink the role and responsibilities of museums and their collections in an increasingly diverse and complex world. The symposium’s agenda reflects a broad set of perspectives and taps experts from across the art and museum world, from directors and trustees, to seasoned museum professionals, scholars, legal experts, artists, auction houses, journalists and influencers. The symposium is co-sponsored by the Graduate Program in Museum Studies and the College of Law.

Johnson-Cunningham is an agent for arts and culture who centers cultural equity as an essential part of achieving social justice. She co-founded and serves as director of Museum Hue, an organization supporting Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC). She built the first online directory and system to map BIPOC museums across the United States. She is currently working on a larger cultural mapping project specific to New York City with support from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.

As a United Nations Human Rights fellow centering on arts and culture, Johnson-Cunningham applies the U.N.’s ratification of cultural rights to her work to call for greater recognition and representation in the arts ecosystem. She received the Americans for the Arts 2019 American Express Emerging Leader Award for her work.

She has also hosted and produced “On Display,” a show for WNET’s ALL ARTS Network that focuses on ways museums are readdressing societal issues that resulted from intersecting histories and connect to contemporary life. Each episode covers various topics including immigration, mass incarceration, transportation and preservation of Black cultural spaces.

Nyle DiMarco

Tuesday, March 23

DiMarco will be interviewed by Kate Corbett Pollack, coordinator for ���ϲ�����’s Disability Cultural Center (DCC). The lecture is co-sponsored by the DCC and the Barnes Center at The Arch. CART and American Sign Language interpretation will be available for this lecture.

DiMarco is a deaf activist and ambassador for the deaf community. He won the mirror ball trophy on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” (season 22) and was the last model standing on The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” (cycle 22).

Born into a multigenerational deaf family, he is an honorary spokesperson for Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) and founder of the Nyle DiMarco Foundation, which works to improve the lives of deaf people around the world. DiMarco produced the 2018 return to Broadway of “Children of a Lesser God” and was a creative collaborator on The ASL App, created by native deaf signers to teach conversational American Sign Language.

With a passion for language, literacy and advocacy within the deaf community and beyond, DiMarco shares his barrier-breaking story as a deaf man who has risen above stereotypes to take the world by storm. Believing that his deafness is “an asset rather than a limitation,” he builds a bridge between the deaf and hearing by shining a light on not only the struggles, but also the triumphs of the deaf culture.

LeDerick Horne

Burton Blatt Institute’s (BBI) Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach (OIPO) series (Dis)courses: Interdisciplinary Disability Dialogues continues on Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET with “A Crip Reckoning: Reflections on the ADA@30.”

Naomi Ortiz

Join a distinguished panel of thought leaders and scholar-activists for a discussion of ableism, cultural change, equity, creativity and intersectionality in the context of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Pratik Patel

The event is free and open to the public. Zoom participants will have the opportunity to pose questions to the panel after the discussion.

Sponsored by and the ���ϲ����� —and moderated by BBI OIPO Director and University Professor —“A Crip Reckoning: Reflections on the ADA@30” will welcome the following writers, activists, educators, innovators and disability advocates:

• LeDerick Horne—a poet, speaker and advocate who uses his gift for spoken-word poetry as the gateway to larger discussions on equal opportunity, pride, self-determination, and hope for people with disabilities.
• Naomi Ortiz—a writer, poet, facilitator and visual artist whose work focuses on self-care for activists, disability justice, intersectional organizing and relationship with place.
  

  David James (DJ) Savarese

• Pratik Patel—the director of information technology access for the City University of New York and owner of EZFire Enterprises LLC, which consults on a variety of technology projects on accessibility for people with disabilities.
• David James (DJ) Savarese—an author, public speaker, “artful activist” and “practicing optimist,” who works to make self-determined lives a reality for non-traditionally speaking people.
• Alice Wong (she/her)—a disabled activist, media maker, consultant and founder/director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing and amplifying disability media and culture.

Alice Wong

Copies of panelists’ selected texts . To register for “A Crip Reckoning” and to request accommodations, . The event will be recorded, and an accessible video .

to attend the virtual lecture. Filicia’s appearance is co-sponsored by the and is part of the University’s LGBTQ History Month.

Thom Filicia ’93

The University’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

Filicia started his career at renowned design firms Parish-Hadley, Robert Metzger and Bilhuber & Associates. He launched his acclaimed enterprise in 1998 and emerged as one of today’s most influential and respected interior and product designers. His projects range from residential and hospitality to commercial interiors all over the world.

includes such projects as the VIP Suite for the USA Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Aichi, Japan; an eco-friendly apartment for Riverhouse, Manhattan’s first premium (LEED-certified) “green” luxury condominium tower; and the Delta Sky Decks at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Filicia has been praised as a top designer and international tastemaker. He gained widespread fame for his role as the interior design expert on the Emmy Award-winning “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” as well as for his television work for Style Network, HGTV and most recently Bravo’s “Get a Room with Carson & Thom.”

He is also the driving force behind the Thom Filicia Home Collection, which includes furniture, artwork, bedding, textiles and wallcovering, and has a flagship showroom, called , at The New York Design Center.

Filicia is the best-selling author of “Thom Filicia Style” (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2008) and “American Beauty: Renovating and Decorating a Beloved Retreat” (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2012).

In 2011, he was named one of Elle Decor’s top 25 A-List Designers. In 2006, he was chosen as one of ’s Top 100 American Designers and ’s Top 50 “Tastemakers.”

She will be interviewed by Rawiya Kameir, assistant teaching professor in the magazine, news and digital journalism department in the Newhouse School. A critic, editor and producer, Kameir was a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award in the Essays and Criticism category.

All individuals wishing to virtually attend the lecture��. You will then be sent a confirmation email with your personal link to access the virtual interview.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

Hannah-Jones’ appearance is co-sponsored by the , which is presenting .

Hannah-Jones covers racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine and has spent years chronicling the way official policy has created—and maintains—racial segregation in housing and schools.��Her deeply personal reports on the black experience in America��offer a compelling case for greater equity.

She was named a�� for “reshaping national conversations around education reform.” This is but one honor in a growing list. Her story “Worlds Apart” in��The New York Times Magazine��won the��National Magazine Award (a.k.a. Ellie) for “journalism that illuminates issues of national importance” as well as the��Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism.

In 2016, Hannah-Jones was awarded a Peabody Award and a George Polk Award for radio reporting for her��“This American Life”��story “The Problem We All Live With.”��She was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists and was also named to 2019’s The Root 100 as well as Essence’s Woke 100. Her reporting has also won Deadline Club Awards, Online Journalism Awards,��the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting and��the Emerson College President’s Award for Civic Leadership.

Most recently, The New York Times Magazine’s that she spearheaded on the history and lasting legacy of American slavery went viral, and her powerful introductory essay—written under the headline “Our Democracy’s Founding Ideals Were False When They Were Written. Black Americans Have Fought to Make Them True”—was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Named for the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in America, the project features an ongoing series of essays and art on the relationship between slavery and everything from social infrastructure and segregation, to music and sugar—all by Black American authors, activists, journalists and others.

Nothing we know about American life today has been untouched by the legacy of slavery. “The 1619 Project” quickly went viral—the print issue flew off shelves immediately, prompting hundreds of thousands of extra copies to be printed—spreading its heartbreaking and important message worldwide. Random House announced��that it will be adapting the project into a graphic novel and four��publications for young readers, while also releasing an extended version of the original��publication, including more essays, fiction and poetry.

Earlier this year, Hannah-Jones appeared on to discuss the project. And an impactful ad about the project—a collaboration with singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe—debuted at the Oscars just days later.

In addition to Hannah-Jones’ Pulitzer, “The 1619 Project” won two 2020 National Magazine Awards this past May, in the Public Interest category and in the Podcasting category, for three audio pieces.

In February 2020, she was profiled by Essence as part of its Black History Month series, celebrating “the accomplishments made by those in the past, as well as those paving the way for the future.”

Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting with the goal of increasing the number of reporters and editors of color.

Along with��The New York Times, her reporting has been featured in��ProPublica,��The Atlantic Magazine, Huffington Post, Essence, The Week Magazine,��Grist, Politico Magazine and on��“Face the Nation,” “This American Life,” “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” MSNBC, C-SPAN,��Democracy Now and radio stations across the country.

The University Lectures series will continue virtually via Zoom this semester with celebrated designer, international tastemaker, television personality and ���ϲ����� alumnus Thom Filicia ’04 (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) on Oct. 27.

Valderrama will take part in a virtual conversation via Zoom with David Barbier Jr. ’23, an international relations major in the Maxwell School and a television, radio and film major in the Newhouse School. Barbier is also a Posse Foundation Scholar and a participant in the Renée Crown University Honors Program. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting.

All individuals wishing to virtually attend the lecture��. You will then be sent a confirmation email with your personal link to access the virtual interview.

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Valderrama’s appearance is sponsored by the��. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is��.

Valderrama has amassed an extensive acting résumé in film and television that solidified him in Hollywood as a sought-after leading man. He is most recognized for his portrayal of the character Fez on Fox’s Emmy-nominated series “That ’70s Show” (1998-2006), a role that garnered him numerous Teen Choice Awards. In 2016, he joined the cast of the hit CBS drama “NCIS” (then in its 14th season) as NCIS Special Agent Nick Torres.

His other recent television credits include Fox’s “Minority Report,” Netflix’s “The Ranch,” ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s television series “From Dusk Till Dawn.” Valderrama also voiced the main character of Disney’s hugely popular animated children’s show “Handy Manny,” which introduced preschoolers to Spanish.

His film credits include the animated feature “Charming” (2018), for which he voiced Prince Charming, “The Adderall Diaries” (2015), “To Whom It May Concern” (2015), “Larry Crowne” (2011) and “From Prada to Nada” (2011).

Behind the camera, Valderrama created and produced the MTV series “YO MOMMA,” also serving as its host. His production company, WV Entertainment, has multiple television and film projects in development.

In his community, Valderrama serves on the board of Voto Latino and is the spokesperson for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Ready 2 Lead program, which works to educate and empower Latino youth. Valderrama also recently co-founded HARNESS, a group dedicated to connecting communities to inspire action and power change. In 2013, Valderrama was honored with an ALMA Award for Outstanding Social Activism.

Born in Miami, Valderrama moved to Venezuela with his family at age 3 and returned to the United States as a teen. He and his sisters were the first in their family to speak English, and his parents instilled in them the critical importance of education. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Valderrama now resides in Los Angeles.

The University Lectures series will continue virtually via Zoom this semester with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of The New York Times’ acclaimed “The 1619 Project,” on Oct. 8 and celebrated designer, international tastemaker, television personality and ���ϲ����� alumnus Thom Filicia ’04 (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) on Oct. 27.

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures brings to ���ϲ����� audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

Series events typically take place on campus, but—following public health guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic—this fall’s lectures will all be virtual, viewable via Zoom. And audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Connection information will be provided closer to each event.

Wilmer Valderrama
Tuesday, Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m.

Wilmer Valderrama

Valderrama will take part in a conversation with David Barbier Jr. ’23, an international relations major in the Maxwell School and a television, radio and film major in the Newhouse School. He is also a Posse Foundation Scholar and a participant in the Renée Crown University Honors Program.

Valderrama has amassed an extensive acting résumé in film and television that solidified him in Hollywood as a sought-after leading man. He is most recognized for his portrayal of the character Fez on Fox’s Emmy-nominated series “That ’70s Show” (1998-2006), a role that garnered him numerous Teen Choice Awards. In 2016, he joined the cast of the hit CBS drama “NCIS” (then in its 14th season) as NCIS Special Agent Nick Torres.

His other recent television credits include Fox’s “Minority Report,” Netflix’s “The Ranch,” ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s television series “From Dusk Till Dawn.” Valderrama also voiced the main character of Disney’s hugely popular animated children’s show “Handy Manny,” which introduced preschoolers to Spanish.

His film credits include the animated feature “Charming” (2018), for which he voiced Prince Charming, “The Adderall Diaries” (2015), “To Whom It May Concern” (2015), “Larry Crowne” (2011) and “From Prada to Nada” (2011).

Behind the camera, Valderrama created and produced the MTV series “YO MOMMA,” also serving as its host. And his production company WV Entertainment has multiple television and film projects in development.

In his community, Valderrama serves on the board of Voto Latino and is the spokesperson for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Ready 2 Lead program, which works to educate and empower Latino youth. Valderrama also recently co-founded HARNESS, a group dedicated to connecting communities to inspire action and power change. In 2013, Valderrama was honored with an ALMA Award for Outstanding Social Activism.

Born in Miami, Valderrama moved to Venezuela with his family at age 3 and returned to the United States as a teen. He and his sisters were the first in their family to speak English, and his parents instilled in them the critical importance of education.

Fluent in both Spanish and English, Valderrama resides in Los Angeles.

Valderrama’s appearance is sponsored by the .

Nikole Hannah-Jones
Thursday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Hannah-Jones will be interviewed by Rawiya Kameir, assistant teaching professor in the magazine, news and digital journalism department in the Newhouse School. A critic, editor and producer, Kameir was a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award in the Essays and Criticism category.

Hannah-Jones covers racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine and has spent years chronicling the way official policy has created—and maintains—racial segregation in housing and schools.��Her deeply personal reports on the black experience in America��offer a compelling case for greater equity.

She was named a�� for “reshaping national conversations around education reform.” This is but one honor in a growing list. Her story “Worlds Apart” in The New York Times Magazine won the National Magazine Award (a.k.a. Ellie) for “journalism that illuminates issues of national importance” as well as the Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism.

In 2016, Hannah-Jones was awarded a Peabody Award and a George Polk Award for radio reporting for her��“This American Life”��story “The Problem We All Live With.”��She was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists and was also named to 2019’s The Root 100 as well as Essence’s Woke 100. Her reporting has also won Deadline Club Awards, Online Journalism Awards,��the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting and��the Emerson College President’s Award for Civic Leadership.

Most recently, The New York Times Magazine’s that she spearheaded on the history and lasting legacy of American slavery went viral, and her powerful introductory essay—written under the headline “Our Democracy’s Founding Ideals Were False When They Were Written. Black Americans Have Fought to Make Them True”—was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Named for the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in America, the project features an ongoing series of essays and art on the relationship between slavery and everything from social infrastructure and segregation, to music and sugar—all by Black American authors, activists, journalists and others.

Nothing we know about American life today has been untouched by the legacy of slavery. “The 1619 Project” quickly went viral—the print issue flew off shelves immediately, prompting hundreds of thousands of extra copies to be printed—spreading its heartbreaking and important message worldwide. Random House announced��that it will be adapting the project into a graphic novel and four��publications for young readers, while also releasing an extended version of the original��publication, including more essays, fiction and poetry.

Earlier this year, Hannah-Jones appeared on to discuss the project. And an impactful ad about the project—a collaboration with singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe—debuted at the Oscars just days later.

In addition to Hannah-Jones’ Pulitzer, “The 1619 Project” won two 2020 National Magazine Awards this past May, in the Public Interest category and in the Podcasting category, for three audio pieces.

In February 2020, she was profiled by Essence as part of its Black History Month series, celebrating “the accomplishments made by those in the past, as well as those paving the way for the future.”

Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting with the goal of increasing the number of reporters and editors of color.

Along with��The New York Times, her reporting has been featured in ProPublica,��The Atlantic Magazine, Huffington Post, Essence, The Week Magazine,��Grist, Politico Magazine and on��“Face the Nation,” “This American Life,” “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” MSNBC, C-SPAN,��Democracy Now and radio stations across the country.

Hannah-Jones’ appearance is co-sponsored by the , which is presenting .

Thom Filicia ’04
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m.

Thom Filicia

Filicia started his career at renowned design firms Parish-Hadley, Robert Metzger and Bilhuber & Associates. He launched his acclaimed enterprise in 1998 and emerged as one of today’s most influential and respected interior and product designers. His projects range from residential and hospitality to commercial interiors all over the world.

includes such projects as the VIP Suite for the USA Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Aichi, Japan; an eco-friendly apartment for Riverhouse, Manhattan’s first premium (LEED certified) “green” luxury condominium tower; and the Delta Sky Decks at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Filicia has been praised as a top designer and international tastemaker. He gained widespread fame for his role as the interior design expert on the Emmy Award-winning “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” as well as for his television work for Style Network, HGTV and most recently Bravo’s “Get a Room with Carson & Thom.”

He is also the driving force behind the Thom Filicia Home Collection, which includes furniture, artwork, bedding, textiles and wallcovering, and has a flagship showroom, called , at The New York Design Center.

Filicia is the best-selling author of “Thom Filicia Style” (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2008) and “American Beauty: Renovating and Decorating a Beloved Retreat” (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2012).

In 2011, he was named one of Elle Decor’s top 25 A-List Designers. In 2006, he was chosen as one of ’s Top 100 American Designers and ’s Top 50 “Tastemakers.”

Filicia’s appearance is co-sponsored by the and is part of ���ϲ�����’s LGBTQ History Month.

Cobb visited campus as part of the series. His appearance was co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School.

Jelani Cobb

As part of this semester’s University Lectures series, acclaimed author, educator and journalist will speak about race, politics and the news on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The event—co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School—is open to all students, faculty/staff and community members.

Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided. For more information or to request an accommodation, contact lectures@syr.edu.

Cobb, a staff writer for The New Yorker, won the 2015 Sidney Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism. Of his writings about the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, the jury panel said he “combined the strengths of an on-the-scene reporter, a public intellectual, a teacher, a vivid writer, a subtle moralist and an accomplished professional historian.”

As a leading expert on race, Cobb appeared in Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary “13th,” which explores the intersection of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States. He has also been a featured commentator on National Public Radio and a number of other national broadcast outlets.

Cobb’s articles and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic, Essence, Vibe and The Progressive and on TheRoot.com. He is author of (Walker & Co., 2010), (New York University Press, 2007) and (Basic Books, 2007).

Cobb is a graduate of Howard University and received a doctorate in American history from Rutgers University. He currently teaches at Columbia University, where he is the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism. He was previously an associate professor of history and director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut.

Now in its 19th season, the University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary series that brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their talents, experiences and perspectives for the enjoyment of students, faculty, staff and the Central New York community.

Joshua Aviv ’15, G’17, Kelsey Davis ’19, Daniel Folkman ’12, Julia Haber ’18, Erin Miller ’16 and Michelle Schenandoah G’18 will participate in a panel discussion, moderated by Davis, on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

The event—“Young Alum Entrepreneurs: breaking the rules, blazing new paths, not waiting their turn”—is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

It is presented by the with co-sponsors the , the , the�� and the Office of Academic Affairs

About the panelists

Josh Aviv (College of Arts and Sciences/Maxwell School, School of Information Studies)��

Josh Aviv launched as a ���ϲ����� student and has gone on to become a dynamic figure in the clean-tech community. SparkCharge makes portable, ultrafast charging units for electric vehicles and has been featured in major technology and clean energy publications.

While a student, Aviv won the grand prize in the New York Business Plan Competition, as well as top honors in more than seven business competitions while earning his degrees from the University. Aviv won the top prize of $1 million at 43North, a Buffalo-based startup competition, and won the California Climate Cup, Startup Fest’s global pitch competition and Plug and Play’s clean energy innovation award. TechCrunch most recently named Spark Charge as a top tech disruptor. He was selected for the prestigious Techstars accelerator program in Boston.

SparkCharge is now starting manufacturing operations in Buffalo and has an engineering division at Greentown Labs in Somerville, Massachusetts, the world’s largest clean-tech incubator.

Aviv received the Generation Orange Award at this fall’s Orange Central celebration. The award recognizes Generation Orange alumni who have made an impact on campus and in their communities through their volunteer work and philanthropy on behalf of ���ϲ�����.

Kelsey Davis (Newhouse School)��

Kelsey Davis is the founder and CEO of , a platform that empowers the next generation of college creatives by connecting creatives with brands looking to reach Generation Z.

She has been featured in The New York Times and Adweek, and she created the column for .

Prior to CLLCTVE, Davis worked in production for Condé Nast Entertainment and UniWorld Group.

A recent graduate of the Newhouse School, she is pursuing a master’s degree in entrepreneurship at the Whitman School.

Daniel Folkman (Whitman School)

Daniel Folkman is the vice president of business at , the fastest-growing digital convenience retailer, delivering thousands of products—including ice cream, candy, beverages, cleaning products, diapers, pet goods and, in some markets, beer, wine and spirits—to customers directly from centrally located facilities.

goPuff is operating in more than 100 U.S. locations, with more than 1,500 employees. At goPuff, Folkman oversees business development, corporate development, brand and communications, which includes developing strategic partnerships with the world’s largest consumer brands, such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and many others.

Before goPuff, Folkman spearheaded business development at Sumpto, a marketing and insights platform for the college demographic. At Sumpto, he was the first hire and led user growth and partnership strategy.

A thought leader in the tech and CPG space, Folkman has spent time consulting, advising and operating startups with an emphasis on business development, corporate strategy and brand partnerships.

Additionally, he serves on the Young Whitman Advisory Council for the Whitman School.

Julia Haber (Newhouse School)

Julia Haber is a creator, innovator and go-getter. She is the founder and CEO of , which she began in her first year at ���ϲ�����. During her sophomore and junior years, respectively, Haber interned with Spotify and Snapchat.

WAYV is the brand of the college market, unlocking hyper-tailored experiences for college students. WAYV crafts experiential, data-driven pop up shops on college campuses across the country.

With WAYV and her earliest pop-up shop iterations, Haber worked with national brands such as��Lululemon, Rent The Runway and Shopify, and partnered with companies such as AT&T and Adobe.

Haber and Kelsey Davis were both featured on AdWeek magazine’s podcast.

Erin Miller (Newhouse School)

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Erin Miller, co-founder of , started making films with her brother by borrowing equipment from their community television center. After an enriching four years at ���ϲ�����, she started her own production company that specialized in making promotional videos for startups and small businesses.

Miller pivoted towards producing films after the successful premiere of her first short, “No Nuts” (now streaming on Amazon Prime), a romantic comedy about two camp counselors that fall in love at a summer camp for kids allergic to peanuts.

She values diverse representation on and off set, sharing friends’ films, and honest expression of self.

Miller currently helps tech startups reach their full potential at in Austin, Texas. There she helps run hackathons, happy hours and the Virtual Reality Lab.

Michelle Schenandoah (Newhouse School)

An inspirational speaker and thought leader, Michelle Schenandoah is a traditional member of the Oneida Nation Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She is the founder of , a new Indigenous women’s online media platform. Schenandoah is�� focused on leadership development and the reclaiming of Indigenous women’s traditional roles among their nations.�� She also operate Indigenous Concepts Consulting with the goal of incorporating Indigenous perspectives into the mainstream and in existing business and media paradigms.

Schenandoah is president of the board of directors of the nonprofit , focused on ending domestic violence and sexual assault through empowerment in Indigenous communities.

She earned a B.A. at Cornell University, an M.S. at ���ϲ����� and J.D. and LL.M. degrees at the New York University School of Law.

Marcus Solis

Noted New York City broadcast journalist Marcus Solis ’91 will engage in an on-stage conversation with Simon Perez, associate professor of broadcast and digital journalism, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel as a guest of the , the and the .

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

Solis joined (Eyewitness News 7) in 1997 as a general assignment reporter. He was part of the station’s Peabody Award-winning coverage of the events of 9/11. He led the station’s coverage of the December 2012 mass-casualty shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and was also on the scene to report on the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013.

Solis, who is fluent in Spanish, was among the first New York journalists to report from Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, and he has covered papal visits in Mexico City, hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the dissident movement in Cuba.

After beginning his career at WFAS AM-FM in White Plains, New York, he moved to WDTV in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and then spent four years as an anchor/reporter at New York 1 News before joining WABC-TV.

Solis was one of feted at the Newhouse School’s 50th anniversary gala event in October 2015 in New York City. In 2012, he was inducted into the Newhouse School Professional Gallery, honoring some of the school’s most successful graduates.

As a student at the Newhouse School (graduating with a B.S. in broadcast journalism), Solis was a recipient of the Bob Costas Scholarship.

Simon Perez

About Simon Perez

Like Solis, Perez is an accomplished, bilingual reporter with more than 20 years’ experience in the news industry. His background includes work in television (KPIX-TV/San Francisco, WRIC-TV/Richmond, Virginia, WGXA-TV/Macon, Georgia, Canal de Noticias, WCNC-TV/Charlotte, North Carolina); newspaper (ABC Prensa Española in Madrid, Spain, Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia and Danville Register & Bee in Danville, Virginia); and magazine (Macworld/España in Madrid, Spain).

He is a recipient of 2007 and 2008 Northern California Emmy Awards for best evening and daytime newscasts.

About the University Lectures

Now in its 19th season, the University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis

James Stavridis—U.S. Navy retired four-star admiral, former dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and author of the forthcoming book ”—will speak on “The Secret to Being an Effective Leader” on Thursday, Oct. 10, from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Melanie Gray Ceremonial Courtroom in Dineen Hall.

Stavridis is a guest of the D’Aniello Family Speaker Series and the , with sponsorship support by the D’Aniello Family Foundation and the .

The event is open to all ���ϲ����� students, faculty and staff. Seating is limited, and a valid SU I.D. is required for admission. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided. A reception will follow the presentation.

Stavridis is an operating executive of The Carlyle Group—advising the global investment firm’s executive team and investment professionals on geopolitical and national security issues—as well as chair of the Board of Counselors of McLarty Associates, an international consulting firm; chair of the board of the U.S. Naval Institute, the professional association of the nation’s sea services; a monthly columnist for TIME Magazine; and chief international security analyst for NBC News.

After retiring from the navy in 2013, Stavridis served as dean of the Fletcher School for five years.

In 2016, he was vetted as a potential vice president running mate by then-Democratic presidential hopeful, and later Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. After the election, he was invited by President-elect Donald J. Trump to Trump Tower to discuss a possible cabinet position in the Trump Administration.

During his distinguished 37-year military career, Stavridis was awarded more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations. From 2009-13, he was commander of U.S. European Command and NATO supreme allied commander Europe, where he oversaw operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, the Balkans and counter-piracy off the coast of Africa. From 2006-09, he commanded U.S. Southern Command in Miami, charged with military operations throughout Latin America.

From 2002-04, Stavridis commanded the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Persian Gulf in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Stavridis commanded the destroyer U.S.S. Barry from 1993-95, completing deployments to Haiti, Bosnia and the Persian Gulf; under his command, the Barry won the Battenberg Cup as the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet. Beginning in 1998, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Persian Gulf, during which time Stavridis received the Navy League’s John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership.

Stavridis has served as a strategic and long-range planner on the staffs of the chief of naval operations and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the start of the “Global War on Terror,” he was selected as director of the Navy Operations Group, Deep Blue, USA. He has also served as executive assistant to the secretary of the navy and senior military assistant to the secretary of defense.

A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Stavridis also received an M.A. in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

In addition to “Sailing True North” (available Oct. 15 from Penguin Publishing Group), Stavridis is author or co-author of eight other books:

• “Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans” (Penguin, 2017);
• “The Leader’s Bookshelf” (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2017);
• “The Accidental Admiral: A Sailor Takes Command at NATO” (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2014);
• “Partnership for the Americas: Western Hemisphere Strategy and U.S. Southern Command” (NDU Press, 2010);
• “Command at Sea” (U.S. Naval Institute Press, sixth edition, 2010);
• “Destroyer Captain: Lessons of a First Command” (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2007);
• “Watch Officer’s Guide” (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 12^th edition, 2006); and
• “Division Officer’s Guide (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2005).

About the D’Aniello Speaker Series

The D’Aniello Speaker Series is a Universitywide lecture series promoting dialogue on subjects with national impact. Some of the nation’s most prominent leaders and thinkers speak on topics including entrepreneurship, free enterprise, patriotism, veterans issues and leadership.

About the University Lectures

Now in its 19^th season, the University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

The event—co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor —is free and open to all. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

Martin Indyk

Indyk—an authority on the Middle East, North Africa and U.S. foreign policy—is distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the .��Previously, he was��the John C. Whitehead Distinguished Fellow in International Diplomacy in the Foreign Policy program at the . From February 2015 to March 2018, he served as executive vice president of Brookings.

Indyk was the U.S. special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from July 2013 to June 2014. Prior to his time as special envoy, he was vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program��and a senior fellow and the founding director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995-97 and again from 2000-01, Indyk also served as special assistant to President Bill Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council (1993-95) and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the U.S. Department of State (1997-2000).

Before entering government, Indyk was founding executive director of the for eight years.

He is author of (Simon and Schuster, 2009) and co-author of ��with Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Lieberthal (Brookings Institution Press, 2012). He is currently completing a book tentatively titled��“Henry Kissinger and the Art of the Middle East Deal”��to be published by A.A. Knopf in 2019.

Indyk serves on the boards of the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia, the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel and the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Investment Initiative. Indyk also is a member of the advisory boards of the Israel Democracy Institute and America Abroad Media.

About the University Lectures
This event is the last lecture of the 2018-19 season. Previous University Lectures guests this season were:

• award-winning author and ���ϲ����� professor of English George Saunders (Oct. 18);
• internationally renowned author Margaret Atwood (Oct. 25), in collaboration with the ���ϲ����� Symposium;
• accomplished artist Robert Shetterly (Nov. 29), along with an exhibition of his omnibus portrait series “Americans Who Tell the Truth: Models of Courageous Citizenship”;
• comedian, author and “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, in collaboration with the 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration (Jan. 27);
• NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg (March 5); and
• internationally renowned research engineer Lynn Conway (March 26).

The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Lynn Conway

The University Lectures series continues with Lynn Conway, professor emerita of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, on Tuesday, March 26. Conway’s presentation, “An Invisible Woman: The Inside Story Behind the VLSI Revolution in Silicon Valley,” begins at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel and is free and open to the public.

Conway’s appearance is co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

Conway’s discussion will focus on a phenomenon that occurred to her and that she believes has also affected other women scientists, as well as members of underrepresented populations: one in which the discoveries they have made, and their contributions to science and technology, have faded over time from the annals of history.

In 2015, U.S. Chief Technology Officer raised about women’s contributions in science, engineering and math being erased from history. In her talk, Conway will explore a case study of such an erasure and surface about the underlying causes and effects.

“As a woman, I disappeared from history and so did my innovations,” Conway wrote in an insightful essay, in the October 2018 issue of Computer Magazine.

As a young researcher at IBM in the 1960s, she made pioneering innovations in computer architecture. IBM fired her in 1968 upon learning she was undergoing gender transition. A gritty survivor, she restarted her career in “stealth-mode” after completing her transition.

While working at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s, Conway innovated breakthrough methods that dramatically simplified the design of silicon chips, triggering the microelectronics very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) revolution in Silicon Valley and forever transforming computing and information technology. The Mead-Conway VLSI Design methodology—created by Conway and Caltech Professor Carver Mead—is credited with making cell phones and laptops possible.

However, over time, the credit fell more to Mead and less to Conway. To the point that her involvement all but disappeared. In 2009, Mead was an honoree—hailed as one of 16 men lauded as “the [Silicon] Valley’s founding fathers”—at the Computer History Museum’s gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit. Not only was Conway not invited, she did not even know the event was taking place.

This prompted Conway to research her “disappearance.” By 2010, she had compiled an “,” a collection of artifacts that helped her sort through events.

It was an important step toward telling her story, and her contributions began to reappear. She has since become a member of the Hall of Fellows of the Computer History Museum; been awarded several honorary degrees; and received the (IEEE)/Royal Society of Edinburgh James Clerk Maxwell Medal, the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the IEEE Computer Society’s Computer Pioneer Award.

She is a fellow of the IEEE and the , and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

In the early 1980s, Conway left Xerox to become assistant director for strategic computing at the . In 1985, she moved to the University of Michigan as professor of electrical engineering and computer science and associate dean of engineering.

For decades, Conway had kept her gender transition a secret. When nearing retirement from the university, in 1999, she began quietly coming out as a trans woman, sharing with her friends and colleagues, and using her to tell her story. It was more widely reported in 2000 by way of profiles in Scientific American and The Los Angeles Times.

After going public with her story, Conway began work in transgender activism, intending to “illuminate and normalize the issues of gender identity and the processes of gender transition.” She has worked to protect and expand the rights of transgender people, including by evolving her website into a multilingual beacon of encouragement and hope for transgender people worldwide.

In addition, in 2012, she published a memoir that finally revealed how—closeted and hidden behind the scenes—she conceived the ideas and orchestrated the events that disruptively changed an entire industry.

About the University Lectures
Now in its 18th season, the University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

The next and final speaker in the spring semester is , distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the , former executive vice president��of the and two-time U.S. ambassador to Israel (April 16).

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Nina Totenberg

The University Lectures series welcomes award-winning NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg on Tuesday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The event—featuring the veteran journalist in an on-stage conversation with College of Law Dean Craig M. Boise—is free and open to all.

It is co-sponsored by the , the , the , and the , along with media sponsor . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

Newsweek has called Totenberg the “crème de la crème” of NPR, and Vanity Fair refers to her as the “Queen of Leaks.” Esquire named her one of the “Women We Love” in both 1988 and 1992.

Among her biggest stories was her 1991 groundbreaking report of sexual harassment allegations against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas by University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill, which prompted the Senate Judiciary Committee to re-open its confirmation hearings. NPR received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for its gavel-to-gavel coverage—anchored by Totenberg—of both the original hearings and the inquiry into Hill’s allegations, and for Totenberg’s reports and exclusive interview with Hill.

Earlier, in 1986, she broke the story that Supreme Court nominee Douglas Ginsburg had smoked marijuana, leading to Ginsburg withdrawing from consideration. In 1988, Totenberg won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for her coverage of Supreme Court nominations. The jurors of the award stated, “Ms. Totenberg broke the story of Judge (Douglas) Ginsburg’s use of marijuana, raising issues of changing social values and credibility with careful perspective under deadline pressure.”

That same coverage earned Totenberg additional awards, including the Long Island University George Polk Award for excellence in journalism; the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting; the Carr Van Anda Award from the Scripps School of Journalism; and the prestigious Joan S. Barone Award for excellence in Washington-based national affairs/public policy reporting, which also acknowledged her coverage of Justice Thurgood Marshall’s retirement.

Totenberg was the first radio journalist to be honored by the as Broadcaster of the Year. She has been recognized seven times by the for excellence in legal reporting and won the first-ever Toni House award presented by the for a career body of work.

A frequent contributor to major newspapers and periodicals, Totenberg has published articles in The New York Times Magazine, The Harvard Law Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Parade Magazine and New York Magazine.

Before joining NPR in 1975, she served as Washington editor of New Times Magazine. Prior to that, she was the legal affairs correspondent for the National Observer.

.

About the University Lectures
The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

Upcoming speakers in the series are:

• , professor of electrical engineering and computer science emerita at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, internationally renowned research engineer, university educator and LGBTQ advocate (March 28)
• , distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the , former executive vice president��of the and two-time U.S. ambassador to Israel (April 16).

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

All three events will take place in and are free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at each lecture. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is .

Now in its 18^th season, the University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

Nina Totenberg
Tuesday, March 5
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

One of the country’s most respected journalists, Nina Totenberg is ’s award-winning legal affairs correspondent. With more than 40 years’ experience at NPR, her reports are regularly featured on and

Totenberg’s coverage of the Supreme Court and legal affairs has won her widespread recognition. As Newsweek stated: “The mainstays [of NPR] are ‘Morning Edition’ and ‘All Things Considered.’ But the crème de la crème is Nina Totenberg.”

Totenberg was the first radio journalist to be honored by the as Broadcaster of the Year. She has been recognized seven times by the for excellence in legal reporting and won the first-ever Toni House award presented by the for a career body of work.

In 1988, Totenberg won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for her coverage of Supreme Court nominations. The jurors of the award stated, “Ms. Totenberg broke the story of Judge (Douglas) Ginsburg’s use of marijuana, raising issues of changing social values and credibility with careful perspective under deadline pressure.”

In 1991, her groundbreaking report about University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment by Judge Clarence Thomas led the Senate Judiciary Committee to re-open Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmation hearings to consider Hill’s charges. NPR received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for its gavel-to-gavel coverage—anchored by Totenberg—of both the original hearings and the inquiry into Hill’s allegations, and for Totenberg’s reports and exclusive interview with Hill.

That same coverage earned Totenberg additional awards, including the Long Island University George Polk Award for excellence in journalism; the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting; the Carr Van Anda Award from the Scripps School of Journalism; and the prestigious Joan S. Barone Award for excellence in Washington-based national affairs/public policy reporting, which also acknowledged her coverage of Justice Thurgood Marshall’s retirement.

On a lighter note, in 1988 and 1992, Esquire magazine named her one of the “Women We Love.”

A frequent contributor to major newspapers and periodicals, she has published articles in The New York Times Magazine, The Harvard Law Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Parade Magazine and New York Magazine.

Before joining NPR in 1975, Totenberg served as Washington editor of New Times Magazine. Prior to that, she was the legal affairs correspondent for the National Observer.

Totenberg’s appearance is co-sponsored by the , the , the , and the .

Lynn Conway
Tuesday, March 26
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Lynn Conway, professor of electrical engineering and computer science emerita at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is an internationally renowned research engineer, university educator and LGBTQ advocate.

As a young researcher at IBM in the 1960s, she made pioneering innovations in computer architecture. IBM fired her in 1968 upon learning she was undergoing gender transition. A gritty survivor, she restarted her career in “stealth-mode” after completing her transition.

While working at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s, Conway innovated breakthrough methods that dramatically simplified the design of silicon chips, triggering the microelectronics “VLSI revolution” in Silicon Valley and forever transforming computing and information technology.

She went on to serve as assistant director for strategic computing at the , then joined the University of Michigan in 1985 as professor of electrical engineering and computer science and associate dean of engineering.

Quietly coming out after retiring in 1999, Conway evolved her trans-support website, , into a multilingual beacon of encouragement and hope for transgender people worldwide. Then, in 2012, she published a memoir that finally revealed how—closeted and hidden behind the scenes—she conceived the ideas and orchestrated the events that disruptively changed an entire industry.

Conway is a fellow of the (IEEE) and the , and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Among Conway’s other honors: the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the IEEE Computer Society’s Computer Pioneer Award, the James Clerk Maxwell Medal from the IEEE and Royal Society of Edinburgh, and four honorary doctorates.

Conway’s appearance is co-sponsored by the .

Martin S. Indyk
Tuesday, April 16
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Martin Indyk is distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the .��Previously, he was��the John C. Whitehead Distinguished Fellow in International Diplomacy in the Foreign Policy program at the . From February 2015 to March 2018, he served as executive vice president of Brookings.

Indyk was the U.S. special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from July 2013 to June 2014. Prior to his time as special envoy, he was vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program��and a senior fellow and the founding director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995-97 and again from 2000-01, Indyk also served as special assistant to President Bill Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council (1993-95) and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the U.S. Department of State (1997-2000).

Before entering government, Indyk was founding executive director of the for eight years.

He is author of (Simon and Schuster, 2009) and co-author of ��with Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Lieberthal (Brookings Institution Press, 2012). He is currently completing a book tentatively titled��“Henry Kissinger and the Art of the Middle East Deal”��to be published by A.A. Knopf in 2019.

Indyk serves on the boards of the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia, the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel and the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Investment Initiative. Indyk also is a member of the advisory boards of the Israel Democracy Institute and America Abroad Media.

Indyk’s appearance is co-sponsored by the .

Previous University Lectures guests this season were: award-winning author and ���ϲ����� professor of English George Saunders (Oct. 18); internationally renowned author Margaret Atwood (Oct. 25), in collaboration with the ���ϲ����� Symposium; accomplished artist Robert Shetterly (Nov. 29), along with an exhibition of his omnibus portrait series “Americans Who Tell the Truth: Models of Courageous Citizenship”; and comedian, author and “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, in collaboration with the 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Comedian and author Trevor Noah addresses the audience during the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. MLK Celebration Dinner. Jennifer Sanders, NewsChannel 9/WSYR-TV morning and noon news anchor, moderated a conversation with Noah.

The 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration—featuring comedian and author Trevor Noah, host of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning��—was held last night in the Dome.

The event also showcased performances by students and Central New York community members, and presentation of the Unsung Hero Awards—recognizing local community members who have championed the plight of those in need.

The 34th annual event was presented in collaboration with the series and the ���ϲ����� Reads program.

View some of the memorable moments from the celebration.

Members of the Community Choir and the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble performed during the the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Trevor Noah at the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Trevor Noah at the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

The Black Reign Step Team performed at the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Recipients of the 2019 Unsung Hero Award are honored at the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. From left are Amiah Crisler; Marissa Saunders; Mary Lynn Mahan, whose husband, Stephen Mahan, was honored posthumously; Priya Penner; and Syeisha Byrd.

The Adanfo Ensemble performed at the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Jackie Robinson was the master of ceremonies at the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

A member of the Adanfo Ensemble at the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Children with the Southwest Community Center Higher Standards Camp performed at the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Trevor Noah at the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

A member of A New Generation Eternally Lifting Souls (A.N.G.E.L.S.) sings during the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Orange Appeal took the stage at the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Trevor Noah with Jennifer Sanders at the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Through an independent study course advised by Andrew Saluti, assistant professor and program coordinator in the museum studies graduate program, Barber is the collections manager for the “Americans Who Tell the Truth: Models of Courageous Citizenship” exhibition on display Nov. 29-Dec. 14 in the Schine Student Center’s Panasci Lounge.

The 238-piece exhibition of Robert Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth: Models of Courageous Citizenship” series taking shape in the Schine Student Center’s Panasci Lounge.

Sponsored by the Maxwell School’s in cooperation with the , the ���ϲ����� exhibition is the first time that all 238 pieces in Shetterly’s portrait series will be displayed publicly in one location. It’s a massive undertaking, with Barber charged with the care and display of the collection.

“This experience is really valuable and unique because I would never have the opportunity to go and see the full process happen with a regular internship,” says Barber. “I was there for the discussion and design, going to get the artwork, meeting the artist and making that connection. I’m seeing the whole process, which is rare.”

“It’s a big thing to ask a graduate student to manage this kind of project,” says Saluti, speaking of Barber. “To be able to say you managed a project with this level of coordination—the travel, the over 230 objects—that’s not only a professionally wonderful exercise for her, but it’s the kind of real-world, hands-on experience our program tries to give our students.”

Beginning the journey of bringing the portraits to campus, Barber and Saluti rented a 26-foot box truck on Nov. 1 and drove about 10 hours to Portland, Maine. Their destination was Shetterly’s home, a bit further up the coast, where the portraits were being stored. Loading all of the portraits was a two-day project that took the efforts of Barber, Saluti, Shetterly and Shetterly’s wife. Adding to the fun, a documentary film producer, SU alumnus Richard Kane ’72, was on hand, capturing footage for a film project about Shetterly, “Our Children’s Future: A Portrait of Robert Shetterly.”

Museum studies graduate student Hannah Barber (left) with Gail Page and Robert Shetterly amidst the packed portraits of the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series.

Barber and Saluti brought with them a case of packing tape, 10 rolls of 100-yard plastic sheeting, commercial-rated cardboard shipping boxes and full sheets of two-inch foam to ready the portraits for transit. To prepare for the portrait pick up, they created a customized object management database. On Day One in Maine, Barber used the database to inspect each piece, report on the condition of it, and set the foundation for its tracking throughout the whole process. After meticulously reporting on each piece, the group of four prepped the portraits in Shetterly’s basement. They spent 10 hours carefully wrapping and taping each portrait with a brief 30-minute break for lunch. The second day, after three more hours of wrapping and taping, the paintings were carried upstairs to the waiting truck. As the portraits were loaded in, and rain poured down, emotions overcame Shetterly.

“[Shetterly] was slightly tearing up and couldn’t believe that we were finally at this point,” says Saluti. “It was just finally hitting him that this was actually happening.”

Being responsible for the first all-encompassing exhibition of Shetterly’s landmark collection is a responsibility and privilege Barber takes seriously. “This exhibition is really important because it has been Rob’s main focus for the past 20 years of his life,” she says. “It’s huge to see it all together … and have an entire space to show what he has been doing.”

Bringing the Shetterly exhibition to ���ϲ����� has been a multi-year effort involving an organizing committee and multiple departments across the University. Among those leading the project is Jim Clark, professor of theater management and program coordinator in the Department of Drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Andrew Saluti, assistant professor and program coordinator in the museum studies graduate program, instructs museum studies students on the hanging of the exhibition.

Last winter, after it was decided that the exhibition would come to campus, Clark reached out to Saluti about designing a space that could house the 238 portraits. Having to think outside of the prepared blank walls of a museum, a few potential locations were proposed, with Goldstein Auditorium as a frontrunner option. Taking floor plans of the area and drawing an accurate 3-D model of the space using SketchUp, Saluti drafted a design by manipulating the entire space—and the outer hallway—to accommodate all the pieces.

Then, due to unforeseen circumstances, the location needed to be changed.

After consulting with Physical Plant, Student Centers and Programming Services, and the Office of Special Events, Saluti proposed Panasci Lounge as the next best location. The idea presented some new concerns.

“For Panasci, the biggest challenges were working with the existing architecture of the space and acknowledging the use,” says Saluti. “The lounge is still an active study center, and this exhibition happens to fall during the two final weeks of the semester, a busy time for the space.”

Still, Panasci Lounge was deemed workable. In fact, coupling the exhibition with the student lounge space presented opportunity for engagement and visibility that other spaces could not provide. Once the location was confirmed, the gallery space needed to be designed—a significant task given the sheer number of pieces and the vast amount of wall space required. During the countless hours spent redesigning the exhibition space, Saluti found himself innovating and creating in ways that an ordinary exhibition would not need. The most significant of the innovations was the realization that custom walls would need to be built and installed in Panasci Lounge on a temporary basis, through the run of the exhibition.

Students hang Robert Shetterly’s portrait of Dorothea Lange.

The idea of the pop-up exhibit outside of the traditional museum walls is increasing with popularity around the world. Therefore, the real-life application of the Shetterly exhibition design and implementation process is not a missed lesson on the museum studies graduate students.

“The students have to take what they’ve learned and know about the best practices of handling, installing and managing the objects and employ that in a nontraditional exhibition environment, which to me is a wonderful exercise,” says Saluti.

The construction of the gallery took place Monday, Nov. 26, and Tuesday, Nov. 27. The installation relies on volunteer help, primarily from the 33 students in the museum studies graduate program. Sharing this experience with her cohorts is what excites Barber the most about the project.

“This project takes a lot of hands, and I love getting to know my classmates more intimately,” she says. “In this field, you lean on each other a lot. A lot of people wear a lot of hats and therefore must be multi-skilled. You learn a lot from each other, build off each other and help each other.”

The portraits and accompanying narratives in the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series highlight citizens who courageously address issues of social, environmental and economic fairness. Combining art and other media, the series “offers resources to inspire a new generation of engaged Americans who will act for the common good, our communities, and the Earth.”

Robert Shetterly’s portrait of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Among the historical and contemporary figures portrayed in the collection are Muhammad Ali, Susan B. Anthony, James Baldwin, Majora Carter, Shirley Chisholm, Dwight Eisenhower, Langston Hughes, Van Jones, Martin Luther King Jr., Naomi Klein, Ron Kovic, Arthur Miller, Ralph Nader, Paul Robeson, Edward Snowden, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Malcolm X.

Major sponsor of the exhibition and the accompanying lecture is the Maxwell School’s in cooperation with the and the in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ (VPA) School of Design, along with media sponsor .

Museum studies students and faculty have been busy transforming the Schine Student Center’s Panasci Lounge into a gallery space suitable for displaying the many portraits in the series. Earlier this month, a museum studies team traveled to Shetterly’s Maine studio to pack and transport the paintings to ���ϲ�����.

The exhibition will be open for public viewing Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to midnight and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to midnight, beginning Thursday, Nov. 29, and continuing through Friday, Dec. 14.

Robert Shetterly

In an on-stage conversation on Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Crouse College’s Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium, Shetterly will be joined by , public health advocate and pediatrician at the Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, and , senior lecturer in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas. LaVonda Reed, professor of law and SU associate provost for faculty affairs, will moderate the discussion.

Both the exhibition and the lecture event are free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided for the lecture.

Several portrait subjects have expressed interest in traveling to ���ϲ����� to attend the exhibition and lecture, including , , , , , , , , , , , , and . One of Shetterly’s subjects lives nearby: SU alumnus ’58, H’93, faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation and a chief of the Council of the Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee.

Hanna-Attisha is author of “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City” (Random House, 2018), her first-hand account of the Flint water crisis. Hanna-Attisha made headlines across the country in September 2015 when she sounded the alarm about the high presence of lead in Flint’s drinking water. She has received numerous honors for her efforts on behalf of the people—and especially the children—of Flint, including being named to Time magazine’s 2016 list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As business chief underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors. Citigroup responded by stripping him of all responsibilities, placing him on administrative leave and eventually terminating him. Bowen subsequently testified before the Securities and Exchange Commission, giving them more than 1,000 pages of evidence of fraudulent activities. In 2010, he was a key witness in the mortgage mishaps and gave nationally televised testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Robert Shetterly’s portrait of Richard Bowen

Shetterly was born in Cincinnati and graduated from Harvard College in 1969 with a degree in English literature. After moving to Maine in 1970, he taught himself drawing, printmaking and painting. While trying to become proficient in printmaking and painting, he illustrated widely. For 12 years he created the editorial page drawings for the Maine Times newspaper and illustrated the National Audubon Society’s children’s newspaper, Audubon Adventures and some 30 books.

His work appears in collections across the United States and Europe. Along with his “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series, he is well known for his series of 70 painted etchings based on William Blake’s “Proverbs of Hell” and for another series of 50 painted etchings reflecting on the metaphor of the Annunciation.

He began “Americans Who Tell the Truth” in the early 2000s in response to U.S. government actions following 9/11. Shetterly undertook the project as a way to deal with his own grief and anger by painting Americans who inspired him. He initially intended to paint only 50 portraits, but by 2013 the series had grown to more than 180 paintings. Today, it numbers 238. Portions of the series have toured widely across the United States, shown in schools, museums, libraries, galleries and other public spaces.

A few of Shetterly’s paintings have previously visited ���ϲ�����. A small portion of the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series was on display in March and April 2014 at VPA’s 914Works gallery.

An “Americans Who Tell the Truth” book featuring Shetterly’s first 50 portraits was published in 2008. He says the portraits have given him an opportunity to speak with children and adults throughout the United States about “the necessity of dissent in a democracy, the obligations of citizenship, sustainability, U.S. history, and how democracy cannot function if politicians don’t tell the truth, if the media don’t report it, and if the people don’t demand it.”

Shetterly is the subject of a documentary that’s in production, “Our Children’s Future: A Portrait of Robert Shetterly,” sponsored by the Union of Maine Visual Artists and directed by SU alumnus Richard Kane ’72. . Kane will be in ���ϲ����� this week to record additional interviews for the film.

Shetterly is no stranger to SU. He has visited campus on several occasions as a guest lecturer, most recently in early October, speaking to students in the Cultural Heritage Preservation (IST 622/MUS 600), Studio 1: Practices of Artistic Writing (WRT 109), Solo Creation (DRA 374), Production Crew (DRD 115) and Teaching and Leadership for Social Justice (EDU 915) courses, as well as visiting an honors class studying human rights and the Maxwell School’s Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration.

This week, he will be engaged in a full schedule of classroom appearances tied in to the exhibition, visiting VPA, the Falk College, the School of Education, the Whitman School and the Renée Crown University Honors Program.

About the Tanner Lecture Series on Ethics, Citizenship, and Public Responsibility

What does it mean to be an ethical citizen? What do the needs for public responsibility demand from us, whether we work in the private or the public sectors, and whether we are entry-level employees or top leaders? The Tanner Lecture Series on Ethics, Citizenship, and Public Responsibility provides a public forum for exploring these questions in provocative and challenging ways. The series has been generously endowed by alumnus W. Lynn Tanner ’75 Ph.D., founder, CEO and chairman of TEC, a leadership development organization dedicated to accelerating the growth and development of outstanding 21st-century leaders.

About the University Lectures

Now in its 18th season, the University Lectures is ���ϲ�����’s premier lecture series. Created through and supported by the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51, the cross-disciplinary series brings to campus notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

About ���ϲ�����

���ϲ����� is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, ���ϲ����� offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of ���ϲ����� is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Trevor Noah

Tickets are now available for the 2019 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration—featuring comedian and author Trevor Noah, host of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning —on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, in the Dome.

This year’s theme for the MLK Celebration, the nation’s largest university-sponsored celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, is “The Global Impact of Civil Rights.” Noah will take part in an on-stage conversation about his acclaimed memoir, (Random House, 2016), reflecting on Dr. King and discussing the global impact of the civil rights movement.

The 34th annual event—presented in collaboration with the series and the ���ϲ����� Reads program—also includes a dinner; performances by students and Central New York community members; and presentation of the Unsung Hero Awards, recognizing local community members who have championed the rights of those in need. Dinner will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. near the Dome’s west end zone, followed by the main program from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the east side.

Following are the various ticket purchase options:

• SU staff, SU faculty and General Public (Dinner and Program): $30
• SU staff, SU faculty and General Public (Main Program Only): $15
• Students (Dinner and Program): $15
• Students (Main Program Only): $5

Tickets are available , in person at the Dome Box Office (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and by phone (888-DOME-TIX or 315.443.2121, option “zero”).

After Jan. 14, 2019, student tickets for the dinner and program may also be obtained with the��option of one meal deduction or $15 SUpercard Food at all dining centers and Schine Dining.

Noah’s “Born a Crime” is the selected book for the 2018-19 ���ϲ����� Reads program, a shared reading initiative coordinated by the Provost’s Office that is part of the First-Year Experience for all new SU students. The University provided more than 3,900 special softcover copies and e-copies of the book to these incoming first-year and transfer students in June. Free copies of “Born a Crime” were also made available through the SU Bookstore to other current students, as well as SU faculty and staff with a valid SUID.

The new students were instructed to read “Born a Crime” over the summer. After their arrival on campus for the fall semester, they have participated in a series of five-week discussion sessions—co-led by a student peer facilitator and a faculty, staff or graduate student lead facilitator—intended to enhance the students’ understanding of the topics addressed in the book and engage them in broader contexts about identity, resiliency, inclusion and community.

The book will also be utilized for “CNY Reads”—one of the largest “one book, one community” programs in New York state—from January through March 2019. By encouraging Central New York residents to read the same book and engage in experiences related to the subject matter of the book, the 2019 CNY Reads program seeks to cultivate a culture of community building and programing while celebrating the written word.

The MLK Celebration offers all who have read the book—and who will read the book—a special opportunity to see and hear the author live and in person.

For more information on Noah and the ���ϲ����� Reads program, see the MLK Celebration speaker announcement.

To learn more about the MLK Celebration, visit .

Margaret Atwood

Acclaimed author Margaret Atwood (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Alias Grace”) will visit ���ϲ����� on Thursday, Oct. 25, and participate that evening in an on-stage conversation in Hendricks Chapel for the series.

The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 7:30 p.m. Part of SU’s , it is co-sponsored by the and the , with media sponsor . Atwood’s appearance is also part of the Humanities Center’s programming, which is focusing this year on the meaning and impact of “STORIES” from diverse perspectives.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

Atwood will be speaking with fellow novelist , associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences. At the conclusion of their conversation, the floor will open for questions from the audience. The SU Bookstore will have a selection of Atwood’s books available for purchase in the Hendricks narthex before and after the event. There will be no book signing opportunity.

Margaret Atwood
The renowned Canadian author has more than 40 novels, non-fiction works, short story collections, children’s books, books of poetry, a graphic novel and a comic books series to her credit spanning her more than 50-year career.

Atwood has been a recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the Harvard Arts Medal, the Raymond Chandler Award, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among more than a hundred honors. She has also received 26 honorary degrees.

Two relatively new blockbuster adaptations of a pair of Atwood’s most notable books—“The Handmaid’s Tale” (McClelland & Stewart, Houghton Mifflin, 1985) and the mystery “Alias Grace” (McClelland & Stewart, Bloomsbury, Doubleday, 1996)—have brought a fresh recognition of her work to new audiences.

The two seasons of the Hulu production of “The Handmaid’s Tale” have garnered nine Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 2017 award for Outstanding Drama Series. The series has also earned a Peabody Award, two Television Critics Association Awards, an American Cinema Editors Award, an Art Directors Guild Award, three Critics’ Choice Television Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, among other honors.

The six-episode adaptation of Atwood’s murder mystery “Alias Grace” is currently available on Netflix, having debuted in November 2017.

Her children’s book “Wandering Wenda and “Widow Wallop’s Wunderground Washery” (McArthur & Co., 2011) was produced as an animated children’s series. MGM is producing a series from her novel “The Heart Goes Last” (McClelland & Stewart, Bloomsbury, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2015). And Paramount is adapting the three books in her MaddAddam series (McClelland & Stewart, Bloomsbury, Doubleday)—“Oryx and Crake”��(2003),��“The Year of the Flood”��(2009) and “MaddAddam” (2013)—into a television series.

In 2016, Atwood entered the world of graphic novels with “Angel Catbird” (Dark Horse), the story of a young genetic engineer who accidentally mutates into a cat-owl hybrid, which debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Bestseller List. She has since written volumes two and three. And the complete 320-page collection was released Oct. 16.

Atwood recently teamed with Eisner Award-winning illustrator Ken Steacy for a three-issue comic book series, “War Bears,” which tells the story of the early days of comics in Toronto and one fictional cartoonist’s struggles with the industry in the 1940s.

Atwood is a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize and a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a nonprofit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada’s writing community.

In addition to her literary endeavors, Atwood is an inventor. In 2004, while on a paperback tour in Denver for her novel “Oryx and Crake,” Atwood conceived the concept of a remote robotic writing technology, the LongPen, that would allow someone to write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the internet.

Dana Spiotta
Spiotta��is author of four novels:����(Simon & Schuster, 2016), winner of the St. Francis College��Literary Prize and a finalist for the��Los Angeles Times��Book Prize;����(Simon & Schuster, 2011), a finalist for the��National Book Critics Circle Award;����(Simon & Schuster, 2006), a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the American Academy’s Rosenthal Foundation Award; and����(Simon & Schuster, 2001), a��New York Times��Notable Book.

Spiotta is recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for��the Arts Fellowship and the Rome Prize in Literature. In 2017, she��received the John Updike Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

About the University Lectures
The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Saunders will engage in an on-stage conversation with fellow author Jonathan Dee, assistant professor of English in A&S. The ���ϲ����� Bookstore will have Saunders’ and Dee’s books available for purchase in the Hendricks narthex, and Saunders will be available after the lecture for signings.

The University Lectures event is co-sponsored by the University’s as part of . Media sponsor for the University Lectures is . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided.

George Saunders (photo by Chloe Aftel)

George Saunders

Saunders has taught since 1996 in the University’s M.F.A. program in creative writing, the same program in which he was a student, studying with literary mentors Tobias Wolff and Douglas Unger. He graduated in 1988.

His path to ���ϲ����� was winding and adventurous. Saunders was born in Amarillo, Texas, and grew up in Chicago. His college undergraduate studies had little to do with literature and everything to do with science: he majored in exploration geophysics, earning a degree in the discipline from the Colorado School of Mines. After college, Saunders was off to Sumatra, working as a field geophysicist. To pass the long weeks in camp, he stocked up on books and read vociferously. But about a year and half into the job, he became very ill after swimming in contaminated river water. It was then that Saunders decided to head home and “try and be Kerouac II.”

He worked as a doorman, a roofer, a convenience store clerk and a slaughterhouse worker. In 1986, his life path took a new and important turn. One night in 1986, at a party in Amarillo, Saunders happened upon a copy of People magazine. In it was a profile about renowned short-story writer, poet and ���ϲ����� English professor Raymond Carver and an accomplished young author and student of Carver’s, Jay McInerney G’86. Saunders was unfamiliar with ���ϲ����� and had never heard of an M.F.A. program, but he was intrigued. He applied to ���ϲ����� and was accepted.

While pursuing his graduate degree in the creative writing program, Saunders met, became engaged to and married Paula Redick. In 1988, their first daughter, Caitlin, was born. In 1990, second daughter Alena followed. Upon graduating from the University, Saunders worked as a tech writer, first for a pharmaceutical company and then for an environmental engineering company. And he also wrote fiction.

Saunders’ first significant success with his fiction came with the publication of his short story “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz,” which appeared in The New Yorker in 1992 (and was one of the pieces in his first published book, “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” Random House, 1996) and for Saunders launched a long and very successful relationship with the magazine that continues to this day.

When ���ϲ����� extended to Saunders an offer to teach in the creative writing program, it gave him the security of a regular paycheck with benefits and the opportunity to continue to advance his writing. He produced more short stories for The New Yorker, as well as for Harper’s, McSweeney’s and GQ. He contributed a weekly column, “American Psyche,” to the weekend magazine of The Guardian (2006-08). And he wrote and had published several collections of short stories, including “Pastoralia” (Penguin, 2000), named a New York Times Notable Book, and “In Persuasion Nation” (Penguin, 2006), a finalist for the Story Prize.

His short-story collection “Tenth of December” was published by Random House in 2013. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the inaugural Folio Prize (for the best work of fiction in English) and the Story Prize (best short story collection).

Also in 2013, the transcript of a memorable convocation address by Saunders to College of Arts and Sciences graduates, a moving essay on kindness, was picked up by The New York Times website and went viral—within days, it was viewed more than one million times. It inspired an voiced by Saunders. And the following spring, it was published in book form— (Random House, 2014)—and became a bestseller.

Random House published Saunders’ first full-length novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” in 2017. It was a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and won the prestigious Man Booker Prize. It also became a hit audiobook (seven hours, 25 minutes), with an impressive voice cast of actors, authors and comedians, including Don Cheadle, Lena Dunham, Bill Hader, Mary Karr, Megan Mullally, Julianne Moore, Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, Susan Sarandon, Ben Stiller, Jeffrey Tambor, Bradley Whitford and Rainn Wilson.

Among Saunders’ other notable honors, he was named to Time magazine’s TIME 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. That same year, he was awarded the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. He has also won four National Magazine Awards (from seven nominations), a PEN/Malamud Award and a World Fantasy Award. He has received fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Guggenheim Foundation. This past spring, Saunders was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In all, Saunders has written nine books; his a hardcover short story with illustrations, becomes available Nov. 13. And he recently completed the for Jeff Tweedy’s new album, “Warm,” which comes out Nov. 30.

Jonathan Dee

Dee is author of seven novels, including “A Thousand Pardons” (Random House, 2013), “Palladio” (Doubleday, 2002) and “The Privileges” (Random House, 2010), which was a runner-up for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and winner of the 2011 Prix Fitzgerald and the St. Francis College Literary Prize.

His most recent novel, “The Locals” (Random House, 2017), was longlisted for the inaugural Aspen Institute Literary Prize for “a work of fiction with social impact.” It was named a Best Book of 2017 by, among others, The Washington Post, the Guardian, Vox, Kirkus and the Seattle Times.

Dee is a National Magazine Award-nominated literary critic for Harper’s and The New Yorker,��a former contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, a former senior editor of The Paris Review and the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.

About the University Lectures

The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Acclaimed trumpeter Bria Skonberg recently participated in a three-day residency in the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music.

October is (NAHM), and ���ϲ����� is marking the occasion with an array of events and activities.

Vivian May, director of the , says most of the University’s NAHM-related programming originates in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), SUArt Galleries and ���ϲ����� Libraries.

“NAHM raises awareness of the arts and humanities, while sparking creative partnerships,” says May, also a professor of women’s and gender studies in A&S. “There is no shortage of scholarly and creative projects on campus.”

May considers the arts and humanities vital to ���ϲ�����’s research mission, whether faculty are integrating art into STEM education or students are using scientific methods to understand and interpret the world. “NAHM recognizes the importance of culture not just during October but throughout the entire year,” she adds.

The following is a snapshot of arts and humanities events this month on campus:

Novelist Margaret Atwood

College of Arts and Sciences
Home of the humanities, A&S sponsors a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary initiatives. Chief among them is the Humanities Center—a hub of research activity, fellowships, visiting professorships and public programming, located in the historic Tolley Building.

The Humanities Center presents , an annual public events series with an overarching theme.��This year’s symposium looks at the meaning and impact of storytelling from diverse perspectives and genres.

As part of NAHM, ���ϲ����� Symposium will present the exhibition “,” Oct. 11-31; a by Williams College geographer Nicolas Howe, Oct. 12; a , Oct. 21; and a by “Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood, Oct. 25. For details, visit .

The Humanities Center also sponsors competitive fellowships and visiting professorships. This year’s Dissertation Fellows are Lorenza D’Angelo and Adam Kozaczka, Ph.D. candidates in philosophy and English, respectively.

Joining them are two Public Humanities Graduate Fellows: Camilla Bell and Gemma Cooper-Novack, Ph.D. candidates in the School of Education. Their work is supported in part by the Mellon-funded (a program of the Humanities Center) and .

May is pleased to welcome this year’s Faculty Fellows: Myrna García-Calderón (Spanish), Michael Rieppel (philosophy), Carol Fadda (English) and Albrecht Diem (history). Preparations also are underway for a spring semester mini-residency by��Larry Blumenfeld, the Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor, who is a��culture reporter and music critic for The Wall Street Journal.

May’s work is complemented by that of Dorri Beam, new chair of the . Composed mostly of departmental chairs and program directors in A&S, the council partners with the Humanities Center, the Humanities Corridor and ���ϲ����� Universities Libraries to assure the humanities have, in May’s words, a “robust, dynamic presence” on campus.

“The study of the humanities encourages interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge, problem solving, communal life, research techniques and classroom dynamics,” says Beam, also an associate professor of English. “Our faculty are known for their internationally recognized research and for creating opportunities for intellectual exchange.”

Rapper Baba Brinkman

Case in point: The Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychology kicked off NAHM with a visit by . A self-described “white, Canadian, peer-reviewed science rapper,” he presented his award-winning show “The Rap Guide to Consciousness” in Hendricks Chapel.

“It was an interdisciplinary, multimedia experience, showing how science and the humanities work together. ’The Rap Guide to Consciousness’ is to neuroscience what [the musical] ‘Hamilton’ is to history,’” one observer recalls.

Other October events in A&S include the following:

• The , featuring novelist Robert Lopez on Wednesday, Oct. 10, and Katie Kitamura, The Leonard and Elise Elman Visiting Writer, on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Both readings are at 5:30 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium.
• A lecture by art historian Ittai Weinryb about his new exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center called “.” Glenn Peers, newly appointed professor of art history, is organizing the lecture, which is��Thursday, Oct. 11, from 5-7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.
• The Joseph and Amelia Borgognoni Lecture in Catholic Theology and Religion in Society, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Catonsville Nine, on Monday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.
• Artist LaToya Hobbs’ solo show “,” exploring perceptions of Black womanhood, running through Nov. 3 at the Community Folk Art Center.

College of Visual and Performing Arts
While Baba Brickman was freestyling in Hendricks, another Canadian artist—trumpeter, singer and songwriter —was hitting all the right notes in Setnor Auditorium. Her performance marked the culmination of a three-day residency in the .Setnor is one of six schools and departments in VPA, which is presenting more than 50 events in October. They include the following:

• An exhibition of Tyrolean-styled dirndl skirts called “,” running through Oct. 12 at the Sue & Leon Genet Gallery.
• A concert by the , part of the Setnor Guest Artist Series, on Tuesday, Oct. 9, from 8-9 p.m. in Setnor Auditorium.
• The , highlighting music and fashion icon Grace Jones, Oct. 10-14 at various locations throughout ���ϲ�����.
• The School of Art’s Visiting Artist Lecture series, with illustrator , on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 6:30 p.m. in Shemin Auditorium.
• The Department of Drama’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “,” Oct. 12-21 at ���ϲ����� Stage.

More information is at .

Yasuo Kuniyoshi’s “Forbidden Fruit” (1950)

���ϲ����� Art Galleries
SUArt Galleries has six exhibitions going on during NAHM, between Main Campus and Lubin House in New York City.

Two of the exhibitions—“” and “”—have been the subject of gallery talks by David Prince, associate director and curator of collections of SUArt Galleries, and Romita Ray, associate professor of art, as well as chair of art and music histories in A&S.

The Kuniyoshi exhibition, curated by Prince, examines the artist’s life and career through his 1950 painting, “Forbidden Fruit,” which is housed in the University’s permanent art collection. Kuniyoshi’s lifelong desire to become naturalized was thwarted by a perfect storm of arcane government regulations, World War II and the Cold War, Prince says.

A regular presenter in the Galleries’ Lunchtime Lecture series, Prince also will discuss “Rodin and ���ϲ�����” on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 12:15 p.m. at SUArt Galleries. He will consider sculptures by several noted students of Rodin, including Ivan Meštrović, whom Rodin called the “greatest phenomenon amongst sculptors.”

A sculptor-in-residence and professor of sculpture at ���ϲ����� from 1947 to 1955,��Meštrović has inspired students and scholars alike. His��work in the University’s art collection and papers in the ���ϲ����� Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) drew��Fulbright Scholar Dalibor Prancevic from Croatia to campus earlier this year. They also shaped a prize-winning Honors Capstone project by Tammy Hong ’18.

���ϲ����� Libraries
Located on the sixth floor of Bird Library, the SCRC presents “.” The nine-month exhibition, which began last month, commemorates the 30th anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The incident claimed the lives of 270 people from 21 countries, including 35 ���ϲ����� students returning home from a semester abroad.“Whether through scholarship, public advocacy, art or physical memorials, we ensure their lives and the lessons learned from their deaths are not forgotten,” says Pan Am 103 Archivist and Assistant University Archivist Vanessa St.Oegger-Menn. “The exhibition documents not only the terrorist act itself, but also the lives of those lost and the ways in which they are remembered.”Adds Vivian May, “No matter who you are or where you live, there are many ways to celebrate the arts and humanities. ���ϲ����� is committed to cultivating collaboration, active exchange and a sustained dialogue among our students, faculty and community partners. NAHM is one way we do this.”

NAHM is a coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of culture in the United States. Americans for the Arts launched the event 30 years ago, but reestablished it in 1993 as a month-long celebration.

NAHM focuses on the arts at local, state, and national levels; encourages individuals and organizations to participate in the arts; allows governments and businesses to show their support of the arts; and raises public awareness about the role the arts and humanities play in our communities and lives. More information is at .

Trevor Noah

Comedian and author Trevor Noah, host of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning on Comedy Central, will visit ���ϲ����� in late January 2019 as a special guest of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, in collaboration with the University Lectures series.

���ϲ�����’s 34th annual —the largest event of its kind in the country—will take place on Sunday, Jan. 27, in the Carrier Dome. Noah will take part in an on-stage conversation, talking about his acclaimed memoir, (Random House, 2016), reflecting on the life and legacy of Dr. King, and discussing the global impact of the civil rights movement. Further details of the event will be announced later in the fall.

“Not only is Trevor Noah a popular television personality and the most successful comedian in South African history, his recent and renowned text has proven to be informative, formative and deeply transformative,” says the Rev. Brian E. Konkol, dean of Hendricks Chapel and co-chair of the 2019 MLK Celebration. “By showing the connections among Soweto, Selma and ���ϲ����� at our 2019 MLK Celebration, we will recognize the global impact of the civil rights movement and consider how we, too, may receive the freedom to flourish as citizens of the world.”

“Born a Crime” is the selected book for the 2018-19 ���ϲ����� Reads Program, a shared reading initiative coordinated by the Provost’s Office that is part of the First-Year Experience for all new SU students. The initiative aims to engage students in a shared experience that explores themes of identity, belonging, diversity, inclusion, and health and wellness.

In the book, Noah, who was born in South Africa to a black South African mother and a white European father, recounts his childhood growing up during the last days of apartheid and the opportunities and adventures with his mother in the period that followed.

The University provided more than 3,900 special softcover copies and e-copies of the book to all incoming first-year and transfer students in June. The students were instructed to read “Born a Crime” over the summer. After their arrival on campus for the fall semester, the students will participate in a series of five-week discussion sessions—co-led by a student peer facilitator and a faculty, staff or graduate student lead facilitator—intended to enhance the students’ understanding of the topics addressed in the book and engage them in broader contexts about identity, resiliency, inclusion and community.

Free copies of “Born a Crime” have also been made available through the SU Bookstore to current students, faculty and staff with a valid SUID, and individuals have been encouraged to host their own discussions or book club readings about the book.

“Trevor Noah’s book provides a foundation for the critical topics of identity, belonging and inclusion that all college students can and should examine,” says Amanda G. Nicholson, assistant provost, dean of student success and co-chair of the First-Year Experience Initiative. “To hear from him firsthand will be a truly meaningful opportunity to explore difficult themes from a global perspective and continue our shared campus conversation through the First-Year Experience around those themes.”

“We are thrilled to host Trevor Noah, who will share his experiences and reflections with our students and the entire campus community as we continue to build a more welcoming, inclusive community,” says Kira Kristal Reed, provost faculty fellow, associate professor in the Whitman School and co-chair of the First-Year Experience Initiative. “His appearance will enhance the First-Year Experience as we engage in a shared reading and discussions, and wellness opportunities throughout the fall, and conclude with the MLK celebration.”

Noah is the most successful comedian in Africa. He joined “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in 2014 as a contributor and took over as host of the show in September 2015, upon Stewart’s retirement.

He was named one of “The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media” by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and 2018, and Time magazine named him to its Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world,” for 2018.

Born in Johannesburg in 1984, Noah began his career as a comedian, presenter and actor in his native South Africa in 2002. He held several television hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corp. and performed in stand-up comedy tours across South Africa. He was creator and host of “Tonight with Trevor Noah” from 2010 until 2011, when he relocated to the United States.

On Jan. 6, 2012, Noah became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on “The Tonight Show.” In May 2013, he had the same distinction appearing on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

Noah was the subject of the award-winning 2012 documentary “You Laugh But It’s True,” which tells the story of his remarkable career in post-apartheid South Africa. That same year, he starred in the one-man comedy show “Trevor Noah: The Racist,” which was based on his similarly titled South African special, “That’s Racist.” His Showtime comedy special “Trevor Noah: African American” premiered in 2013. He recorded the stand-up special “Trevor Noah: Lost in Translation” for Comedy Central in 2015 and debuted his ninth comedy special, “Trevor Noah: Afraid of the Dark,” on Netflix in 2017.

In his time as host of “The Daily Show,” both he and the program have won numerous honors, including a Writers Guild of America Award, a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award, a GLAAD Media Award, an MTV Movie & TV Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, all in 2017. “The Daily Show” has been nominated for several awards in 2018, including three Primetime Emmys: for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Interactive Program and Outstanding Short Form Variety Series; the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast on NBC on Sept. 17.

In 2016, Noah released “Born a Crime,” his first book, which was an immediate New York Times bestseller. Additionally, his performance on the “ was Audible’s highest rated audiobook of 2016, and it has remained one of the top selling titles on Audible since its release. It was also nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, one for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author and another for Outstanding Literary Work in the Biography/Auto-Biography category.

The book is a collection of personal stories about growing up in South Africa during the last gasps of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that came with its demise. Already known for his incisive social and political commentary, Noah with the book turns his focus inward, giving readers an intimate look at the world that shaped him.

He shares true stories, sometimes dark, occasionally bizarre, frequently tender, and often hilarious: from subsisting on caterpillars during months of extreme poverty to making comically hapless attempts at teenage romance to the occasion he was thrown in jail to the time he was tossed from a speeding car driven by murderous gangsters.

ABOUT THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE

For the 2018-19 academic year, the First-Year Experience is focused on three core areas: anchor courses within each school or college; a shared reading and discussion experience with peers, faculty and staff; and health and wellness activities. These three areas aim to build community, improve cross-cultural skills and increase practices of healthy habits for first-year and transfer students. With the selection of Trevor Noah’s memoir, “Born a Crime,” the shared reading is meant for new students—and the entire University community—to engage in a common experience and explore themes of identity, belonging, wellness, diversity and inclusion.

ABOUT THE MLK CELEBRATION

���ϲ�����’s celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the largest event of its kind on a college campus. The 34thannual event will take place on Sunday, Jan. 27, in the Carrier Dome. The event got its start before Congress acted to recognize Dr. King with a federal holiday honoring his memory and accomplishments. ���ϲ�����’s celebration includes student and community entertainment, dinner and presentation of the Unsung Hero Awards, which recognize local community members who have championed the plight of those in need.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY LECTURES

The is ���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series, with a long and distinguished history of showcasing individuals of exceptional accomplishment who share their talents, experiences and perspectives for the enjoyment of SU students/faculty/staff and the Central New York community. Now entering its 18th year, the cross-disciplinary series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51.

The event—co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor WAER—is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at the lecture.

Rick Fedrizzi

Fedrizzi is chairman and CEO of the (IWBI). Previously, he was the founding chair and CEO of the (USGBC) and CEO of Green Business Certification Inc.

During his tenure with the USGBC, , or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, became the world’s most widely used green building rating system.

���ϲ����� has several buildings that have received LEED certification: ���ϲ����� Center of Excellence (Platinum), Ernie Davis Hall (Gold), Dineen Hall (Gold), Bowne Hall (Certified), the Carmelo K. Anthony Center (Certified) and the Green Data Center (Certified). The University is working toward certification for two other projects: (seeking Certified status) and the (seeking Gold status).

Fedrizzi co-founded USGBC while serving as the environmental marketing officer at UTC’s Carrier Corp., where he served for more than 25 years.��A ���ϲ����� native, he received an M.B.A. from ���ϲ����� in 1987 and was recipient of an Arents Award for Excellence in Sustainability Innovation in 2011.

He brought his global environmental track record and keen business insight to IWBI in November 2016. With more than 100 million square feet registered and certified in more than 30 countries, IWBI’s evidence-based is the premier system for measuring and monitoring real estate features that impact health and well-being and third-party certifying their successful achievement.

Fedrizzi serves on numerous boards and advisory councils, including the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; View Inc.; and Global Green.

His book (Disruption Books, 2015) won a prestigious EPPY award for Public Affairs in 2015.

Fedrizzi is the last of eight speakers in the 2017-18 University Lectures series, following documentarian/journalist/news anchor Soledad O’Brien; NPR “Morning Edition” anchor David Greene; comedian and “The Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj; historian and “The Secret History of Wonder Woman” author Jill Lepore; Penn Engineering Dean Vijay Kumar; MSNBC host/commentator Joy-Ann Reid; and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Maureen Dowd

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and best-selling author will speak for the on Friday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

The event—co-sponsored by the Lubin Society, with media sponsor WAER—is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at the lecture.

described Dowd as “the most dangerous columnist in America.” Her columns appear every Sunday in The Times. is her most recent. In 1999, she won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary.

She is also a noted author. Her first book, (Penguin, 2004) covered the presidency and personality of George W. Bush. Dowd then switched from presidential politics to sexual politics in another best seller, (Penguin, 2005).

In her most recent book, (Grand Central Publishing, 2016), Dowd headed back to politics as a subject, examining “the psychologies and pathologies in one of the nastiest and most significant battles of the sexes ever,” the 2016 presidential campaign.

Known for her witty, incisive and often acerbic portraits of the powerful, Dowd began her journalism career in 1974 as an editorial assistant for the Washington Star, where she later became a sports columnist, metropolitan reporter and feature writer. When the Star closed, she went to TIME magazine. She joined The New York Times as a metropolitan reporter in 1983, went on to serve as a correspondent in the paper’s Washington bureau in 1986 and became a columnist on The Times Op-Ed page in 1995. In 2014, she also became a writer for The Times Magazine.

Dowd has covered seven presidential campaigns; served as The Times’ White House correspondent; and written “On Washington,” a column for The Times Magazine. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for national reporting in 1992 and was named one of Glamour’s Women of the Year for 1996.

In addition to The New York Times, Dowd has written for GQ, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Mademoiselle and Sports Illustrated, among other publications.

Dowd is the third of four University Lectures speakers in the Spring 2018 semester. The final guest, International WELL Building Institute Chairman and CEO G’87, will speak on April 24. Previously, the University Lectures hosted Penn Engineering Dean Vijay Kumar on Feb. 20 and MSNBC host/commentator Joy-Ann Reid on April 3.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Reid will be engaged in an on-stage conversation with Dean Lorraine Branham from the and will take questions from the audience. The event is free and open to the public.

Her appearance is co-sponsored by the Newhouse School, with media sponsor . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at the lecture.

In addition to her journalistic responsibilities, Reid teaches the Newhouse School course Race, Gender and Media at SU’s in Manhattan. And she is very popular on social media with her (1.17 million followers), and accounts.

Reid is author of (William Morrow/Harper Collins, 2015) and co-editor with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne of (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Prior to her current responsibilities, Reid was host of “The Reid Report,” a daily program that offered her distinctive analysis and insight on the day’s news. Before that, she was managing editor of , a daily online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences. Reid joined theGrio.com with experience as a freelance columnist for the Miami Herald and as editor of the political blog “The Reid Report.” She is a former talk radio producer and host for Radio One as well as an online news editor for the NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miramar, Florida.

Reid served as the Florida deputy communications director for the 527 “America Coming Together” initiative during the 2004 presidential campaign and was a press aide in the final stretch of President Barack Obama’s Florida campaign in 2008.

Reid is the first of three University Lectures speakers in the month of April. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist will appear on April 13, and International WELL Building Institute Chairman and CEO G’87 will speak on April 24.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

About ���ϲ�����

���ϲ����� is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, ���ϲ����� offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of ���ϲ����� is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Joy-Ann Reid

The University Lectures will welcome MSNBC political analyst and host of “AM Joy” Joy-Ann Reid as a new addition to the 2017-18 series. She will speak on Tuesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Previously, aerial robotics expert , dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science, spoke on Feb. 20. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist will appear on April 13, and International WELL Building Institute Chairman and CEO G’87 rounds out the lineup on April 24.

Reid’s appearance is co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at each lecture.

In addition to her work on MSNBC, including hosting �� Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon ET, Reid is a columnist for The Daily Beast and teaches the Newhouse School course Race, Gender and Media at SU’s in Manhattan.

She is also author of (William Morrow/Harper Collins, 2015) and co-editor with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne of (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Reid is very active on social media with popular (1.12 million followers), and accounts.

Prior to her current responsibilities, Reid was host of “The Reid Report,” a daily program that offered her distinctive analysis and insight on the day’s news. Before that, she was managing editor of , a daily online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences. Reid joined theGrio.com with experience as a freelance columnist for the Miami Herald and as editor of the political blog “The Reid Report.” She is a former talk radio producer and host for Radio One as well as an online news editor for the NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miramar, Florida.

Reid served as the Florida deputy communications director for the 527 “America Coming Together” initiative during the 2004 presidential campaign and was a press aide in the final stretch of President Barack Obama’s Florida campaign in 2008.

She is a 1991 graduate of Harvard University and a 2003 Knight Foundation fellow.

About ���ϲ�����

���ϲ����� is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, ���ϲ����� offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of ���ϲ����� is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Penn Engineering Dean Vijay Kumar with an aerial robot in his lab

His appearance is free and open to the public. The lecture is co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available. Requests for accessibility and accommodations may be made to the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

is recognized around the world for his groundbreaking work on the development of autonomous ground and aerial robots, on designing biologically inspired algorithms for collective behavior and on robot swarms.

In his 2015 TED Talk, he describes his team’s Precision Farming project, in which swarms of robots map, reconstruct and analyze every plant and piece of fruit in an orchard, providing vital information to farmers that can help improve yields and make water management smarter.

In an earlier TED Talk, from 2012, he concludes his presentation with a recorded demonstration of nine flying robots performing the James Bond theme on six different instruments. Kumar is a huge James Bond fan, and he credits the character “Q” for motivating him to pursue a career in technology. This particular video has had more than 4.36 million viewings.

Kumar was named dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science in 2015. He joined the Penn Engineering faculty in 1987 and prior to his current position served as UPS Foundation Professor with appointments in the departments of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, computer and information science and electrical and systems engineering. As deputy dean for education in 2008-12, he was instrumental in the creation of several innovative master’s degree programs.

Earlier, he served as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (2005-08), deputy dean for research (2000-04) and director of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception, or GRASP, Laboratory, a multidisciplinary robotics and perception lab (1998-2004). During a scholarly leave in 2012-14, he served in the White House as assistant director for robotics and cyber physical systems in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Kumar has authored more than 400 refereed articles and papers and more than 20 books and book chapters.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Kumar is recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 1991 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator award; the 1996 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (University of Pennsylvania); the 1997 Freudenstein Award for significant accomplishments in mechanisms and robotics; the 2012 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Award; the 2012 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Service Award; a 2012 World Technology Network Award; a 2013 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough award; a 2014 Engelberger Robotics Award; and the 2017 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation.

The University Lectures series continues with Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist on April 13 and International WELL Building Institute Chairman and CEO on April 24.

About ���ϲ�����

Founded��in 1870, ���ϲ����� is a private international research university��dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching��excellence,��rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11��academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence��in the liberal arts, sciences and��professional disciplines that prepares��students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly��changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main��campus and��extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three��continents. ���ϲ�����’s student body is among the most diverse for an��institution of its��kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent��all 50 states and more than 100 countries. ���ϲ����� also has a long legacy of��supporting veterans and is home to��the nationally recognized Institute for��Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the��U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their��families.

The spring series features an internationally known expert in aerial robotics, a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times and a renowned evangelist for construction and operation practices of buildings that advance human health and well-being.

The first speaker is Vijay Kumar on Feb. 20, followed by Maureen Dowd on April 13 and Rick Fedrizzi on April 24. All three events are free and will take place in Hendricks Chapel. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at each lecture.

The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives.

Appearing this spring

Vijay Kumar
Tuesday, Feb. 20
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Vijay Kumar

is a renowned roboticist and the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering with appointments in the departments of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, computer and information science, and electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

His research interests are in robotics, specifically multi-robot systems, and micro aerial vehicles.

Kumar’s 2012 TED Talk, has had more than 4.3 million views; it concludes with a recorded demonstration of nine flying robots performing the James Bond theme on six different instruments. Kumar is a huge James Bond fan, and he credits the character “Q” for motivating him to pursue a career in technology.

In another TED Talk, from 2015, Kumar discusses his lab’s work creating autonomous small robots constructed with smartphones, an aerial robot with an eagle-like claw and very small aerial robots inspired by honeybees. He goes on to describe his team’s Precision Farming project, in which swarms of robots map, reconstruct and analyze every plant and piece of fruit in an orchard, providing vital information to farmers that can help improve yields and make water management smarter.

Kumar is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2003), a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (2005) and a member of the National Academy of Engineering (2013).

He is recipient of the 1991 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator award; the 1996 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (University of Pennsylvania); the 1997 Freudenstein Award for significant accomplishments in mechanisms and robotics; the 2012 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Award; the 2012 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Service Award; a 2012 World Technology Network Award; a 2013 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough award; a 2014 Engelberger Robotics Award; and the 2017 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation.

Since joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1987, Kumar has served Penn Engineering in many capacities, including deputy dean for research; deputy dean for education; chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics; and director of the GRASP Laboratory, a multidisciplinary robotics and perception laboratory.

In 2012-13, Kumar served as the assistant director of robotics and cyber physical systems at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Kumar’s visit is co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor WAER.

Maureen Dowd
Friday, April 13
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Maureen Dowd

is recipient of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary and a best-selling author.

Known for her witty, incisive and often acerbic portraits of the powerful, Dowd began her journalism career in 1974 as an editorial assistant for The Washington Star, where she later became a sports columnist, metropolitan reporter and feature writer. When The Star closed, she went to TIME magazine. She joined The New York Times as a metropolitan reporter in 1983, went on to serve as a correspondent in the paper’s Washington bureau in 1986 and became a columnist on The Times Op-Ed page in 1995; her column appears Sundays. In 2014, she also became a writer for The Times Magazine.

Dowd has covered seven presidential campaigns, served as The Times’ White House correspondent and written “On Washington,” a column for The Times Magazine. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for national reporting in 1992 and was named one of Glamour’s Women of the Year for 1996.

In the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, G.P. Putnam published her first book, which covered the presidency and personality of George W. Bush. After “Bushworld” quickly climbed the best-seller list, Dowd switched from presidential politics to sexual politics in another best seller, (Penguin, 2005).

In her most recent book, (Grand Central Publishing, 2016), Dowd “traces the psychologies and pathologies in one of the nastiest and most significant battles of the sexes ever,” the 2016 presidential campaign.

In addition to The New York Times, Dowd has written for GQ, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Mademoiselle and Sports Illustrated, among other publications.

Dowd’s visit is co-sponsored by the Lubin Society, with media sponsor WAER.

Rick Fedrizzi
Tuesday, April 24
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Rick Fedrizzi

G’87 joined the (IWBI) as chairman and CEO in November 2016, bringing his global environmental track record and keen business insight to IWBI’s work to advance human health through better buildings and communities.

With more than 100 million square feet registered and certified in over 30 countries, IWBI’s evidence-based is the premier system for measuring and monitoring real estate features that impact health and well-being and third-party certifying their successful achievement.

Fedrizzi is also founding chair of the (USGBC) and former CEO of both USGBC and of Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), nonprofit organizations that promote high-performing buildings and communities. During his tenure, , or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, became the world’s most widely used green building rating system.

���ϲ����� has several buildings that have received LEED certification: ���ϲ����� Center of Excellence (Platinum), Ernie Davis Hall (Gold), Dineen Hall (Gold), Bowne Hall (Certified), the Carmelo K. Anthony Center (Certified) and the Green Data Center (Certified). The University is working toward certification for two other projects: (seeking Certified status) and the (seeking Gold status).

Fedrizzi co-founded USGBC while serving as the environmental marketing officer at UTC’s Carrier Corp., where he served for more than 25 years.��A ���ϲ����� native, he received an M.B.A. from ���ϲ����� in 1987 and was recipient of an Arents Award for Excellence in Sustainability Innovation in 2011.

He serves on numerous boards and advisory councils, including the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; View, Inc.; and Global Green.

His book (Disruption Books, 2015) won a prestigious EPPY award for Public Affairs in 2015.

Fedrizzi’s visit is co-sponsored by the , with media sponsor WAER.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

About ���ϲ�����

Founded��in 1870, ���ϲ����� is a private international research university��dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching��excellence,��rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11��academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence��in the liberal arts, sciences and��professional disciplines that prepares��students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly��changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main��campus and��extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three��continents. ���ϲ�����’s student body is among the most diverse for an��institution of its��kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent��all 50 states and more than 100 countries. ���ϲ����� also has a long legacy of��supporting veterans and is home to��the nationally recognized Institute for��Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the��U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their��families.

Lepore’s lecture is free and is co-sponsored by the . American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available. Requests for accessibility and accommodations may be made to the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

Lepore is the at Harvard University. She teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, humanistic inquiry and American history. Much of her scholarship explores absences and asymmetries in the historical record, with a particular emphasis on the histories and technologies of evidence and of privacy. In her writing, Lepore explores topics involving American history, law, literature and politics.

Among her many books are “The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity” (Knopf, 1998), winner of the Bancroft Prize; “New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan” (Knopf, 2005), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history; “The Story of America: Essays on Origins” (Princeton, 2012), which was short-listed for the PEN��Literary Award for the Art of the Essay; and “Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin” (Knopf, 2013), TIME’s Best Nonfiction Book of the Year and a finalist for the National Book Award.

Her most recent book is (Knopf, 2016). She is currently working on a history of the United States.

Lepore is also well known for her articles in The New Yorker. Among her most recent essays:

• : Our mortuary conventions reveal a lot about our relation to the past.”
• : The fight for the First Amendment, on campuses and football fields, from the sixties to today.”
• : That ‘Wonder Woman,’ the film, has at last been made is a relief. And it’s a relief to watch a woman fight back.”
• : What to make of our new literature of radical pessimism.”
• : How arguments about nuclear weapons shaped the debate over global warming.”

In addition to The New Yorker, Lepore’s essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Journal of American History, Foreign Affairs, the Yale Law Journal, American Scholar and the American Quarterly. They have been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, and have also been widely anthologized, including in collections of the best legal writing and the best technology writing.

In 2014, Lepore was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the American Philosophical Society. She is a past president of the Society of American Historians and a former commissioner of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Lepore is the fourth speaker in the 2017-18 University Lectures season, following award-winning journalist/documentarian/news anchor Soledad O’Brien on Sept. 14, NPR “Morning Edition” anchor David Greene on Oct. 3, and comedian and “The Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj on Oct. 27. The spring lineup of speakers will be announced later this fall.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

The event is co-sponsored by the , the ��and the with the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Planning Committee.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available. Requests for accessibility and accommodations may be made to the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

Minhaj is an addition to the previously announced fall University Lectures lineup, which includes journalist/documentarian/news anchor on Sept. 14; , co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Oct. 3; and noted historian/author on Nov. 9.

Minhaj was Jon Stewart’s last hire when he joined “The Daily Show” as a full-time correspondent in November 2014. That same year, he was invited to be a part of the Sundance Institute’s prestigious , where he developed his solo show,�� The show then debuted off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre in winter 2015 to critical acclaim. His comedy special debuted on Netflix in May 2017.

Prior to his critically acclaimed role at the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Minhaj drew rave reviews for his presentation at the in June 2016. He was the keynote speaker at the 2013 Social Good Summit in New York City, speaking alongside such notables as Al Gore, JJ Abrams and Will.I.Am, and he had the honor of being chosen as a “New Face” at the 2014 Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.

Minhaj is host of the documentary series Financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and filmed in South Africa, India and the United States, the series highlights economic problems throughout the world through the lens of stand-up comedians.

He also recently filmed the feature films “Rough Night” alongside Scarlett Johansson, Ty Burrell and Kate McKinnon, and mystery/comedy “Most Likely to Murder” with Rachel Bloom and Adam Pally.

David Greene (Photo by David Gilkey NPR)

The free event is co-sponsored by the Maxwell School, with additional support by media partner WAER.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available. Requests for accessibility and accommodations may be made to the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

For two years prior to taking on his current responsibilities with NPR in 2012, Greene was an NPR foreign correspondent based in Moscow, covering the region from Ukraine and the Baltics east to Siberia. During that time, he brought listeners stories as wide ranging as Chernobyl 25 years later and Beatles-singing Russian Babushkas. He spent a month in Libya reporting riveting stories in the most difficult of circumstances as NATO bombs fell on Tripoli; he was honored with the 2011 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize from WBUR and Boston University for that coverage of the Arab Spring.

Greene’s voice first became familiar to NPR listeners during his four years covering the White House during the Bush administration. To report on former President George W. Bush’s second term, Greene spent hours in NPR’s spacious booth in the basement of the West Wing (it’s about the size of an average broom closet). He also spent time trekking across five continents, reporting on White House visits to Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Rwanda, Uruguay and, of course, Crawford, Texas.

Greene was an integral part of NPR’s coverage of the historic 2008 election, covering Hillary Clinton’s campaign from start to finish and focusing on how racial attitudes were playing into voters’ decisions. The White House Correspondents Association took special note of Greene’s report on a speech by then-candidate Barack Obama, addressing the nation’s racial divide. Greene was presented with the association’s 2008 Merriman Smith award for deadline coverage of the presidency.

After President Obama took office, Greene kept one eye trained on the White House and the other eye on the road. He spent three months driving across America—with a recorder, camera and lots of caffeine—to learn how the recession was touching Americans during Obama’s first 100 days in office. The series was titled “100 Days: On the Road in Troubled Times.”

Before joining NPR in 2005, Greene spent nearly seven years as a newspaper reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He covered the White House during the Bush administration’s first term and wrote about an array of other topics for the paper: why Oklahomans love the sport of cockfighting, why two Amish men in Pennsylvania were caught trafficking methamphetamine and how one woman brought Christmas back to a small town in Maryland.

Greene is the second speaker in the 2017-18 University Lectures season. Award-winning journalist/documentarian/news anchor Soledad O’Brien spoke Sept. 14 in conjunction with the University’s Coming Back Together reunion of African American and Latino alumni. Also scheduled this semester is historian and The New Yorker contributor Jill Lepore, whose book “The Secret History of Wonder Woman” (Knopf, 2014) has received critical and public acclaim; Lepore will be speaking Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The spring lineup of speakers will be announced later this fall.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu. For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

The University Lectures series will host three prominent speakers this fall: an award-winning journalist, documentarian and network news anchor; the co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition;” and a celebrated historian and author of “The Secret History of Wonder Woman.”

The 17^th season of ���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series begins Sept. 14 with Soledad O’Brien and continues Oct. 3 with David Greene, followed Nov. 9 by Jill Lepore.

Tickets for O’Brien’s lecture in the Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium are beginning Monday, Aug. 28, and are $5 for SU-SUNY-ESF students with I.D., $10 for the public and free to Coming Back Together registrants. Greene’s and Lepore’s lectures will be in Hendricks Chapel and are free.

The spring lineup of speakers is still being finalized and will be announced in late fall.

The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The cross-disciplinary series brings to ���ϲ����� notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at each lecture.

Appearing this fall

Soledad O’Brien
Thursday, Sept. 14
6:30 p.m., Goldstein Auditorium, Schine Student Center
as part of

O’Brien has established herself as one of the most recognized names in broadcasting by telling the stories behind the most important issues, people and events of the day. In 2013, O’Brien launched (SMG), a multi-platform media production and distribution company dedicated to uncovering and producing empowering stories that take a challenging look at the often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, poverty and opportunity through personal narratives.

O’Brien was the originator of the highly successful CNN documentary series “Black in America” and “Latino in America.” Through SMG, O’Brien produces additional programming for CNN as well as for Al Jazeera America in the form of documentaries and feature stories. She also is a correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and hosts specials for the National Geographic Channel.

Earlier in her career, O’Brien co-anchored “Weekend Today”��on NBC and contributed segments to the “Today” show and “NBC Nightly News.” In 2003, she joined CNN, where she anchored the morning news program. O’Brien’s coverage of race issues has won her two Emmy Awards, and she earned a third for her reporting on the 2012 presidential election. Her coverage of Hurricane Katrina for CNN earned her and the network a George Foster Peabody Award. She also won a Peabody for her coverage of the BP Gulf Coast oil spill, and her reporting on the Southeast Asia tsunami helped CNN win an Alfred I. DuPont Award.

O’Brien was named journalist of the year in 2010 by the National Association of Black Journalists and was one of Newsweek’s “10 People who Make America Great”��in 2006. In 2013, Harvard University, her alma mater, named O’Brien a Distinguished Fellow. That same year, she was also appointed to the board of directors of the Foundation for the National Archives.

O’Brien’s visit is sponsored in cooperation with ���ϲ�����’s Office of Program Development.

David Greene
Tuesday, Oct. 3
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Greene is host of NPR’s “Morning Edition”—as well as NPR’s morning news podcast, “Up First”—with Steve Inskeep and Rachel Martin. For two years prior to taking on his current role in 2012, Greene was an NPR foreign correspondent based in Moscow, covering the region from Ukraine and the Baltics east to Siberia. During that time, he brought listeners stories as wide ranging as Chernobyl 25 years later and Beatles-singing Russian babushkas. He spent a month in Libya reporting riveting stories in the most difficult of circumstances as NATO bombs fell on Tripoli; he was honored with the 2011 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize from WBUR and Boston University for that coverage of the Arab Spring.

Greene’s voice became familiar to NPR listeners from his four years covering the White House. To report on former President George W. Bush’s second term, Greene spent hours in NPR’s spacious booth in the basement of the West Wing (it’s about the size of an average broom closet). He also spent time trekking across five continents, reporting on White House visits to Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Rwanda, Uruguay and Crawford, Texas.

Greene was an integral part of NPR’s coverage of the 2008 election, covering Hillary Clinton’s campaign from start to finish and focusing on how racial attitudes were playing into voters’ decisions. The White House Correspondents Association took special note of Greene’s report on a speech by then-candidate Barack Obama, addressing the nation’s racial divide. Greene was presented with the association’s 2008 Merriman Smith award for deadline coverage of the presidency.

After President Obama took office, Greene kept one eye trained on the White House and the other eye on the road. He spent three months driving across America to learn how the recession was touching Americans during Obama’s first 100 days in office. The series was titled “100 Days: On the Road in Troubled Times.”

Before joining NPR in 2005, Greene spent nearly seven years as a newspaper reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He covered the White House during the Bush administration’s first term and wrote about an array of other topics for the paper: why Oklahomans love the sport of cockfighting, why two Amish men in Pennsylvania were caught trafficking methamphetamine and how one woman brought Christmas back to a small town in Maryland.

Greene’s visit is sponsored in cooperation with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Jill Lepore
Thursday, Nov. 9
7:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel

Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at the New Yorker. Among her publications is the New York Times Best Seller “The Secret History of Wonder Woman” (Knopf, 2014), winner of the 2015 American History Book Prize. Her most recent book is “Joe Gould’s Teeth” (Knopf, 2016). She is currently writing a history of the United States.

Lepore has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2005, writing about American history, law, literature and politics. Three of her books derive from her New Yorker essays: “The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death” (Knopf, 2012), a finalist for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction; “The Story of America: Essays on Origins” (Princeton, 2012), shortlisted for the PEN Literary Award for the Art of the Essay; and “The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle for American History” (Princeton, 2010), a Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.

��Her earlier work includes a trilogy of books that together constitute a political history of early America: “The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity” (Knopf, 1998), winner of the Bancroft Prize, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award and the Berkshire Prize; “New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan” (Knopf, 2005), winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award for the best nonfiction book on race and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and “Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin” (Knopf, 2013), TIME’s Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, winner of the Mark Lynton History Prize and a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

In addition to The New Yorker, Lepore’s essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Journal of American History, Foreign Affairs, the Yale Law Journal, American Scholar and the American Quarterly. They have been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, and have also been widely anthologized, including in collections of the best legal writing and the best technology writing.

Lepore joined Harvard’s history department in 2003 and was chair of the history and literature program in 2005-10, 2012 and 2014. In 2012, she was named Harvard College Professor, a recognition of distinction in undergraduate teaching. Since 2015, she has been an affiliated faculty member at the Harvard Law School. Much of Lepore’s scholarship explores absences and asymmetries of evidence in the historical record, with a particular emphasis on the histories and technologies of evidence and of privacy. A prize-winning professor, she teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, the humanities and American political history.

In 2014, Lepore was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the American Philosophical Society. She is a past president of the Society of American Historians and a former commissioner of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

��Lepore’s visit is sponsored in cooperation with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures and follow on .

Her presentation is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be available. Nazario’s visit is co-sponsored by the and .

Nazario has been named among the most influential Latinos by Hispanic Business Magazine and a “trendsetter” by Hispanic Magazine. In 2012, Columbia Journalism Review named her one of the

A fluent Spanish speaker of Jewish ancestry whose personal history includes living in Argentina during the so-called “dirty war,” Nazario is a passionate and dynamic speaker. Through her speaking and writing, she has drawn widespread attention to the critical social issues of immigration, racial discrimination, hunger and drug addiction, as well as U.S. foreign policy.

A reporter for more than 20 years, Nazario is best known for “Enrique’s Journey,” her series of reports for The Los Angeles Times following a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the United States. It earned the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the George Polk Award for International Reporting, among other honors. In book form (Random House, 2006), “Enrique’s Journey” later became a national bestseller. A Young Adult version was published in 2013, aimed at middle schoolers and reluctant readers in high school. She is now at work on her second book.

Nazario returned to Honduras in 2014, when a national crisis erupted over the detention of unaccompanied immigrant children at the border. In her piece for The New York Times, she detailed the violence causing the exodus and argued that it was a refugee crisis, not an immigration crisis. Her story garnered global attention and prompted an invitation to address the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Her humanitarian efforts led to Nazario’s selection as recipient of the Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award from the Advocates for Human Rights in 2015. She also was named a 2015 Champion for Children by First Focus and a 2015 Golden Door winner by HIAS Pennsylvania. In 2016, the American Immigration Council presented her with the American Heritage Award, and the��Houston Peace & Justice Center honored her with its National Peacemaker Award.

A graduate of Williams College, Nazario also has a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds honorary doctorates from Mount St. Mary’s College and Whittier College.

She has served on many boards, including the board of Kids In Need of Defense, a nonprofit launched by Microsoft and Angelina Jolie to provide pro bono attorneys to unaccompanied immigrant children.

Nazario is the sixth and final speaker in the 2016-17 University Lectures series. Earlier speakers were 3D printing pioneer Bre Pettis, award-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario, renowned landscape architect James Corner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri and Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton.

The University Lectures brings to campus notable individuals of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. ���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures , follow on , and join the University Lectures .

Stanton—named one of Time Magazine’s 30 Under 30 People Changing the World—is speaking for the series; his appearance is co-presented by . The event is Monday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

Stanton started the photography blog Humans of New York in late 2010 with the goal of photographing 10,000 New Yorkers and creating “an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants.” “Somewhere along the way, I began to interview my subjects in addition to photographing them,” Stanton says. “And alongside their portraits, I’d include quotes and short stories from their lives.” The response was remarkable.

The Humans of New York page now has more than 18 million fans, the companion account 6.5 million followers and the account 580,000 followers. In addition to providing a worldwide audience with daily glimpses into the lives of strangers on the streets of New York City, HONY has expanded over the past five years to feature stories from more than 20 different countries.

Stanton also branched out into publishing, with “Humans of New York” (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), which spent 45 weeks on The New York Times Bestsellers List, and the follow up “Humans of New York: Stories” (St. Martin’s Press, 2015).

Stanton grew up in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, and majored in history at the University of Georgia. After graduation, he traded bonds in Chicago. In 2010, he bought a camera and started shooting photos in downtown Chicago on weekends. When Stanton lost his job a short time later, he moved to New York City and decided to pursue photography full time, which led to the creation of HONY.

Stanton traveled to the Middle East in August 2014 to photograph people as a part of a 50-day trip through 10 countries under the auspices of the United Nations. The following summer, he traveled to Pakistan and Iran. At the conclusion of the Pakistan visit, Stanton crowd funded $2.3 million to help end bonded labor in the country. It was the first of several successful online funding efforts for HONY.

In January 2015, Stanton posted a photo of Vidal Chastanet, a teenager at Mott Hall Bridges Academy, located in a crime-plagued neighborhood in Brooklyn. Chastanet said his life had been most influenced by the principal at his school. Stanton spent the next two weeks profiling the school and the principal, Nadia Lopez.

At the same time, Stanton urged his followers to contribute to a crowdfunding campaign to send the school’s students on a visit to Harvard University to expand their ideas of their potential. The goal was $100,000. The total raised was $1.4 million. The effort caught the , and Stanton, Chastanet and Lopez were invited to meet President Obama in the Oval Office.

More recently, Stanton began posting stories and photos from the pediatrics department of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. And, as before, he launched a to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. The target was $1 million. To date, more than 104,000 people have donated $3.875 million.

Stanton is the second of three spring speakers for the University Lectures. The series concludes on April 5 with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sonia Nazario.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures , follow on , and join the University Lectures .

Lahiri is a professor of creative writing in the Lewis Center for the Art’s Program in Creative Writing at Princeton University. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for “Interpreter of Maladies” (Houghton Mifflin, 1999), her debut story collection that explores issues of love and identity among immigrants and cultural transplants.

Her novel “The Namesake” (Houghton Mifflin) was published in 2003 to great acclaim. It expands on the perplexities of the immigrant experience and the search for identity. The narrative follows the Gangulis, an Indian couple united in an arranged marriage, as they build their lives together in America. Unlike her husband, Mrs. Ganguli defies assimilation, while their son, Gogol, burdened with the seemingly absurd name of the long-dead Russian writer, awkwardly struggles to define himself. A film version of “The Namesake” (directed by Mira Nair) was released in 2007.

Lahiri’s book of short stories “Unaccustomed Earth” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) received the 2008 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award (the world’s largest prize for a short story collection) and was a finalist for the Story Prize. Her book “The Lowland” (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, 2013) won the DSC award for South Asian fiction and was a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award in fiction.

Her latest book, “In Other Words” (Knopf, 2016), which becomes available on Feb. 9, explores the often emotionally fraught links between identity and language.

With a compelling, universal fluency, Lahiri portrays the practical and emotional adversities of her diverse characters in elegant and direct prose. Whether describing hardships of a lonely Indian wife adapting to life in the United States or illuminating the secret pain of a young couple as they discuss their betrayals during a series of electrical blackouts, Lahiri’s bittersweet stories avoid sentimentality without abandoning compassion.

Born in London, Lahiri moved to Rhode Island as a young child with her Bengali parents. Although they have lived in the United States for more than 30 years, Lahiri observes that her parents retain “a sense of emotional exile,” and Lahiri herself grew up with “conflicting expectations … to be Indian by Indians and American by Americans.” Lahiri’s abilities to convey the oldest cultural conflicts in the most immediate fashion and to achieve the voices of many different characters are among the unique qualities that have captured the attention of a wide audience.

Alongside the Pulitzer Prize, Lahiri has won the PEN/Hemingway Award, an O. Henry Prize (for the short story “Interpreter of Maladies”), the Addison Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Vallombrosa Von Rezzori Prize and the Asian American Literary Award. She was also granted a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002 and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 2006.

Joining Lahiri in speaking this semester for the University Lectures are Humans of New York founder Brandon Stanton on Monday, March 6, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sonia Nazario on Wednesday, April 5.

The University Lectures was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures , follow on , and join the University Lectures .

The 16^th season of the will continue in the spring semester with two Pulitzer Prize-winning writers—Jhumpa Lahiri (“Interpreter of Maladies”) and Sonia Nazario (“Enrique’s Journey”)—and the creator of the immensely popular Facebook/Instagram sensation Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton.

���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series brings to campus notable individuals of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51. The University Lectures are open to all.

The presentations by Lahiri (Tuesday, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m.) and Nazario (Wednesday, April 5, 7:30 p.m.) are both free and will be held in Hendricks Chapel. Stanton’s lecture (Monday, March 6, 7:30 p.m.)—cosponsored by University Union—will take place in the Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium; this will be a ticketed event, with tickets going on sale in February; details will be announced at the beginning of the spring semester.

Jhumpa Lahiri

Lahiri was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for “Interpreter of Maladies” (Houghton Mifflin, 1999), her debut story collection exploring issues of love and identity among immigrants and cultural transplants. She delved further into the immigrant experience with “The Namesake” (Houghton Mifflin, 2003), which was made into a Fox Searchlight feature film in 2007.

Her book of short stories, “Unaccustomed Earth” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008), won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award (the world’s largest prize for a short story collection) and was a finalist for the Story Prize. Lahiri’s “The Lowland” (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, 2013) won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.

Her most recent work, “In Other Words” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016), explores the often emotionally fraught links between identity and language.

Her appearance is sponsored in cooperation with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Humanities Center.

Brandon Stanton

With more than 22.5 million followers on Facebook and Instagram, it’s no surprise that Stanton has been called an Internet phenomenon. In late 2010, he started the photography blog Humans of New York with the goal of photographing 10,000 New Yorkers and plotting their photos on a map. When he started incorporating short stories with his photos, Stanton soon found he had created something much bigger.

In 2013, Stanton wrote a companion book, “Humans of New York” (St. Martin’s Press), that spent 45 weeks on The New York Times Bestsellers List. In 2015, he followed up with “Humans of New York: Stories” (St. Martin’s Press).

In early 2015, Stanton’s post about a boy from an underprivileged Brooklyn middle school in a crime-plagued neighborhood led him to initiate an online crowdfunding campaign to raise $100,000 to send the school’s students on field trips to Harvard to expand their idea of their potential. HONY’s followers raised more than $1 million for Mott Hall Bridges Academy, and the inspirational story garnered international media attention and earned Stanton a meeting with President Obama.

Stanton’s appearance is sponsored in cooperation with University Union.

Sonia Nazario

Nazario is an award-winning journalist, author and prominent advocate/activist who has drawn widespread attention to such critical social issues as immigration, racial discrimination, hunger and drug addiction, as well as U.S. foreign policy.

A reporter for more than 20 years, she is best known for “Enrique’s Journey,” her series of reports for the Los Angeles Times following a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the United States. It earned the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the George Polk Award for International Reporting. In book form, it later became a national bestseller.

Nazario’s coverage for The New York Times of the detention of unaccompanied immigrant children at the Honduran border in 2014 garnered global attention and led to her addressing the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

She has served on many boards, including the board of Kids In Need of Defense, a nonprofit launched by Microsoft and Angelina Jolie to provide pro bono attorneys to unaccompanied immigrant children.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) are available at all lectures. For questions about accessibility or to request accommodations, contact the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures , follow on , and join the University Lectures .

James Corner’s acclaimed High Line in Manhattan

James Corner, founding partner and CEO of James Corner Field Operations—named one of the “10 Most Influential Designers” by TIME and one of the “Top 50 Innovators” by Fast Company—will speak for the on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

James Corner

His appearance is co-sponsored by the . The event is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be available. The SU Bookstore will have available for purchase at the chapel two of Corner’s books—“The High Line” (Phaidon, 2015) and “The Landscape Imagination” (Princeton, 2014)—which Corner will sign at the conclusion of his lecture.

Corner has devoted the past 30 years to advancing the field of landscape architecture and urbanism through his leadership on high-visibility, complex urban projects at Field Operations, as well as through teaching, public speaking and writing. His work is renowned for innovative and bold contemporary design across a variety of project types and scales, with a special commitment to the design of a vibrant and dynamic public realm in cities, informed and inspired by the ecologies of place, people and nature.

Among his notable design projects are Manhattan’s highly acclaimed ; London’s ; Santa Monica’s ; Chicago’s ; Cleveland’s ; Philadelphia’s ; Hong Kong’s Salisbury Gardens and ; and Shenzhen’s new city of , a new coastal city for three million people.

He is currently leading the design for San Francisco’s —a 14-acre new park connecting the Main Post of the Presidio to Crissy Field and the Bay—and the $700 million, two-mile-long .

Tonya Park in Santa Monica

Corner’s work has been recognized with the National Design Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture and the AA&D Black Pencil Award. His work has been published broadly and exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, the National Building Museum, the Royal Academy of Art in London and the Venice Biennale.

He is an emeritus professor of landscape architecture and urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and serves on the board of the Urban Design Forum.

Corner is the final fall speaker for the University Lectures. The spring semester lineup will be announced in early December.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

The 16^th season of ���ϲ�����’s premier speaker series begins Oct. 4 and continues through the fall and spring semesters; the spring lineup is being finalized and will be announced in the coming weeks.

All events take place at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel and are free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real Time (CART) are available at each lecture.

Appearing this fall will be:

Bre Pettis
Tuesday, Oct. 4

Bre Pettis

Pettis is passionate about providing the tools for individuals and organizations to create the world around them. He is a renowned figure in the field of do-it-yourself 3D printing and is recognized worldwide as a leading evangelist for personal manufacturing. Pettis co-founded MakerBot Industries in 2009 and was instrumental in building the first prototypes of MakerBot’s 3D printers. He was the company CEO through 2013 and its $403 million sale to Stratasys. Pettis also launched Bold Machines, a 3D product development workshop whose projects include “Margo,” the first-ever feature film made with 3D-printed characters; medical diagnostic devices for the developing world; and testing equipment for the early detection of oral cancer. Pettis has been named TIME’s Tech 40: The Most Influential Minds in Tech and to Foreign Policy’s annual list of global thinkers, and has been honored by Fast Company (Innovation by Design awardee) and The Economist (2013 Innovation Award), among other accolades. Sponsored in cooperation with the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the School of Information Studies.

Lynsey Addario
Tuesday, Oct. 18

Lynsey Addario

Addario is an American photojournalist who regularly works for The New York Times, National Geographic and TIME. She traveled to Afghanistan in 2000 to document life under the Taliban and has since covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Darfur, South Sudan and Congo. Her bestselling memoir, “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War” (Penguin Press, 2015), is the basis for a movie to be directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jennifer Lawrence. Addario is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and was part of the New York Times team that won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, for her photographs in “Talibanistan” (Sept 7, 2008). In 2015, American Photo Magazine named Addario one of the five most influential photographers of the past 25 years. Sponsored in cooperation with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

James Corner
Thursday, Nov. 10

James Corner

Corner is founder/director of Field Operations in New York City and an internationally recognized landscape architect noted for his innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism. His work is renowned for strong contemporary design across a variety of��project types and scales, from large urban districts and complex post-industrial sites to small, well-crafted design projects. Among his notable works are the widely acclaimed High Line in Manhattan, Freshkills Park on State Island, Seattle’s Central Waterfront, London’s South Park at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,�� Chicago’s Navy Pier and Tongva Park in Santa Monica, Calif. He has been honored with the National Design Award and the Daimler-Chrysler Award for Design Innovation. In addition to his practice, Corner is a professor of landscape architecture and urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. He is author of “The Landscape Imagination” (Princeton Architectural Press, 2014) and “Taking Measures Across the American Landscape” (Yale, 1996). Sponsored in cooperation with the School of Architecture.

The University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the series, write to��lectures@syr.edu.

For up-to-date information on the series, visit the University Lectures , follow on and join the University Lectures .

Sarah Koenig (Photo by Meredith Heuer)

Koenig’s lecture is free and open to the public. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with entry through the main (Quad-facing) doors only. A sizable crowd is expected, so it is recommended that attendees arrive early. No tickets are required, and seating is on a first-come, first-served, basis.

Overflow seating with closed-circuit coverage will be provided in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3; doors there open at 6 p.m. American Sign Language interpreters will be offered at Hendricks Chapel. Communication Access Real Time (CART) will be available at both locations. No audio or video recording is allowed.

Koenig’s appearance is presented in cooperation with the , the LGBT Resource Center, the , the Criminal Law Society of the and the .

After graduating from the University of Chicago in 1990, Koenig started out as a newspaper reporter, with her first reporting job at her weekly hometown paper, The East Hampton Star. She lived in Moscow for several years, working for ABC News and The New York Times. Upon her return to the United States, she landed at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, with stints as a crime reporter and then as a political reporter—the same beats she’d go on to cover at the Baltimore Sun.

In 2004, she switched media and moved to radio, as a producer of the hit public radio series “This American Life.” She has guest hosted “TAL” several times and has produced some of its most popular shows, most notably “Habeas Schmabeas,” a 2006 Peabody Award-winning episode about Guantánamo Bay.

In 2013, the “TAL” staff—led by Koenig and Julie Snyder, along with “TAL” host Ira Glass as editorial advisor—began to develop a new podcast-format investigative series that would tell one story over the course of a season: “Serial.”

“Serial” is credited with singlehandedly re-invigorating podcasting and introducing a broad audience to the possibilities of the format. The , launched in October 2014, set new records for podcast downloads and became the fastest podcast to reach five million downloads on iTunes (a figure it has now far exceeded). It followed the 20-year-old Baltimore murder case of teen Hae Min Lee and ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, who is serving a life sentence for her murder. In April 2015, the 12-episode season was honored with a , becoming the first podcast recipient in the award’s 74-year history.

The —launched in December 2015, with the final episode released on March 31—examines the case of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was taken prisoner by the Taliban and held for five years in Afghanistan before being released in a U.S. government-negotiated exchange for five Taliban leaders held at Guantánamo Bay.

The lineup for the 2016-17 University Lectures season will be announced later this spring.

Esther Gray

As the current 15^th season unfolded, work began on a behind-the-scenes transition to prepare for the departure of longtime series coordinator Esther Gray, who retired Dec. 31 after nearly 40 years at the University. For a good portion of her SU career, Gray had been intimately involved with the University Lectures, working closely from that first season with the series’ architect—Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Michael Flusche—and later with Senior Vice President for Human Capital Development Kal Alston and most recently with Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy.

Gray is perhaps best described as the University Lectures’ godmother, nurturing its growth while managing myriad details: from coordinating the speaker selection process to overseeing the budget, managing intricate event logistics, arranging speaker hosts, scheduling community appearances for speakers, scheduling pre-event dinners and countless other tasks.

To ensure the best-possible continuity in the series’ leadership, Liddy several months ago appointed a cross-campus University Lectures Advisory Team co-chaired by Nicole Hill, professor and chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services in the , and Barbara Kay Stripling, assistant professor of practice and senior associate dean in the .

Other members are:

• Eric Evangelista, a sophomore in the
• Matthew Fee, director of Summer College at
• Suzanne Guiod, editor-in-chief of
• Tara Helfman, associate professor of law in the
• Brian Lonsway, associate professor in the
• Tom Lumpkin, the Chris Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship in the
• Deb Monahan, professor of social work and associate dean of research in the
• Chuck Morris, professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in the
• Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute in the
• Peter Saulson, the Martin A. Pomerantz ’37 Professor of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences
• Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor and the director of the Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture in the

“I’ve been very impressed with the enthusiasm of the advisory team and the high caliber of discussion in the planning meetings,” Liddy says. “As we move forward, I have great confidence in the group’s abilities to offer guidance to the University Lectures.”

The advisory team met regularly throughout the fall semester to discuss details of the four upcoming spring events—social scientist (March 8); Major League Soccer commissioner and Soccer United Marketing CEO (March 22); author (March 29); and creators/executive producers of the “Serial” podcast and (April 12)—and select speakers for the 2016-17 season; an announcement will be made in late spring.

Moving forward, the advisory team will collaborate on planning and logistics with Ellen King, executive director of SU’s Office of Special Events.

Gray departs with many fond memories. “Working with the University Lectures for the past 15 years has been a joy and a privilege, but the real reward has been to introduce the world to the amazing faculty and students we have at SU,” she says. “At the same time, I’ve been blessed with 15 years of memorable moments and friendships with so many extraordinary people who just happened to be our speakers.”

And she echoes Liddy’s confidence in the advisory team. “As much as it saddens me to walk away from the lectures, I have great faith and trust in the members of the advisory team to continue and improve the tradition,” Gray says. “I feel like I am passing the baton to exactly the right people. Now I get to sit in the audience and enjoy!”

Those interested in offering feedback or suggestions for the University Lectures are invited to write to e-lectures@syr.edu. For more information on the series, visit the UL and .

Cheryl Strayed (Photo by Joni Kabana)

Alumna G’02—whose #1 New York Times Bestseller memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” was transformed into a feature film earning 2015 Oscar nominations for its stars Reese Witherspoon (Best Actress) and Laura Dern (Best Supporting Actress)—will speak Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel for the series.

The event—presented in cooperation with the College of Arts and Sciences—is free and open to the public. American Sign Language interpretation and Communication Access Real Time will be available.

“Wild” is Strayed’s recounting of a time in her life, at age 22, when she found herself shattered by two major events: her mother’s sudden death from cancer and the end of her young marriage. After hitting rock bottom, Strayed decided to confront her emotional pain by trekking over 1,000 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail.��“Wild”��tells the amateur hiker’s tale, peppered with the colorful characters she encounters along the way, as she struggles to find inner peace and stability.

Strayed’s story inspired Oprah Winfrey to revive her tremendously popular book club, with��“Wild”��as its inaugural selection for the launch of Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. The story also inspired producer and actress Witherspoon to bring��“Wild”��to the big screen in 2014.

Strayed holds an M.F.A. degree in fiction writing from ���ϲ�����. In addition to “Wild” (Knopf, 2012), she is the author of The��New York Times��Bestseller��“Tiny Beautiful Things” (Vintage, 2012),��a collection of her widely popular��“Dear Sugar”��columns for TheRumpus.net,��and the critically acclaimed novel��“Torch” (Vintage, 2012). Her books have been translated into 26 languages around the world.

She has also written pieces for��The Best American Essays,��The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Allure, The Missouri Review, Creative Nonfiction and The Sun, among other publications.

Strayed’s lecture is the second event in the 2015-16 University Lectures series, following the Sept. 29 appearance by renowned pianist Leon Fleisher. Next up this fall are New York Times columnists Charles Blow and Ross Douthat on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. and award-winning journalist/author Naomi Klein on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m.

University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment. The series is supported by the generosity of Honorary Trustee Robert B. Menschel ’51. The lectures are free and open to the public.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found on the series’ and on .

Don Garber

The series is free and open to the public, with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real Time (CART) available at each event.

Garber joins the speakers previously announced for the upcoming 15^th season of the University Lectures: internationally renowned pianist Leon Fleisher (Sept. 19); best-selling author and SU alumna Cheryl Strayed (Oct. 7); New York Times columnists Charles Blow and Ross Douthat (Oct. 13); award-winning journalist/columnist/author Naomi Klein (Nov. 3); social scientist Dacher Keltner (March 8, 2016); best-selling author Mary Roach (March 29, 2016); and the creators and executive producers of the hit podcast “Serial,” Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder (April 12, 2016).

Garber has been the commissioner of North America’s premier professional soccer league since 1999. During his tenure, MLS has expanded from 10 to 23 teams and added 20 new owners, and more than a dozen new soccer-specific stadiums have been constructed in the United States and Canada.

He has been listed among the most influential people in American sports by Time Magazine and Business Week, and has been named among the top 50 most influential people in sports business by the SportsBusiness Journal every year since 2005.

In 2002, Garber created Soccer United Marketing (SUM), an affiliate of MLS and one of the world’s leading commercial soccer companies, representing the U.S. Soccer Federation, the Mexican Soccer Federation and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. In 2014, Garber secured landmark television and media rights agreements for MLS with ESPN, FOX Sports and Univision Deportes, an unprecedented accomplishment for the sport in the United States.

Prior to becoming commissioner of MLS, Garber spent 16 years with the National Football League, finishing his tenure as the senior vice president/managing director of NFL International, where he was responsible for managing all of the NFL’s business outside the United States. Garber began his career at NFL Properties in 1984 and became the league’s director of marketing in 1988.�� In 1992, he was appointed the NFL’s senior vice president of business development and was responsible for a variety of television, special event and marketing activities.

Garber serves on a variety of professional and philanthropic boards, including the executive committee of the U.S. Soccer Federation; the Committee for Club Football at Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA); and vice president of Hope and Heroes, an organization raising funds and creating programs for pediatric cancer patients and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

His appearance for the University Lectures is presented in cooperation with the Department of Sport Management in the .

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu.

Appearing in the series’ 15^th season are: internationally renowned pianist Leon Fleisher; authors Cheryl Strayed (“Wild,” “Tiny Beautiful Things”) and Mary Roach (“Gulp,” “Packing for Mars”); New York Times columnists Charles Blow and Ross Douthat; author and social/climate activist Naomi Klein; social scientist Dacher Keltner; and the creators and executive producers of the hit podcast “Serial,” Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder.

The University Lectures has a long and distinguished history of showcasing individuals of exceptional accomplishment who share their talents, experiences and perspectives for the enjoyment of ���ϲ����� students, faculty and staff, and the Central New York community.

The 2015-16 speakers are:

Leon Fleisher
“An Evening with Leon Fleisher”
Tuesday, Sept. 29

Leon Fleisher (c) Koichi Miura

is a legendary pianist who began playing at age 4, at which time his parents pulled him from school, opting for private tutoring to allow more practice time (“I’ve long thought of entitling my biography ‘I Was a Kindergarten Dropout,’” he jokes.). Fleisher’s most recent recording, 2014’s “All the Things You Are,” reached No. 1 on the classical charts and earned a 2015 Grammy nomination. The subject of the 2006 Oscar- and Emmy-nominated documentary “Two Hands,” Fleisher is also an inspiring conductor, who is leading orchestras in China and Japan in fall 2015. For the University Lectures, he will perform a selection or two from his vast repertoire and then engage in a moderated conversation with Ralph Zito, chair of SU’s Department of Drama. Sponsored in cooperation with the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Cheryl Strayed
“A Wild Life”
Wednesday, Oct. 7

Cheryl Strayed (Photo by Joni Kabana)

SU alumna (M.F.A. in fiction writing in 2002) is best known for “Tiny Beautiful Things,” her 2012 collection of letters from her “Dear Sugar” advice column, and for the No. 1 New York Times best-selling memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail,” recounting her remarkable 1,100-mile solo hike, at age 22, from Southern California to Washington State following the death of her mother from cancer and the end of her own young marriage. The book became the basis for the feature film “Wild,” which earned 2015 Academy Award nominations for Reese Witherspoon (Best Actress, as Strayed) and Laura Dern (Best Supporting Actress, as Strayed’s mother). In her campus appearance, Strayed will speak about her writings and the power of memoir. Sponsored in cooperation with The College of Arts and Sciences.

Charles Blow and Ross Douthat
“Social Inequality: the How, Why and What to Do?”
Tuesday, Oct. 13

Charles Blow

Ross Douthat

is the visual op-ed columnist for The New York Times—with a weekly column from a liberal perspective covering politics, public opinion and justice appearing every Saturday—as well as a regular contributor to CNN. Author and influential blogger is the youngest op-ed columnist in the history of the Times; representing a new generation of conservative commentator, he pens vigorous and penetrating analyses of domestic and international politics and government. For the University Lectures, the two newspaper colleagues and friends will take part in what promises to be a captivating discussion and sharing of perspectives on the topic of social inequality, moderated by SU alumnus and current SU Law student Jesse Feitel ’13. Sponsored in cooperation with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the LGBT Resource Center, University College, the Intergroup Dialogue Program, the School of Education and ���ϲ����� Symposium.

Naomi Klein
“This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate”
Tuesday, Nov. 3

Naomi Klein

is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the 2007 New York Times and No. 1 international bestseller “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” In her most recent book, 2014’s “This Changes Everything,” Klein argues that climate change isn’t just another issue to be neatly filed between taxes and health care. The climate crisis challenges us to abandon the core “free market” ideology of our time, restructure the global economy and remake our political systems. In short, either we embrace radical change ourselves or radical changes will be visited upon our physical world. Sponsored in cooperation with the LGBT Resource Center and ���ϲ����� Symposium.

Dacher Keltner
“Survival of the Kindest: Toward a Compassionate Society”
Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Dacher Keltner

From examining how we negotiate moral concerns to exploring the determinants of power and status, looks at the social practices by which we navigate the world. Keltner is director of the Social Interaction Lab at the University of California at Berkeley and faculty director of the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. The podcasts of his course “Emotion” have been hailed by WIRED magazine as one of the five best educational downloads. In his University Lecture, he will detail the evolution and neurophysiology of compassion and kindness, and focus on five practices that elevate compassion—and in so doing increase life expectancy and well-being. He will also discuss the brand new science of awe and beauty, tracing its evolutionary roots. Sponsored in cooperation with the Intergroup Dialogue Program and the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Mary Roach
“Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal”
Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Mary Roach

In her latest rollicking foray into taboo, icky and underappreciated aspects of the human body, 2013’s “Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal,” takes readers on a wild ride down the alimentary canal and zips off in whatever direction her ardor for research and irrepressible instinct for the wonderfully weird lead her. It’s the latest in a long line of New York Times bestsellers that includes “Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void” (2010), “Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex” (2008) and “Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife” (2005). Her approach is grounded in science, but with a fascination with what we may find disgusting and the horrifying things we do to ourselves. For her University Lectures appearance, Roach will share the stage with SU biology professor Sandra Hewett for an informal conversational dialogue. Sponsored in cooperation with the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the College of Engineering & Computer Science.

Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder
“Binge-Worthy Journalism: Backstage with the Creators of ‘Serial’”
Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Sarah Koenig (Photo by Meredith Heuer)

Julie Snyder (Photo by Meredith Heuer)

“Serial” is widely credited with re-energizing the concept of podcasting. Following its debut in October 2014, “Serial” became the fastest podcast in iTunes history to reach five million downloads (and now more than 75 million). At a time when being first and being fast dominates the media, and quick sound bites are offered at every turn, veteran radio journalists and producers —named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2015—and did exactly the opposite: presenting a 12-part series centering on one legal case, taking its time and proving that slow-motion journalism could captivate and sustain a vast listenership.��In their lecture, the duo will offer personal behind-the-scenes stories, explain how they constructed certain episodes and allow the audience to follow the ups and downs of creating a new form of modern journalism. Sponsored in cooperation with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the LGBT Resource Center, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Criminal Law Society of the College of Law and the College of Engineering & Computer Science.

About the University Lectures

The University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to ���ϲ����� individuals of exceptional accomplishment. The series is supported by the generosity of Honorary Trustee Robert B. Menschel ’51.

Among the more than 100 distinguished speakers who have appeared previously in the series are: Nobel Peace Prize recipients Al Gore, Betty Williams and Jody Williams; authors Khaled Hosseini, David McCullough, P.J. O’Rourke and Salman Rushdie; Pulitzer Prize winners William Safire and Nicholas Kristof; scientists Robert Ballard, Richard Leakey and Neil deGrasse Tyson; former U.S. Senators George Mitchell and George McGovern; radio personalities Ira Glass, Garrison Keillor, Scott Simon and Juan Williams; opera superstar Denyce Graves; sculptor Maya Lin; violinist Joshua Bell; conductor James Conlon; playwright August Wilson; Nobel Laureate in Literature Seamus Heaney; corporate leaders Barry Diller and John Hendricks; activists Morris Dees, Marian Wright Edelman and Wilma Mankiller; U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher; photographers Annie Leibovitz and Annie Griffiths; and environmental advocates Majora Carter and Bill McKibben.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found online at the series’ website () and Facebook page ().

Laurel Richie

The event is free and open to the public. American Sign Language interpretation and Communication Access Real Time are available.

Richie is responsible for setting the vision for the and overseeing all of the league’s day-to-day business and basketball operations. During her three years as president, Boost Mobile signed on as the league’s first marquee partner, ESPN extended its broadcast partnership through 2022 and the league reached a new collective bargaining agreement with the players and their union.

Prior to joining the WNBA in 2011, Richie was senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was responsible for the organization’s brand, communications, publishing, marketing and Web-based initiatives.

Earlier, Richie spent more than 20 years at the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, where she worked on a series of campaigns for prominent clients, including American Express, Pepperidge Farm, Pond’s, Huggies and Kotex.

She is a recipient of the Black Girls Rock Shot Caller Award and the YMCA’s Black Achiever’s Award; was named by Ebony��magazine as an Outstanding Woman in Marketing and Communications; and was named by Black Enterprise as one of the Most Influential African Americans in Sports.

Richie is a graduate (with a bachelor’s degree in policy studies) and trustee of Dartmouth College.

Semester’s Final Lecture

Less than a week after Richie’s presentation, the University Lectures spring season concludes on Tuesday, March 24, with National Geographic photographer , who will share vignettes of her photographic experiences in the presentation “From Photojournalist to Photo Activist: The Ripple Effects Image Project.” Along with her award-winning photography work, Griffiths is the executive director of , a collective of photographers who document the programs that are empowering women and girls in the developing world, especially as they deal with the devastating effects of climate change.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found on the series’ and on .

Andreas Weigend

The event is free and open to the public. American Sign Language interpretation and Communication Access Real Time are available.

An expert on the future of big data, social-mobile technologies and consumer behavior, Weigend teaches at Stanford University, the University of California-Berkeley and China’s CKGSB. He also advises innovative startups and regularly consults for large corporations—including Alibaba, GE, Lufthansa and MasterCard—on how to leverage the . As Amazon’s chief scientist, Weigend helped create the firm’s data strategy and customercentric culture.��His connects faculty and students with companies looking to find new forms of engagement with their customers.

A highly sought-after speaker, Weigend focuses on the untapped power of data and its irreversible impact on individuals, business and society.

Upcoming Events

Two more events are coming up next month in the University Lectures series:

• On Wednesday, March 18, WNBA President will speak about “The WNBA: Showing the World What’s Possible,” describing her experiences in her three-decade career of developing award-winning campaigns that transform brands and drive business results. Prior to joining the in 2011, Richie was senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was responsible for the organization’s brand, communications, publishing, marketing and Web-based initiatives. Richie also spent more than 20 years at the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, where she worked on a series of campaigns for prominent clients, including American Express, Pepperidge Farm, Pond’s, Huggies and Kotex.

• On Tuesday, March 24, National Geographic photographer will share vignettes of her experiences photographing across the globe in “From Photojournalist to Photo Activist: The Ripple Effects Image Project.” Along with her award-winning photography work, Griffiths is the executive director of , a collective of photographers who document the programs that are empowering women and girls in the developing world, especially as they deal with the devastating effects of climate change.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found on the series’ and on .

Carrie Mae Weems

Weems will share her work and the stories that inspired it during her presentation, “Swinging into Sixty: A Woman Ponders the Future,” which begins at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel and is free and open to the public.

This lecture is sponsored in cooperation with the , and the as part of the 2014 ���ϲ����� Symposium: Perspective.

Reduced-rate parking is available in Irving Garage; American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real –Time (CART) will be available for this lecture.

Over the past 25 years, Weems has worked toward developing a complex body of art that has at various times employed photographs, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation and video. She has investigated family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sexism, class and various political systems. “Despite the variety of my explorations, throughout it all it has been my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals; to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and feed the helpless; to shout bravely from the rooftops and storm-barricaded doors and voice the specifics of our historic moment,” she says.

Storytelling is fundamental to Weems’ work. Her works include “Family Pictures and Stories,” “Ain’t Jokin,’” “Colored People” and the “Kitchen Table” series. Throughout the 1990s, she explored the African diaspora through “Sea Islands,” “Africa,” “Slave Coast” and “Landed in Africa” and “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried.” In 1997, Weems began a trilogy of large-scale fabric installations that resulted in “Ritual & Revolution,” “The Jefferson Suite” and “The Hampton Project.” Other works include “The Louisiana Project” and “Coming Up for Air” (2004).

Weems has won numerous awards for her work, and her talents have been recognized by numerous colleges with fellowships, artist-in-residence and visiting professor positions. She was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2013. “Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video,” a 30-year retrospective of her work, opened in January 2014 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found on Facebook at .

The last lecture of the fall 2014 semester will be given by Barry Scheck, attorney, DNA expert and co-founder of the Innocence Project (Nov. 11).

Presenters during the spring 2015 semester include big data expert Andreas Weigend (March 3); WNBA president and marketing expert Laurel Richie (March 18); and photojournalist Annie Griffiths (March 24).

Eve Ensler (Photograph by Brigitte Lacombe)

Ensler’s presentation, “In The Body of Justice” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel and is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real Time (CART) will be available for the lecture.

Her work “The Vagina Monologues” has been translated into more than 48 languages; performed in over 140 countries, including sold-out runs at both off-Broadway’s Westside Theater and on London’s West End (2002 Olivier Award nomination, Best Entertainment); and has run for 10 years in Mexico City and Paris. Her experience performing “The Vagina Monologues” inspired her to create V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions and other artistic works. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and educated millions.

Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive. V-Day’s newest campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, launched in February 2012, and has been active on the ���ϲ����� campus through the student group Students Advocating Sexual Safety and Empowerment.

Ensler traveled to Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2007 to meet with and learn from women survivors of violence. It was these women who birthed the idea of the City of Joy, a place to live in community so that they could heal. V-Day opened the City of Joy with a high-profile ceremony in February 2011 and the first class of women began in June 2011.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/home.php#!/universitylectures.

Van Jones

Jones’ presentation, “Green Jobs and Sustainability,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel and is free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real Time (CART) are available.

Recently named a co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire” reboot, Van Jones is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for bottom-up, people-powered innovations to help fix the U.S. economy. A Yale-educated attorney, Jones has written two New York Times Best Sellers: “The Green Collar Economy” (HarperOne, 2009), the definitive book on green jobs, and “Rebuild the Dream” (Nation Books, 2012), a road map for progressives in 2012 and beyond. In 2009, Jones worked as the green jobs adviser to the Obama White House. There, he helped run the inter-agency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending.

Jones is the founder of Green For All, a national organization working to get green jobs to disadvantaged communities. He was the main advocate for the Green Jobs Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, the first piece of federal legislation to codify the term “green jobs.” Under the Obama administration, the Green Jobs Act has resulted in $500 million for green job training nationally. Jones had also worked in social justice for nearly two decades and is the co-founder of two social justice organizations—the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change.

Jones’ lecture is the first in the 2014-15 series. Other guests during the fall 2014 semester include Eve Ensler, Tony Award-winning playwright, performer and activist and author of “The Vagina Monologues” (Oct. 15); Carrie Mae Weems, artist, photographer, storyteller and MacArthur Fellow (Oct. 28); and Barry Scheck, attorney, DNA expert and founder of The Innocence Project (Nov. 11).

During the spring 2015 semester, guests include Andreas Weigend, former chief scientist at Amazon and founder of the Social Data Lab (March 3); Laurel Richie, president of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) (March 18); and Annie Griffiths, photographer for National Geographic and executive director of Ripple Effect Images (March 24).

To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu.

Guests during the fall 2014 semester include Van Jones, president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream; Eve Ensler, Tony Award-winning playwright, performer and activist and author of “The Vagina Monologues”; Carrie Mae Weems, artist, photographer, storyteller and MacArthur Fellow; and Barry Scheck, attorney, DNA expert and founder of The Innocence Project.

During the spring 2015 semester, guests include Andreas Weigend, former chief scientist at Amazon and founder of the Social Data Lab; Laurel Richie, president of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA); and Annie Griffiths, photographer for National Geographic and executive director of Ripple Effect Images.

“Our guests during the 14th season of the University Lectures series will encourage thoughtful engagement with the world beyond our campus borders,” says Kal Alston, senior vice president for human capital development and director of the University Lectures series. “Each lecture is a shared learning experience with prominent individuals in their respective fields who, through their experiences and talents, inspire us to reflect and act on our own potential to contribute to our broader local and global communities. Students from across campus derive benefit from these encounters, and the guests always tell us that meeting our students is the highlight of their visit. ”

All lectures will be held in Hendricks Chapel and are free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real Time (CART) are available for all lectures.

The 2014-15 guests are:

��Van Jones
“Green Jobs and Sustainability”
Tuesday, Sept. 30

Van Jones

Recently named a co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire” reboot, Jones is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for bottom-up, people-powered innovations to help fix the U.S. economy. A Yale-educated attorney, Jones has written two New York Times Best Sellers: “The Green Collar Economy,” the definitive book on green jobs, and “Rebuild the Dream,” a roadmap for progressives in 2012 and beyond. In 2009, Jones worked as the green jobs advisor to the Obama White House. There, he helped run the interagency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending.

Jones is the founder of Green For All, a national organization working to get green jobs to disadvantaged communities. He was the main advocate for the Green Jobs Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, the first piece of federal legislation to codify the term “green jobs.” Under the Obama administration, the Green Jobs Act has resulted in $500 million for green job training nationally. Jones had also worked in social justice for nearly two decades and is the co-founder of two social justice organizations—the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change.

Eve Ensler
“In the Body of Justice”
Wednesday, Oct. 15

Eve Ensler (photo by Paula Allen)

Ensler’s work “The Vagina Monologues” has been translated into over 48 languages, performed in over 140 countries, including sold-out runs at both off-Broadway’s Westside Theater and on London’s West End (2002 Olivier Award nomination, Best Entertainment), and has run for 10 years in Mexico City and Paris. Her experience performing “The Vagina Monologues” inspired her to create V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions and other artistic works. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and educated millions. Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive. V-Day’s newest campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, launched in February 2012, and has been active on the ���ϲ����� campus through the student group Students Advocating Sexual Safety and Empowerment.

Ensler traveled to Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2007 to meet with and learn from women survivors of violence. It was these women who birthed the idea of the City of Joy, a place to live in community so that they could heal. V-Day opened the City of Joy with a high-profile ceremony in February 2011 and the first class of women began in June 2011.

Carrie Mae Weems
“Swinging into Sixty: A Woman Ponders the Future”
Tuesday, Oct. 28

Carrie Mae Weems

Over the past 25 years, Weems has worked toward developing a complex body of art that has at various times employed photographs, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation and video. She has investigated family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sexism, class and various political systems. “Despite the variety of my explorations, throughout it all it has been my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals; to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and feed the helpless; to shout bravely from the roof-tops and storm-barricaded doors and voice the specifics of our historic moment,” she says.

Storytelling is fundamental to Weems’ work. Her works include “,” “” “” and the “. Throughout the 1990s, she explored the African diaspora through “��“,” “” and “Landed in Africa” and “.” In 1997, Weems began a trilogy of large-scale fabric installations that resulted in “,” “” and “.” Other works include “” and “Coming Up for Air” (2004).

Weems has won numerous awards for her work, and her talents have been recognized by numerous colleges with fellowships, artist-in-residence and visiting professor positions. She was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2013.“,” a 30-year retrospective of her work, opened in January 2014 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. ����

Barry Scheck
“The Innocence Project: DNA and the Wrongly Convicted”
Tuesday, Nov. 11

Barry Scheck

Attorney, DNA expert and co-founder of the Innocence Project, Scheck is known for years of landmark litigation that set the standard for using DNA evidence in courts throughout the country. He has spearheaded a nationwide movement to re-examine the fairness and efficacy of our criminal justice system. Started in 1992, the is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to reforming the criminal justice system to prevent injustice. Scheck and the organization have used DNA evidence to exonerate almost 300 wrongfully imprisoned people, many of whom were on death row or had been incarcerated for decades.

In “,” Scheck exposed the mishandled evidence and coercive interrogations that plague the legal process. Publisher’s Weekly called the book “an alarming wake-up call.” In October 2010, Scheck and the Innocence Project were featured in the feature film “Conviction.”

A DNA expert with the O.J. Simpson defense team, Scheck has represented notable clients, including Hedda Nussbaum, Louise Woodward and Abner Louima. A commissioner for the New York State Forensic Science Review Board and professor at the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, Scheck is considered to be on the of 100 most influential lawyers in America.

Andreas Weigend
“We Are Our Data: Harnessing the Power of Social Data”
Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Andreas Weigend

An expert on the future of big data, social-mobile technologies and consumer behavior, Weigend will share insights on the untapped power of data and its irreversible impact on individuals, businesses and society. As Amazon’s chief scientist, he helped create the firm’s data strategy and customer-centric culture. He is the founder of the , which connects faculty and students with companies looking to find new forms of engagement with their customers.

Weigend also advises innovative startups and regularly consults for large corporations, including Alibaba, GE, Lufthansa and MasterCard, on how to leverage the .

He teaches at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and China’s CKGSB. He received a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford after studying in Germany and at Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Laurel J. Richie
“The WNBA: Showing the World What’s Possible”
Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Laurel Richie

Richie has more than three decades of experience in consumer marketing, corporate branding, public relations and corporate management, with a long track record of developing award-winning campaigns that transform brands and drive business results. As president of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), she is responsible for setting the vision for the WNBA and overseeing all of the league’s day-to-day business and basketball operations. During her three years at the helm, Boost Mobile signed on as the league’s first marquee partner, ESPN extended its broadcast partnership through 2022 and the league reached a new collective bargaining agreement with the players and their union.

Prior to joining the WNBA in 2011, Richie was senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was responsible for the brand, communications, publishing, marketing and Web-based initiatives. She also spent more than 20 years at the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, where she worked on a series of campaigns for prominent clients.

In addition, she has mentored young women and girls as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, the 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Intern Program, Xavier University’s Youth Motivation Task Force and the Advertising Educational Foundation. Richie is a recipient of the Black Girls Rock Shot Caller Award, the YMCA’s Black Achiever’s Award.��She is a recipient of Ebony��magazine’s Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications and named to its Power 100 List. Most recently, Black Enterprise named her one of the Most Influential African Americans in Sports.

Annie Griffiths
“From Photojournalist to Photo Activist: The Ripple Effects Images Project”
Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Annie Griffiths (photo by Mark Thiessen)

One of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic, Griffiths has photographed on six of the world’s seven continents during her illustrious career.

She has worked on dozens of magazine and book projects for the society, including stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Baja California, Galilee, Petra, Sydney, New Zealand and Jerusalem.

In addition to her magazine work, Griffiths is deeply committed to photographing for aid organizations around the world. She is the executive director of Ripple Effect Images, a collective of photographers who document the programs that are empowering women and girls in the developing world, especially as they deal with the devastating effects of climate change.

Griffiths’ work has also appeared in LIFE, Geo, Smithsonian, Fortune, Merian, Stern and many other publications. With author Barbara Kingsolver, she produced “Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands,” a book celebrating the last pristine wilderness in North America. Proceeds from the book have raised more than a quarter of a million dollars for grassroots land conservation. In 2008, Griffiths published “A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel,” a photo memoir about balance and the joy of creating a meaningful life. In 2010, she published “Simply Beautiful Photographs,” which was named the top photo/art book of the year by Amazon and by Barnes and Noble. Griffiths has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Associated Press, the National Organization of Women, the University of Minnesota and the White House News Photographers Association.

About University Lectures

University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment. The series is supported by the generosity of Honorary Trustee Robert B. Menschel ’51. The lectures are free and open to the public.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found on Facebook at

Chris Hayes

MSNBC host Chris Hayes will speak about the crisis of authority in American life in the first University Lectures event of the spring 2014 season on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Hayes is the first guest in a semester that will include New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, “Theories of Everything and Much, Much More,” Wednesday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m.; playwright and activist Anna Deavere Smith, “Snapshots: Portraits of a World in Transition,” Tuesday, March 25, at 5 p.m. and education advocate and professor Diane Ravitch, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” Tuesday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m.

Hayes will speak on “Twilight of the Elites.” The lecture is free and open to the public; reduced-rate parking is available in Irving Garage. American Sign Language (ASL) and Communication Access Real Time (CART) interpretation will be available for this lecture.

Host of “All In with Chris Hayes,” which airs at 8 p.m. (Eastern) Monday through Friday on MSNBC, Hayes is also editor-at-large of The Nation. Previously, he hosted the weekend program “Up with Chris Hayes,” which premiered in 2011. Prior to joining MSNBC as an anchor, Hayes served as a frequent substitute host for “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” He became a MSNBC contributor in 2010 and has been with The Nation since 2007.

He is a former fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. From 2008-10, he was a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. From 2005 to 2006, Hayes was a Schumann Center Writing Fellow at In These Times. Since 2002, Hayes has written on a wide variety of political and social issues, from union organizing and economic democracy to the intersection of politics and technology. His first book, “Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy” (Crown, 2012) was published in June 2012.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or to obtain additional information about the University Lectures series, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 315-443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found at