Featured Speakers Series
Kent State University at Stark's Featured Speakers Series brings national and international experts in civil rights, politics, education, environmental activism, literature and arts to campus.
Notable figures have included civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, national political broadcaster George Stephanopoulos, journalist and National Geographic Explorer host Lisa Ling, rags-to-riches prodigy Chris Gardner, legendary drummer Max Weinberg, ice cream entrepreneur Jerry Greenfield, cinematographer Spike Lee and CNN's broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper.
Ticket & Venue Information
- Programs are free and open to the public.
- Tickets are required and seating is limited.
- Limit of 4 tickets per person.
- Pick-up tickets at the Main Hall Information Desk, beginning at 8 a.m. each weekday, on the date listed with each speaker. No phone reservations will be taken.
- Programs are held at The University Center in Timken Great Hall.
- Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Programs begin at 7:30 p.m.
2011-2012 Featured Speakers
2012-2013 Featured Speakers will be announced in August.
Michelle Rhee
An Evening with Michelle Rhee
Monday, Oct. 10, 2011
7:30 p.m.
SORRY, NO TICKETS REMAIN.
The career of education reformist Michelle Rhee has been guided by one core principle – put students first. A former teacher, she founded The New Teacher Project to bring more excellent teachers to classrooms across the country. She was appointed as chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools in 2007. Rhee used unconventional methods to rebuild the country's worst performing school district into the only major city system to see double-digit growth in state reading and math scores over three years. After leaving the position, she founded StudentsFirst in 2010, a national movement to transform America's public education system into the best in the world. Rhee has appeared on television shows, radio programs and in the documentary, Waiting for Superman, a film analyzing the failure of American public education.
Peter Bergen
Obama's War
Monday, Nov. 14, 2011
7:30 p.m.
Peter Bergen is an internationally renowned print and television journalist, an award-winning film producer and the best-selling author of The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda. He has worked as a correspondent for National Geographic Television, Discovery Television and CNN. While at CNN, he produced Osama bin Laden's first television interview, marking the first time he declared war against the United States to the Western audience. As one of the foremost authorities on the war on terrorism, Bergen has reported on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, homeland security and threats in Mid-Eastern countries for numerous newspapers, magazines and broadcasting stations, in addition to testifying before several congressional committees.
Bill Nye
The Earth is a Great Home, But We Have to Make Some Changes
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
7:30 p.m.
SORRY, NO TICKETS REMAIN.
Bill Nye, best known as host of the popular children's show, Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an established engineer, scientist, comedian, author and inventor with a lifelong fascination on how things work. After earning a Cornell University mechanical engineering degree, he accepted a position at Boeing, where he developed a device that continues to be used in 747s today. Combining his love of science with a flair for comedy, Nye moonlighted as a stand-up comic, eventually taking on the Science Guy persona. The series won 28 Emmy Awards during its five-year run and earned him seven Emmys for writing, performing and producing. He has authored five books and frequently appears as a guest on various shows.
Joshua Foer
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
7:30 p.m.
SORRY, NO TICKETS REMAIN.
Named "One of the 10 People Who Could Change the World" by The New Statesman, freelance science journalist Joshua Foer attended the United States Memory Championship to report on the quirky subculture of competition memorizers. By interviewing competitors, he learned that it was possible for the average person to greatly enhance their memory through age-old techniques. Intrigued, he trained intensively and entered the competition the next year, emerging as the 2006 U.S. Memory Champion. Foer's unlikely journey into the world of mnemonic skill is chronicled in his 2011 best-selling book, Moonwalking with Einstein. For audiences, he details the science and history of memorization, sharing how each of us can overcome personal limitations by using ancient techniques to unlock the brain's potential.
