UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Forum Speaker Series committee has announced the lineup of speakers for the coming year. The forum series is modeled after the National Press Club Speaker Series, which includes a presentation by an invited speaker, followed by audience questions.
The buffet-style luncheons are held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Presidents Hall of the Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel, on the University Park campus.
All events are open to faculty, staff, students and the general public. Tickets for the Penn State Forum are $25 each, or $250 for a table of 10, and include a buffet lunch. Tickets may be purchased by visiting the Forum Speakers website.
Visitors to campus are expected to follow CDC and University guidelines and protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during travel and when visiting campus. Please review the latest information about Penn State's health and safety plans and requirements.
The 2022-23 speakers are:
- Oct. 25 — Douglas M. Leech, founder and CEO, Ascension Recovery Services, will present “Successful entrepreneurship in a post-pandemic world."
- Nov. 3 — Mark Becker, president of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, will present a lecture "Won’t Lose This Dream: How an Upstart Urban University Rewrote the Rules of a Broken System."
- Dec. 1 — Na’ilah Nasir, president of the American Educational Research Foundation, National Academy of Education member, and CEO of the Spencer Foundation, will present a lecture "Education for a Multicultural Democracy: Building a future where we all thrive."
- Feb. 23, 2023 — Velvet Brown, David P. Stone Chair and associate director for equity, diversity and inclusion in the School of Music, and the Penn State Laureate for 2022-23, will present "Look Up and Expand Your Reach," and a musical performance.
- March 23, 2023 — Sabaah Folayan, award-winning film director of the documentary “Whose Streets?", will present "The Art of Alignment: How knowing yourself and having the courage to change course can lead to personal fulfillment and professional success."
- April 20, 2023 — Derek Lee and Monica Bond, wildlife biologists, activists and Penn State Eberly College of Science professors will present “True Tall Tales from Tanzania."
Forthcoming lecture topics will be added as they are available. More information about the series is available on the Penn State Forum Speakers website.