Speakers Committee

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay has withdrawn from her scheduled engagement for this year’s IMPACT symposium. Details regarding refunds for ticket holders and a potential replacement date for the event are still forming. Read More

The Vanderbilt University Speakers Committee presents “Your City: Nashville’s Stories” on Monday, Sept. 23. The event includes brief addresses by Vanderbilt University Medical Center physician Reid Thompson, celebrated local chef Arnold Myint, Contributor founding executive director Tasha A. French Lemley, and Roy Wooten, better known by the stage name Future… Read More

Watch Leymah Gbowee, a 2011 Nobel laureate, speak at Vanderbilt's Impact Symposium March 19, 2013. Read More

Watch a conversation with former Sen. George Mitchell, who served as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace from 2009 to 2011 and as independent chairman of the Northern Ireland Peace Talks, facilitated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss at Vanderbilt University March 18, 2013. Read More

Ehud Barak’s appearance at Vanderbilt’s 2013 Impact Symposium has been postponed until Sunday, April 7. The March 18 event will now be a conversation with former Sen. George Mitchell, moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss. Read More

Tyson Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will speak at Vanderbilt University’s Langford Auditorium on Nov. 13. The event, which begins at 7 p.m., is sold out. However, walk-ups are welcome for no-show ticket holders and late seating will be accommodated. Tickets are free for Vanderbilt students; $5 for… Read More

Nafisi (Photo courtesy of the author) The Vanderbilt University Speakers Committee will welcome Azar Nafisi, the New York Times best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, to campus Oct. 9. Nafisi will deliver an address at 7 p.m. in the Student Life Center Ballroom. There will… Read More

Fred Davis Fred Davis, who served as a media strategist for both George W. Bush and John McCain, will be the second guest in the three-part Election Event Series being sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the First Amendment Center, the… Read More

Nafisi (Photo courtesy of the author) The Vanderbilt University Speakers Committee will welcome Azar Nafisi, the New York Times best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, to campus Oct. 9. Nafisi will deliver an address at 7 p.m. in the Student Life Center Ballroom. There will be… Read More

Watch video of Sen. Lamar Alexander speaking at the 2012 Impact Symposium on March 19. This year’s theme is “Rise of the Rest: What is the Future of American Foreign Policy?” The Vanderbilt University Speakers Committee organizes the annual IMPACT Symposium, which has been a tradition at Vanderbilt since 1964. This… Read More

Vanderbilt University will host director Michael Moore at Langford Auditorium Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. All tickets for the event are sold out. Read More

Guerillas belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency in 2002. She was held captive six years in Colombia’s rain forest until she was liberated in  2008 with 14 other hostages in a daring rescue staged by… Read More

Former Colombia presidential candidate and FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt Guerillas belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency in 2002. She was held captive six years in Colombia’s rain forest until she was liberated in 2008… Read More