Distinguished Speakers Series - Previous Speakers
* Denotes speakers featured as part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration programming.
2008-2009
- Karl Rove - Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush
- Wesley Clark – Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and 2004 Presidential Candidate
- Khaled Hosseini - Best-Selling Author of the UB Reads 2008 Book Selection: The Kite Runner
- Jon Stewart - Host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show
- * Donna Brazile - Chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute
- Anna Quindlen - Newsweek Columnist, Social Critic and Author
- Bill Nye - Scientist, Comedian and Author
2007-2008
- Michael Moore - Academy Award-Winning Documentarian
- Ishmael Beah - Human Rights Activist, Best-Selling Author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- Steven Levitt - Award-Winning Economist, Best-Selling Author of Freakonomics
- * Harold Ford, Jr. - Chair, National Democratic Leadership Council, Former US Representative, D-Tenn.
- Tina Brown - Best-Selling Author of The Diana Chronicles, Former Editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker
- Stephen Colbert - Host of The Colbert Report, and Best-Selling Author of I Am America (And So Can You!)
2006-2007
- The Dalai Lama - The Head of state in exile of Tibet and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people
- Anderson Cooper - Journalist and Host of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360°
- * Wangari Maathai - 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate and Green Belt Movement founder
- Jean-Michel Cousteau - Ocean Explorer and Environmentalist
- Al Gore - Former US Vice President, Author and Activist
2005-2006
- Alex Kotlowitz - Critically Acclaimed Author
- Colin Powell - Former US Secretary of State
- Brian Greene - Physicist and Ground-Breaking String Theorist
- * Tavis Smiley - Host, The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI
- Laurie Garrett - Pulitzer-Winning Expert on Global Healthcare, Disease- Prevention & Bioterrorism
- Conan O'Brien - Comedian and Host of Late Night With Conan O'Brien
2004-2005
- Donald Trump - Chairman & President of The Trump Organization, Producer & Star of The Apprentice
- Steven Squyres - Principal Investigator, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Project
- Barbara Ehrenreich - Critically Acclaimed Author and Journalist
- Bob Woodward - Political Investigative Reporter & Author
- Janet Reno - Former US Attorney General
- Ann Coulter - Author, Columnist & Political Commentator
- * Dr. Michael Eric Dyson - Scholar/Best-Selling Author
- Salman Rushdie - Internationally Acclaimed Novelist & Public Intellectual
2003-2004
- Antwone Fisher - Hollywood Producer/Screenwriter and Author of Finding Fish (the 2003 book selection of the UB Reads Program)
- Wolf Blitzer - CNN News Anchor and UB Alumnus
- Bill Cosby - Comedian, Actor, Author and Humanitarian
- Joyce Carol Oates - Best-Selling and Critically Acclaimed Author, Professor
- * Kweisi Mfume - NAACP President and Chief Executive Officer, AND
J.C. Watts - Former Congressman and Pioneering Republican Visionary - Tim Russert - NBC Senior Vice President, Producer and Moderator of Meet the Press
2002-2003
- Katie Couric - Co-Anchor of NBC's Today Show
- Rudy Giuliani - 107th Mayor of New York City
- * Mae Jemison - Astronaut, Physician, Engineer and Entrepreneur
- Amy Tan - Acclaimed Best-Selling Author
- Bill Bradley - Political Visionary and Former US Senator
2001-2002
- Ken Burns - Celebrated Filmmaker
- * Stephen L. Carter - Scholar, Author and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale University
- Madeleine Albright - 64th Secretary of State
- Jane Goodall - The Great Conservationist
2000-2001
- John Glenn - American Legend
- Mary Higgins Clark - Best Selling Author
- Dick Vitale - Basketball Guru
- * Sidney Poitier - Oscar winning author and actor
- Doris Kearns Goodwin - Pulitzer Prize winning historian, author and TV commentator
1999-2000
- George Bush - Former President of the United States
- Bill Moyers - Journalist
- George Stephanopoulos - Political Scientist
- Alice Walker - Poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, and biographer
1998-99
- General Colin Powell - Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Presidential Advisor and Author
- Elie Wiesel - Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Professor and Author
- Tommy Lasorda - Former Manager of the L.A. Dodgers and member Baseball Hall of Fame
1997-98
- Carol Burnett - Actress
- Marian Wright Edelman - Author, Founder of the Children's Defense Fund
- Andy Rooney - CBS News correspondent, Author
- Maya Angelou - Author
1996-97
- Henry Louis Gates - Author
- Edward James Olmos - Actor
- P.J. O'Rourke - Author and Political Satirist
- Toni Morrison - 1993 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature
1995-96
- Rita Dove - US Poet Laureate 1993-95
- David Gergen - Journalist and Political Pundit
- Gail Sheehy - International Best Selling Author
- Howard Stringer - Expert on the Information Superhighway
1994-95
- The McLaughlin Group - PBS Political Talk Show
- Garry Wills - Scholar, Classicist and Journalist
1993-94
- Dick Cheney - Former US Secretary of Defense
- George F. Will - Political Commentator
- Charlayne Hunter-Gault - Journalist
1992-93
- Terry Anderson - Former Chief of AP's Beirut Bureau, Former Hostage
- Arthur Schlesinger - Historian and Author
- Ellen Goodman - Pulitzer Prize-winning Columnist
1991-92
- Peter Arnett - CNN Correspondent
- Vladimir Pozner - Soviet Commentator
- Tom Wolfe - Author of The Bonfire of the Vanities
1990-91
- Carl Sagan - Scientist and Author of Cosmos
- Patricia Schroeder - United States Congresswoman
- Zbigniew Brzezinski - Former Presidential National Security Officer
1989-90
- Tip O'Neill - 47th Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Tom Brokaw - Anchor, Managing Editor and Chief Correspondent, NBC News
- Jeane Kirkpatrick - Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
1988-89
- Gerald Ford - Former President of the United States
- Lesley Stahl - CBS News National Affairs Correspondent
- Jimmy Carter - Former President of the United States
1987-88
- Sam Donaldson - ABC News Chief White House Correspondent
- John Tower - United States Senator
- Geraldine Ferraro - First Woman Vice Presidential Candidate on a National Party Ticket
