2011-2012 Speakers
Quick Links:
Robert Gates
22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense (2006 - 2011)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 8 p.m.
Alumni Arena, UB's North (Amherst) Campus
The Gates Lecture is an official event of UB's Presidential Inaugural Week.
Dr. Robert M. Gates served as the 22nd Secretary of Defense (2006-2011) and is the only Secretary of Defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in that office by a newly-elected President. President Barack Obama is the eighth president Dr. Gates has served. He previously served under President George W. Bush.
On his last day in office, Dr. Gates was awarded America's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Obama.
Before becoming Secretary of Defense in 2006, Dr. Gates was the President of Texas A&M University, the nation's seventh largest university. Prior to assuming the Texas A&M presidency, on August 1, 2002, he served as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001.
Secretary Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, The White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.
Dr. Gates served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993. He is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level employee to Director. He served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser at the White House from January 20, 1989, until November 6, 1991, for President George H.W. Bush.
Secretary Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. He is the author of the memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insiders Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.
Until becoming Secretary of Defense, Dr. Gates served as Chairman of the Independent Trustees of The Fidelity Funds, the nation's largest mutual fund company, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc.
Dr. Gates has also served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He has also been President of the National Eagle Scout Association.
A native of Kansas, Secretary Gates received his bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University.
In 1967 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served as an intelligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
For source or more information, please visit:
Tickets:
Tickets are available through TicketMaster 
and the UB Alumni Arena Ticket Office.
Free Tickets for Community Organizations, Schools
Michael J. Fox
Actor, Author and Advocate for Parkinson's Disease Research
Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 8 p.m.
Alumni Arena, UB's North (Amherst) Campus
Pre-Lecture Presentation: New Directions in Parkinson's Research
Michael J. Fox was born Michael Andrew Fox in 1961 to parents William and Phyllis in Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. (He later adopted the "J" as an homage to legendary character actor Michael J. Pollard.) Fox, a self-described "Army brat," moved several times during his childhood along with his parents, brother, and three sisters. The Foxes finally planted roots in Burnaby, British Columbia (a suburb of Vancouver), when William Fox retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1971.
Like most Canadian kids, Fox loved hockey and dreamed of a career in the National Hockey League. In his teens, his interests expanded. He began experimenting with creative writing and art and played guitar in a succession of rock-and-roll garage bands before ultimately realizing his affinity for acting.
Fox debuted as a professional actor at 15, co-starring in the sitcom "Leo and Me" on Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) with future Tony Award-winner Brent Carver. Over the next three years, he juggled local theater and TV work, and landed a few roles in American TV movies shooting in Canada.
When he was 18, Fox moved to Los Angeles. He had a series of bit parts, including one in CBS' short-lived (yet critically acclaimed) Alex Haley/Norman Lear series "Palmerstown USA" before winning the role of lovable conservative Alex P. Keaton on NBC's enormously popular "Family Ties" (1982-89). During Fox's seven years on "Ties," he earned three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, making him one of the country's most prominent young actors.
Fox returned to series television in 1996 with ABC's "Spin City," portraying Michael Flaherty, New York's deputy mayor. He won critical praise, garnering three Golden Globe Awards, one Emmy Award, three Emmy nominations, a GQ Man-of-the-Year Award (in the TV comedy category), a People's Choice Award, and two SAG Awards. During his time on the show, shot entirely in New York City, Fox did everything from galloping bareback through Central Park to jumping into the Hudson River. He also served as executive producer, along with Gary David Goldberg, Bill Lawrence, David Rosenthal, and producer/director Andy Cadiff.
Spin City reunited Fox with Family Ties creator/executive producer Gary David Goldberg. Together with Bill Lawrence, Goldberg created the series expressly for Fox, establishing it as a joint venture of Dreamworks SKG, Goldberg's UBU Productions, and Lottery Hill Entertainment (run by Fox and partner Nelle Fortenberry). Goldberg served as co-executive producer with Fox for Spin City's first and second seasons, and Lawrence stepped in during the third. For the fourth seasons, Rosenthal and Cadiff shared duties with Fox.
In other television work, Fox starred in Woody Allen's "Don't Drink the Water" in 1994. He directed Teri Garr and Bruno Kirby in an episode of "Tales From the Crypt" and later directed an installment of the series "Brooklyn Bridge." Fox also had time during his busy TV work to become an international film star, appearing in over a dozen features showcasing his keen ability to shift between comedy and drama. These include the Back to the Future trilogy, The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights, Big City, Light of Day, Teen Wolf, Casualties of War, Life With Mikey, For Love or Money, The American President, Greedy, The Frighteners, and Mars Attacks!
Fox married his "Family Ties" co-star, actress Tracy Pollan, in 1988. Together they have four children. Inspired to find projects that his kids would enjoy, Fox has lent his voice to a variety of hit children's films since the early 1990s. He began as Chance the dog in Disney's Homeward Bound movies. In December 1999, he provided the voice of Stuart Little for the Sony feature of the same name, and in the summer of 2001 Fox's voice was heard as that of the lead in Atlantis The Lost Empire, his first animated feature for The Walt Disney Co.
Though he would not share the news with the public for another seven years, Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease in 1991. Upon disclosing his condition in 1998, he committed himself to the campaign for increased Parkinson's research. Fox announced his retirement from "Spin City" in January 2000, effective upon the completion of his fourth season and 100th episode. Expressing pride in the show, its talented cast, writers, and creative team, he explained that new priorities made this the right time to step away from the demands of a weekly series.
Fox remains in demand as an actor. In 2011 he took on a multi-episode guest arc in the CBS hit drama "The Good Wife" with Julianna Margulies and guest starred in Larry David's acclaimed HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm." In spring 2009 he portrayed embittered, drug-addicted Dwight in Denis Leary's hit FX Network drama "Rescue Me," a role that earned him his fifth Emmy Award. His 2006 recurring guest role in the ABC legal drama "Boston Legal" was nominated for an Emmy, and he appeared as Dr. Kevin Casey in the then-NBC series "Scrubs" in 2004. He is the recipient of several lifetime achievement awards for accomplishments in acting, including the 2011 Hörzu Magazine Golden Camera Award and the 2010 National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award.
Fox also is the bestselling author of three books. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, a compendium of wisdom for graduates, was published in April 2010. Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, published in April 2009, debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list. It was accompanied by an ABC-TV prime time special that was nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special; additionally, its audio recording by Fox won the 2010 Grammy award for Best Spoken Word Album, an honor for which all three books were nominated. His first book, the 2002 memoir Lucky Man, also was a New York Times and national bestseller.
While he maintains a strong commitment to his acting and writing careers, Fox has shifted his primary focus and energies toward The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which he launched in 2000, and its efforts to raise much-needed research funding and awareness for Parkinson's disease. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from The Karolinska Institute in Sweden, New York University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the University of British Columbia. He also has received numerous humanitarian awards for his work and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010. Fox wholeheartedly believes that if there is a concentrated effort from the Parkinson's community, elected representatives in Washington, DC, and (most importantly) the general public, researchers can pinpoint the cause of Parkinson's and uncover a cure within our lifetime.
For source or more information, please visit:
Tickets:
Tickets are available through TicketMaster
and the UB Alumni Arena Ticket Office.
Contributing Lecture Sponsors:
Parkinson's Association of WNY
UB Larkin Chair, Department of Chemistry
Judy Shepard
Gay Rights Activist
Author of the 2011 UB Reads Selection – The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed
Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 8 p.m.
Alumni Arena, UB's North (Amherst) Campus
Stop at the Community Engagement & Resource Fair before or after the lecture. For more details, download the flyer: PDF | Word
UB Pre-Lecture Presentation on "Preventing Bullying". Details and registration
On October 8, 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard were awakened in the middle of the night in Saudi Arabia, where Dennis works, by a telephone call no parent should ever have to receive. What they heard changed their lives forever. Their eldest son, Matthew, was in a coma after having been brutally attacked—because he was gay. The distraught parents flew to Ft. Collins, Colorado, and met-up with their youngest son, Logan, to visit Matthew in the hospital. On October 12, Matthew passed away.
While the Shepard family mourned in private, the tragedy quickly spurred a spontaneous, unprecedented public outcry from coast to coast. The incident galvanized millions of people, and focused the nation's attention on the growing epidemic of hate crimes. Vigils were held across America. The Shepard family received tens of thousands of letters and e-mails of support.
Matthew Shepard may have been small in stature, but he had a big heart. Fighting for social justice was central to who he was, and it formed a significant part of his life. In the aftermath of his death, Judy and Dennis Shepard started the Matthew Shepard Foundation to help carry on Matthew's legacy by embracing the just causes their son had championed. This includes working for gay and lesbian equality, and helping to prevent hate crimes. The play, and subsequent critically-acclaimed HBO movie, The Laramie Project, was written about Matthew and is performed frequently to draw attention to gay rights and the ending of hate crimes.
On May 11, 1999, Shepard testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In front of the committee, she delivered a powerful message to those who oppose hate crimes laws: "I can assure opponents of this legislation firsthand, it was not words or thoughts, but violent actions that killed my son."
She has appeared in two Human Rights Campaign public service television spots aimed at curbing anti-gay violence and promoting a greater understanding of gay issues. Produced by the Matthew Shepard Foundation, they were distributed during the autumn of 1999 to every network affiliate and cable operator in the US who uses public service announcements. In one of the ads, there is a home video of Matthew on-screen as Shepard says: "In a perfect world, because your child is gay, you don't worry about their safety. You just worry about them being happy. I loved Matt just the way he was. Just the way he was."
In September 1999, she agreed to appear in another television public service announcement (PSA) campaign decrying hate crimes. Sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the PSA began airing on MTV in October 1999.
She has also become actively involved with Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), and she wrote an open letter to school administrators that the organization included in a mailing to high school counselors around the US. In the letter, she encourages the school officials to make schools safer for gay students by promoting tolerance, and reprimanding students who harass gay students.
Judy Shepard is determined to use her grief over her son's death to make a difference--to do what she can to ensure that no other parent will have to endure what she has. She is now speaking to audiences nationwide about what they can do to make their schools and communities safer for everyone, regardless of their race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation. "I feel Matthew with me every day, or I would not be able to do this," she says. "We just hope we're doing what he would want us to do. We realize that we must use the voice his death has given us. I realize that what I can try and accomplish is to make people aware. We get so complacent in our lives that we forget not everyone is safe, and frequently, it is our children who aren't safe."
For source or more information, please visit:
Tickets:
Tickets are available through TicketMaster
and the UB Alumni Arena Ticket Office.
Lecture Sponsor:
Soledad O'Brien
Anchor and Special Correspondent for CNN/U.S.
36th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Event
Thursday, February 16, 2012, 8 p.m.
Kleinhans Music Hall
, Buffalo, NY
Soledad O'Brien is the anchor for CNN morning show Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien and special correspondent for CNN/U.S. Since joining the network in 2003, O'Brien has reported breaking news from around the globe and has produced award-winning, record-breaking and critically acclaimed documentaries on the most important stories facing the world today. She also covers political news as part of CNN's "Best Political Team on Television." In 2010, she wrote a critically-acclaimed memoir The Next Big Story: My Journey through the Land of Possibilities, which chronicles her biggest reporting moments and how her upbringing and background have influenced these experiences.
O'Brien's most recent documentaries include Black in America: The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley, a profile of an accelerator program developed to diversify the technology industry by helping African-American digital entrepreneurs secure funding for their ventures; Latino in America 2: In Her Corner, the story of female flyweight fighter and U.S. Olympic hopeful Marlen Esparza; Beyond Bravery: The Women of 9/11, an investigation into the lives of female rescue workers who were the first to respond to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks; Don't Fail Me: Education in America, a look at the crisis in public education where American kids are not learning the skills necessary to compete; The Women Who Would be Queen, a portrayal of the future King and Queen's friendship-turned-romance and very modern royal marriage; Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door, a report on religious freedom protections; Pictures Don't Lie, the story of the secret life of Civil Rights photographer Ernest Withers as a paid FBI informant; Almighty Debt, a Black in America special that explores the role of the black church in helping African Americans survive the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression; Rescued, a look at Haiti's remarkable children before, during and after the devastating earthquake; and Gary and Tony Have a Baby, the story of two gay men and their struggle to have a baby that has a biological and legal connection to both of them.
In 2009, Soledad reported for Latino in America, a wide-ranging look at Latinos living in this country; how they're reshaping America and how America is reshaping them. Prior, O'Brien reported for Black in America 2, a four-hour documentary focusing on successful community leaders who are improving the lives of African Americans. O'Brien's reporting for Black in America in 2008 revealed the state of Black America 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She has also reported for the CNN documentary Words That Changed a Nation, featuring a never-before-seen look at Dr. King's private writings and notes, and investigated his assassination in Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination. Her Children of the Storm project and One Crime at a Time documentary demonstrate O'Brien's continued commitment to covering stories out of New Orleans.
O'Brien joined CNN as the co-anchor of the network's flagship morning program, American Morning, and distinguished herself by reporting from the scene on the transformational stories that broke on her watch. For CNN's Katrina coverage, O'Brien's reports on the storm's impact included an in-depth interview with former FEMA chief Michael Brown. She also covered the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011, London terrorism attacks in July 2005, and in December 2004, she was among a handful of CNN anchors sent to Thailand to cover the disaster and aftermath of the tsunami.
In 2011, Soledad won her first Emmy for Crisis in Haiti (Anderson Cooper 360) in the category of Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form. O'Brien was part of the coverage teams that earned CNN a George Foster Peabody award for its BP oil spill and Katrina coverage and an Alfred I. duPont Award for its coverage of the Southeast Asia tsunami. The National Association of Black Journalists named O'Brien the Journalist of the Year and Edward R Murrow Awards lauded her with the RTDNA/UNITY award for Latino in America in 2010. She received the 2009 Medallion of Excellence for Leadership and Community Service Award from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. In 2008, she was the first recipient of the Soledad O'Brien Freedom's Voice Award from the Morehouse School of Medicine for being a catalyst for social change and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Goodermote Humanitarian Award for her efforts while reporting on the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami. Her numerous other awards include a Gracie Allen Award in 2007 for her reporting from Cyprus on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict as well as her reports from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The NAACP honored her with its President's Award in 2007 for her humanitarian efforts and journalistic excellence.
O'Brien came to CNN from NBC News where she anchored the network's Weekend Today since July 1999. Prior, O'Brien anchored MSNBC's award-winning technology program The Site. O'Brien joined NBC News in 1991 and was based in New York as a field producer for Nightly News and TODAY. Before her time at NBC, she served three years as a local reporter and bureau chief for the NBC affiliate KRON in San Francisco. She began her career as an associate producer and news writer at the then-NBC affiliate WBZ-TV in Boston.
Soledad O'Brien is a graduate of Harvard University and currently lives with her husband and four children in Manhattan.
For source or more information, please visit:
Tickets:
Tickets are available through the UB Alumni Arena and Center for the Arts Ticket Offices, as well as through Kleinhans Music Hall
.
Free Tickets for Community & Religious Organizations
Lecture Sponsors:
UB Minority Faculty & Staff Association
Contributing Lecture Sponsors:
College of Arts & Sciences
Cora P. Maloney College
Graduate School of Education
Minority Bar Association of WNY, Inc.
National Federation for Just Communities of WNY, Inc.
Women's Bar Association of the State of NY, WNY Chapter, Diversity Committee
Mary Robinson
Former President of Ireland (1990-1997); Past UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Graduate Student Choice Speaker
Thursday, March 29, 2012, 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts, UB's North (Amherst) Campus
President Mary Robinson has the acute ability to focus the global spotlight on highly important humanitarian issues. With compassion at the forefront of her politics, she has led the world with a strong ethical vision for the future.
As the first woman President of Ireland (1990 - 1997), she elevated the country to a new level of international status by fighting for controversial changes and bridging religious, social, and economic groups. President Robinson's campaign for worldwide democracy continues today with her work as president of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, a center for thought leadership, education, and advocacy on the struggle for global justice. With the belief that there is a seat at the table for businesses when it comes to solving human rights, justice, and environmental issues, President Robinson is also a member of the Club of Madrid.
A courageous defender of fundamental respect for human life, President Robinson was the first woman to chair the United Nations Commission for Human Rights and is the founder of The Ethical Globalization Initiative. She tirelessly advocates for the integration of human rights, gender sensitivity, and enhanced accountability in politics. She is also on the Council of Elders (along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jimmy Carter, and Gro Harlem Brundtland) and is the honorary president of Oxfam International.
In 2005, President Robinson was deemed a hero and an icon and was listed as one of Time's top 100 men and women whose "power, talent, or moral example is transforming the world." In 2009, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the highest civilian honor—for her significant global contributions.
Working to leave the world in better condition than how she found it, President Robinson continues to lead by example, acting as a bold, determined catalyst for change.
For source or more information, please visit:
Tickets:
Tickets will be available through TicketMaster
and the UB Center for the Arts Ticket Office.
Lecture Sponsor:
Contributing Lecture Sponsor:
Seth MacFarlane
Creator of Family Guy & American Dad
Undergraduate Student Choice Speaker
Saturday, April 28, 2012, 8 p.m.
Alumni Arena, UB's North (Amherst) Campus
As creator of the Emmy Award-winning animated series Family Guy and American Dad, Seth MacFarlane has earned a reputation for sparing little in his pursuit of no-holds-barred humor.
Family Guy chronicles the Griffin family, a somewhat-dysfunctional clan of which the smartest is Brian, a talking dog who prefers dry martinis to dry dog food. An anchor of FOX's Sunday night lineup, the show took an unprecedented road to success. After receiving rave critic reviews for its debut following the 1999 Super Bowl, the show was canceled in 2002 due to low ratings. But ensuing DVD sales told another story, as Family Guy eclipsed the respective video successes of The Simpsons, South Park, Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. Coupled with rerun success via the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, this prompted Fox to bring Family Guy back for an unheard-of second chance at prime time.
MacFarlane also produces American Dad for FOX, based on another off-kilter family led by a CIA agent father on perennial alert for terrorist activity. Dad tackles issues with the same politically incorrect panache that viewers have come to love (and expect) from MacFarlane.
In addition to his role as creator and executive producer, MacFarlane is the voice of many of his animated characters. At the podium, he takes audiences inside some of the most innovative and raucous television programming for a hilarious behind-the-scenes peek at everything from the writers' many neuroses to the one Family Guy episode that Fox refused to air.
Family Guy took home Emmy honors in 2000 ("Outstanding Voice-Over Performance") and 2002 ("Outstanding Music and Lyrics"), and more than 500 merchandise items have been licensed in over 10,000 consumer outlets (including Target, Wal-Mart and Kmart). In fall 2007, the show launched in off-net syndication in 20 major markets representing 37.8% of the United States.
MacFarlane's latest project is the Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland Show. The Cleveland Show instantly developed a cult following, as audiences couldn't get enough of Cleveland, the well-meaning, likable leading man played by Mike Henry. Variety praised the show's first season as "a running commentary on all things pop culture — riotous fun."
A cartoon illustrator during his childhood in Kent, Conn., Seth MacFarlane studied animation at the Rhode Island School of Design, where his student film, The Life of Larry, eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood. He relocated to his current residence of Los Angeles in the mid-'90s to work with Hanna-Barbera and MADtv before joining FOX to create Family Guy.
For source or more information, please visit:
Tickets:
Tickets are available through TicketMaster
and the UB Alumni Arena Ticket Office.
Lecture Sponsor:
