Among those visiting will be environmentalist and author Leah Thomas, columnist Arthur C. Brooks, retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, historian and author Jonathan Eig, decorated combat pilot Vernice Armour and Phi Beta Kappa leader Frederick M. Lawrence.
The new academic year at Elon University will bring a host of exciting and engaging speakers from the worlds of environmentalism, leadership, the military and history through the 2024-25 Elon University Speaker Series. This year’s series will include events centered around the foundations of leadership and innovation that will offer audiences the opportunity to hear from thought leaders and changemakers impacting the world.
The series includes environmentalist and author Leah Thomas, columnist Arthur C. Brooks, retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, historian and author Jonathan Eig, decorated combat pilot Vernice Armour and Phi Beta Kappa leader Frederick M. Lawrence.
The university’s full cultural calendar is available and includes additional speakers as well as a wide range of musical, theatrical, artistic and other intellectually engaging events. Access the full calendar here.
Thursday, September 19
Leah Thomas
Alumni Gym, Koury Athletic Center, 7 p.m.
The Elon Common Reading Lecture
Leah Thomas is a celebrated environmentalist who uses her passion for writing and creativity to explore and advocate for the critical yet often overlooked relationship between social justice and environmentalism. Her platform aims to provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmentalism and promote inclusivity and accessibility within environmental education and movements.
Thomas is the founder of the nonprofit Intersectional Environmentalist and author of “The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet”. She has been recognized for her work in outlets like Harper’s Bazaar, W Magazine, CNN, ABC News and NBC, among others, and has been honored on lists including Forbes 30 under 30, EBONY Power 100, TIME100 Next and INSIDER’s Climate Action 30.
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets will be available Aug. 27 at ElonTickets.com.
Friday, September 27
Arthur Brooks
Alumni Gym, Koury Athletic Center, 3:30 p.m.
Elon University Fall Convocation
Arthur C. Brooks is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular “How to Build a Life” column.
Brooks is the author of 13 books, including the 2023 No. 1 New York Times bestseller “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier” with co-author Oprah Winfrey, and the 2022 No. 1 New York Times bestseller “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.” He speaks to audiences around the world about human happiness and works to raise well-being within private companies, universities, public agencies and community organizations.
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets will be available beginning Aug. 27 at ElonTickets.com.
Monday, November 11
U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen (Ret.)
McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, 11 a.m.
The Carol Ann Walker International Lectureship
U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen (Ret.) served as the 28th Chief of Naval Operations from 2005 to 2007 and was the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama from 2007 to 2011. He led the military during a critical time of change and transition, overseeing the end of the combat mission in Iraq and the development and implementation of a new military strategy in Afghanistan.
Mullen advanced the rapid fielding of innovative technologies, championed emerging and enduring global partnerships, and promoted new methods for countering terrorism, all of which culminated in the killing of Osama bin Laden. He spearheaded the elimination of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, ushering for the first time in U.S. military history the open service of gay and lesbian men and women.
Mullen is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Distinguished Graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, a Distinguished Alumni of Harvard Business School, a Member of the National Academy of Engineering and a trustee of Caltech. He currently serves as president of MGM Consulting, LLC, based in Annapolis, Maryland. MGM Consulting provides counsel to global clients on issues related to geo-political developments, national security interests and strategic leadership.
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning Aug. 27 at ElonTickets.com.
Thursday, January 9
Jonathan Eig, “Beyond the Dream: Embracing a More Complicated Martin Luther King, Jr.”
McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, 6 p.m.
Liberal Arts Forum Lecture and Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address
In hallowing Martin Luther King Jr., we have hollowed him. We have replaced his radical vision for justice with a romantic image of a man who stands for little more than love and peace. For the past seven years, Jonathan Eig has traveled across the country, meeting the people who knew King personally, recording their stories and learning about the real Martin Luther King Jr. – the complicated one, the flawed one, the radical one, the one we really need in today’s bitter divided world.
Eig is the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of “King: A Life.” He’s the author of six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. The New York Times hailed “King: A Life” as the “definitive” biography of Martin Luther King Jr. The book was awarded the New York Historical Society’s 2024 Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize, which is presented annually to the nation’s best work of history or biography. “King” was also nominated for the National Book Award. Eig’s previous book, “Ali: A Life,” won a 2018 PEN America Literary Award. His works have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning Dec. 2 at ElonTickets.com.
March 13, 2025
Vernice Armour
Alumni Gym, Koury Athletic Center, 7 p.m.
The Baird Lecture
Vernice Armour, who made history during Operation Iraqi Freedom by becoming America’s first African American female combat pilot, will deliver Elon’s Baird Lecture on Thursday, March 13, in Alumni Gym.
The author of “Zero to Breakthrough, The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter,” Armour launched VAI Consulting and Training LLC after her completion of two tours as a U.S. Marine in Iraq. Through her consulting and training firm she helps individuals and organizations make moves to create breakthrough results by applying her “Zero to Breakthrough Success Model.”
Born in Chicago and then growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Armour became the first woman of color to serve on the Nashville Police Department’s motorcycle squad and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on her way to flight school. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Armour flew above the deserts of Iraq in her missile-equipped attack helicopter, engaging the enemy and scouting the roads from her cockpit, making sure they were safe for her fellow Marines and soldiers on the ground.
Her story has been featured by media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, The View, FOX News and by Oprah Winfrey. Additionally, she has been a running back for the San Diego Sunfire professional women’s football team and a two-time title holder of Camp Pendleton’s Strongest Warrior Competition. She is working on her next book, “The Gutsy Move.”
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning Feb. 20, 2025, at ElonTickets.com.
April 3, 2025
Frederick M. Lawrence
Whitley Auditorium, 6:30 p.m.
The James P. Elder Lecture
Frederick M. Lawrence, renowned civil rights scholar, author, secretary/CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and former president of Brandeis University, will deliver the James P. Elder Lecture in Whitley Auditorium.
An accomplished scholar, teacher and attorney, Lawrence is one of the nation’s leading experts on civil rights, free expression and bias crimes. A distinguished lecturer at the Georgetown Law Center, he previously served as president of Brandeis University, dean of the George Washington University Law School and visiting professor and senior research scholar at Yale Law School.
He is the author of “Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law,” a book that examined bias-motivated violence and the laws governing how that violence is punished in the United States. He frequently contributes op-eds to various news sources, such as Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, US News and the NY Daily News, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News among other networks.
At Phi Beta Kappa, he has focused on advocacy for the arts, humanities and sciences, championing free expression, free inquiry and academic freedom. The nation’s first and most prestigious honor society, Phi Beta Kappa has more than 290 chapters, including Elon’s chapter, and nearly 50 alumni associations.
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning March 11, 2025, at ElonTickets.com.
For more details, visit the Elon University Speaker Series website.