Elon University places students and the local community in the same room with world leaders and scholars to inspire, to create bold ideas and to motivate new thinking. This type of learning is at the heart of Elon’s innovative experiential learning model. Together, we learn how to be our best.

  • Madeleine Albright
    U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
  • Buzz Aldrin
    NASA astronaut
  • Maya Angelou
    Poet and author
  • Oscar Arias
    President of Costa Rica, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
  • Arthur Ashe
    First African-American U.S. Open tennis champion
  • Ehud Barak
    Prime Minister of Israel
  • Dave Barry
    Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
  • Michael Beschloss
    NY Times Bestselling Author
  • Preet Bharara
    U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
  • Benazir Bhutto
    Prime Minister of Pakistan
  • Ben Bradlee
    Executive editor, The Washington Post
  • George H.W. Bush
    President of the United States
  • David Cameron
    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • Jimmy Carter
    President of the United States
  • Shirley Chisholm
    First African-American U.S. Congresswoman
  • Bill Clinton
    President of the United States
  • Billy Collins
    U.S. Poet Laureate
  • Anderson Cooper
    Emmy Award-winning CNN journalist
  • Walter Cronkite
    Pioneering CBS News anchor
  • Alan Dershowitz
    Legal commentator, political analyst and attorney
  • Maureen Dowd
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
  • Olympia Dukakis
    Academy Award-winning actress
  • Chris Economaki
    First television auto-racing commentator
  • Bob Edwards
    National Public Radio broadcaster
  • Paul Ehrlich
    Groundbreaking scientist on population studies
  • Gerald Ford
    President of the United States
  • Herb Frazier, Bernard Powers & Marjory Wentworth
    Authors of “We are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel”
  • Thomas Friedman
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
  • Millard Fuller
    Founder and President of Habitat for Humanity International
  • Bill George
    Medtronic CEO and author
  • David Gergen
    Advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton
  • Charles Gibson
    ABC News Anchor
  • John Glenn
    Pioneering NASA astronaut, U.S. Senator from Ohio
  • Jane Goodall
    Primatologist and conservationist
  • Doris Kearns Goodwin
    Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
  • Stephen Jay Gould
    Paleontologist and author
  • Gilbert Grosvenor
    President and photo journalist, National Geographic Society
  • Sanjay Gupta
    Neurosurgeon, Emmy Award-winning chief medical correspondent for CNN
  • Mónica Guzmán
    Bridge builder, journalist and author
  • David Halberstam
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
  • Nikki Haley
    U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Governor of South Carolina
  • Walter Isaacson
    President and CEO of Aspen Institute
  • Daymond John
    Business entrepreneur and co-host of “Shark Tank”
  • Ashley Judd
    Actress, lifelong activist, social justice humanitarian
  • F.W. de Klerk
    President of South Africa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
  • Jonathan Kozol
    Educator and author
  • Nicholas Kristof
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
  • Madeleine L’Engle
    Newberry Medal-winner author
  • Tony La Russa
    Legendary Hall of Fame baseball manager
  • Terry Labonte
    Stock car race driver and NASCAR TV Commentator
  • Leo M. Lambert & Peter Felten
    Authors of “Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College”
  • Frederick Lawrence
    Civil Rights Scholar, Author, Attorney and Secretary/CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
  • Belle Liang
    Principal investigator in the Purpose Lab and Boston College professor
  • Eric Liu
    CEO of Citizen University, civic evangelist and former White House speechwriter
  • Carli Lloyd
    Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup Champion
  • James Lovell
    NASA astronaut
  • Sonia Manzano
    Emmy Award Winning Actress and Writer on Sesame Street and Author
  • Frank McCourt
    Pulitzer Prize-winning author
  • David McCullough
    Pulitzer Prize-winning author
  • Leland Melvin
    Engineer, educator, former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver
  • Edmund Morris
    Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer
  • Kary Mullis
    Nobel Prize-winning chemist
  • Dee Dee Myers
    Presidential press secretary and political analyst
  • Ralph Nader
    Consumer advocate, political activist
  • The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor
    U.S. Supreme Court Justice
  • Tommy Orange
    Pulitzer Prize finalist, award-winning author of “There There”
  • Itzhak Perlman
    Virtuoso Violinist
  • Gen. Colin L. Powell
    U.S. Secretary of State, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • Reynolds Price
    Novelist, poet, essayist
  • Hal Prince
    Tony Award-winning Broadway producer-director
  • The Honorable H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan
    Queen of Jordan
  • Anna Quindlen
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
  • Jonathan Reckford
    Nonprofit leader and CEO of Habitat for Humanity
  • Dorothy Roberts
    Social justice advocate, award-winning scholar
  • Reshma Saujani
    Founder of Girls Who Code and Founder & CEO of Moms First
  • Sen. Alan Simpson
    Former member of the United States Senate, State of Wyoming
  • Gloria Steinem
    Author, lecturer, political activist and feminist organizer
  • Wendy Suzuki
    “Good Anxiety” author, exercise advocate, science storyteller
  • Margaret Thatcher
    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • Jeffrey Toobin
    CNN legal analyst
  • Nina Totenberg
    National Public Radio legal affairs correspondent
  • Archbishop Desmond Tutu
    Nobel Peace Prize laureate
  • Neil DeGrasse Tyson
    Astrophysicist and author
  • Sander Vanocur
    Veteran journalist and host of the History Channel’s “Movies in Time” and “History’s Business”
  • Jimmy Wales
    Technology Futurist and the Founder of Wikipedia
  • Lech Walesa
    President of Poland, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
  • Cornel West
    Author and civil rights activist
  • Christine Todd Whitman
    EPA Administrator, Governor of New Jersey
  • Elie Wiesel
    Nobel Peace Prize laureate
  • George Will
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
  • Edward O. Wilson
    Pulitzer Prize-winning author and biologist
  • BD Wong
    Award-winning actor and author
  • Zachary R. Wood
    Free Speech Activist, Author and Assistant Opinion Editor at The Guardian
  • Bob Woodward
    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
  • Steve Wozniak
    Co-Founder, Apple Computer
  • Steve Young
    NFL Hall of Fame quarterback