Distinguished artists, scientists and thought leaders headline fall 2025 Signature Lecture Series

A Pulitzer Prize winner, a Tony Award winner and prominent voices in science, business and other disciplines are among the speakers scheduled to visit the University of Georgia this semester for the university’s Signature Lecture Series.

Signature Lectures feature speakers noted nationally or internationally for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work. Many of the lectures are supported by endowments, while others honor notable figures and milestones in the university’s history. The lecture series is coordinated by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

“UGA’s Signature Lecture Series consistently brings acclaimed artists, renowned scientists and thought leaders from a variety of fields to our campus,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “This semester’s lectures present an uncommon opportunity for students, faculty, staff and community members to hear from, and to learn from, distinguished speakers representing a wide range of disciplines.”

The fall 2025 Signature Lectures are:

Andrew T. Cathy, chief executive officer, Chick-fil-A

Shoukry Leadership Speaker Series

Sept. 10, 10:20 a.m., University of Georgia Chapel

As CEO of one of the nation’s largest family-owned businesses, Cathy is only the third person in the company’s history to hold that title. He follows in the footsteps of his father, current Chairman Dan T. Cathy, and his late grandfather, Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy. His extensive experience includes working in Chick-fil-A restaurants and serving in multiple support center roles. A UGA alumnus, Cathy earned a bachelor’s degree in business education.

Sponsored by the Institute for Leadership Advancement, Terry College of Business.

Lea Salonga, Tony Award-winning Broadway star

Sept. 10, 5 p.m., Ramsey Concert Hall, UGA Performing Arts Center

Salonga is best known for her Tony Award-winning role in “Miss Saigon.” In addition to the Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards. Many fans will recognize Salonga as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from “Aladdin” and Fa Mulan from “Mulan” and “Mulan II.” For her portrayal of the beloved princesses, the Walt Disney Company bestowed her with the honor of Disney Legend.

Sponsored by the UGA Performing Arts Center.

Eddie Opara, renowned graphic designer

Sept. 18, 5:30 p.m., M. Smith Griffith Auditorium, Georgia Museum of Art

Opara is a multifaceted designer and partner at Pentagram whose work encompasses strategy, design and technology. His award-winning projects include the design of brand identity, publications, packaging, environments, exhibitions, interactive installations, websites, user interfaces and software, with many of his projects ranging across multiple media.

Sponsored by the Georgia Museum of Art and the Lamar Dodd School of Art.

Mark Graber, Regents Professor, Francis King Carey School of Law, University of Maryland

Constitution Day at UGA Lecture

Sept. 19, 2 p.m., University of Georgia Chapel

Recognized nationally for his scholarship on constitutional law and politics, Graber is the author of “A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism,” “Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil,” and “Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty,” among other influential works. He has co-edited leading constitutional law casebooks and published over 100 articles in top law and political science journals.

Sponsored by the Willson Center for the Humanities and Arts and the School of Public and International Affairs.

Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer

Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, professor and director, UGA Center for Food Safety

Georgia Writers Hall of Fame Lecture and Food, Power, and Politics Lecture

Sept. 23, 6 p.m., UGA Special Collections Building, Room 285

Blum, celebrated author of “The Poisoner’s Handbook” and “The Poison Squad,” is known for her works about chemistry, toxicology and the existence of poisons in our everyday lives as well as our history. Diez-Gonzalez is the director of the Center for Food Safety and a professor in the department of food science and technology at UGA.

Sponsored by UGA Libraries, the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

Teresa Amabile, Edsel Bryant Ford Professor, Harvard Business School

2025 Annual Torrance Lecture

Oct. 2, 4 p.m., University of Georgia Chapel

Amabile is an internationally recognized researcher, writer, speaker and emerita professor at Harvard Business School, widely known for her pioneering research on creativity, everyday work life and retirement. Her 45-year program of research on how the work environment can influence creativity and motivation yielded a theory of creativity and innovation; methods for assessing creativity, motivation and the work environment; and a set of prescriptions for maintaining and stimulating innovation.

Sponsored by the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development.

Tom Johnson, former chief executive officer, Los Angeles Times and CNN

Oct. 29, 4 p.m., UGA Special Collections Building Auditorium

Before his tenure as CEO of The Los Angeles Times and CNN, Johnson was chosen for the first class of White House Fellows, then became assistant press secretary under Bill Moyers. He later served as assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnsonduring the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. A UGA alumnus, he is a recipient of several awards, including the Horatio Alger Award, Ten Outstanding Young Americans, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Paul White Award and the John Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award by the White House Fellows for lifetime achievement in public service. His new book is ”Driven: A Life in Public Service and Journalism from LBJ to CNN,” with a foreword by Judy Woodruff.

Sponsored by the University of Georgia Press, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, and The Red & Black.

Edward Hirsch and Robin Coste Lewis, world-renowned poets

Nov. 4, 5:30 p.m., University of Georgia Chapel

UGA Poetry Festival Keynote Event

A MacArthur Fellow, Hirsch has published 10 books of poetry, including “Gabriel: A Poem” and “Stranger by Night.” His eight books of prose include “How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry” and “The Heart of American Poetry.” His new book is the memoir “My Childhood in Pieces.” He has received numerous prizes, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pablo Neruda Presidential Medal of Honor, and the National Jewish Book Award. Since 2003, he has been president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Lewis won the National Book Award for “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” which the online magazine Literary Hub named one of the best books of the last 20 years. Lewis is a former poet laureate of Los Angeles, and her work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Paris Review. Lewis is professor of poetry and poetics at the University of Southern California.

Sponsored by the Georgia Review and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

Cori Bargmann, Torsten N. Wiesel Professor and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rockefeller University

Hope Ritter Lecture in Cellular Biology

Nov. 11, 5 p.m., Cedar Street Building C (Chemistry), Room 430

A world-renowned neurobiologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences, Bargmann is known for her work on the genetic and neural circuit mechanisms of behavior, particularly the mechanisms of olfaction in the worm C. elegans. In 2014, she was chosen to lead President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative, and she served as head of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative from 2016 to 2022. Bargmann earned a bachelor’s in biochemistry from UGA. During her doctoral work at MIT, she examined the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis and helped identify the role of Ras in bladder cancer. Although the relevance of her research was doubted at the time, it later led to significant treatments in breast cancer.

Sponsored by the department of cellular biology.

Allison Ausband, executive vice president and chief people officer, Delta Air Lines

Mason Public Leadership Lecture

Nov. 12, 10:20 a.m., University of Georgia Chapel

As Delta Air Lines’ executive vice president and chief people officer, Ausband is responsible for making sure the company’s 100,000 employees feel valued, supported and empowered. She leads everything from hiring and career development to pay and benefits, helping shape Delta’s people-first culture.                 

Sponsored by the Institute for Leadership Advancement.

Raj Khosla, incoming Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University

D.W. Brooks Lecture

Nov. 13, 3:30 p.m., University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel, Masters Hall

Khosla has been involved in precision agriculture since its inception, making significant contributions to its development and global adoption. He is the founder and past president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture. Khosla’s research focuses on harnessing spatial and temporal variability in managed agro-ecosystems to improve decision making. Currently, Khosla is co-leading multi-state, multi-year, federally funded projects to develop and evaluate next-generation sensors and novel AI algorithms designed to enhance water and nitrogen use in irrigated systems.

Sponsored by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Hanna Pylväinen, National Book Award finalist in fiction

Dec. 2, 6 p.m., Ramsey Hall, UGA Performing Arts Center

Pylväinen is the author of the novels “We Sinners,” which received the Whiting Award and the Balcones Fiction Prize, and “The End of Drum-Time,” a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award in fiction. Her work has appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. She teaches at the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.

Sponsored by The Georgia Review and the UGA Performing Arts Center.            

All Signature Lectures are free and open to the public. Capacity is limited for some lectures, with registration required.

Requests for accommodations for those with disabilities should be made as soon as possible but at least seven days prior to the scheduled lecture. To request an accommodation, please notify the event contact. Event contacts are listed here.

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