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Hillary Rodham Clinton among UB Distinguished Speakers

by jmaloni
Fri, Jul 5th 2013 12:20 pm

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will head a lineup of luminaries taking the stage at the University at Buffalo for its 2013-14 Distinguished Speakers Series.

The series, which will begin its 27th season this fall, also will feature popular author and physicist Michio Kaku, physician and television journalist Sanjay Gupta, civil rights leaders Myrlie Evers-Williams and Mary Frances Berry, "eclectic detective" Malcolm Gladwell and magician and endurance performer David Blaine.

All programs will begin at 8 p.m. in Alumni Arena or the Center for the Arts on the UB North Campus.

The award-winning speakers have written provocative and best-selling books; held important national office; spurred significant public discussion of science, law, medicine, social science and the humanities; and have been cited as being among the best in their respective fields.

"From exploring the physics of our universe to learning through first-hand accounts of the struggle for civil rights and challenges of public service in our nation, this year's Distinguished Speaker Series offers a broad spectrum of topics that will inspire new ideas and spark meaningful conversations across the UB campus and our community," said UB President Satish K. Tripathi, Ph.D.

The speakers:

•Michio Kaku: Sept. 25, Alumni Arena. Theoretical physicist, futurist, author and Henry Semat professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York, Kaku is co-founder of string field theory and continues Einstein's search for a "Theory of Everything" that will unify the four fundamental forces of the universe.

•Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton: Oct. 23, Alumni Arena.

Clinton served as the 67th U.S. secretary of state from 2009-13, after nearly four decades in public service. Her "smart power" approach to foreign policy repositioned American diplomacy and development for the 21st century. Earlier, as first lady and senator from New York, she traveled to more than 80 countries as a champion of human rights, democracy and opportunities for women and girls.

•Malcolm Gladwell: Nov. 13, Alumni Arena. A staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996, Gladwell has been called one of the top 50 intellectual leaders of the decade. He has a notable gift for interpreting new ideas in the social sciences, grounding them in academic research and making that research understandable, practical and valuable to general audiences.

•Mary Frances Berry and Myrlie Evers-Williams: Feb. 26, Center for the Arts. Berry and Evers-Williams will be featured as part of UB's 38th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Event.

Berry has been one of the most recognized and respected voices in our nation's fight for civil rights, gender equality and social justice through four presidential administrations. She served twice as chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission for many years - and famously sued Ronald Reagan when he tried to remove her - and as assistant secretary for education in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Evers-Williams became a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement when her husband, noted civil rights activist Medgar Evers, was assassinated 50 years ago this month. She was the first female chair of the NAACP and founded the Medgar Evers Institute to promote education, training and economic development while exposing new generations of students to the cause for which her husband died.

•Sanjay Gupta: March 26, Alumni Arena. A practicing neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for CNN, Gupta reports on health and medical news for several shows and documentaries, and anchors the medical affairs program "Sanjay Gupta, M.D."

•David Blaine: April 26, Alumni Arena. A world-renowned magician and endurance artist, Blaine presents high-profile feats of endurance during which he has set and broken several world records. He also is known as a performer of street and close-up magic.

Distinguished Speakers Series subscriptions orders can be placed beginning July 10. Purchase options and instructions (downloadable forms, box office and online purchase) will be available at that time on the series' website: www.buffalo.edu/dss.

Tickets for individual lectures will go on sale Aug. 1.

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