On Breakthrough vs. Follow-Through Innovation
Atul Gawande

We have had a century of scientific investment in breakthrough innovation that has transformed the potential of lives and society. But it has not been matched by investment in follow-through innovation to deliver these breakthroughs widely. Atul Gawande, M.D., M.P.H, practicing surgeon, writer, and public health leader, believes that the science and study of systems, however, is producing solutions demonstrating massive potential to save lives and reduce suffering.

Dr. Gawande’s talk will highlight the special 75th Anniversary theme of “Science and Policy.”

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Notes From The Field: The Pipeline Project
Anna Deavere Smith

One of the most hailed and provocative theatre artists of our time, Anna Deavere Smith explores current events from multiple points of view and combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance. In her powerful first-person storytelling, she brings attention to youth who, through poverty, are vulnerable to becoming embroiled in cycles of incarceration. Drawing from interviews with more than 250 people living and working within a challenged system, Smith depicts the personal accounts of students, parents, teachers, and administrators caught in America’s school-to-prison pipeline and shines a light on a lost generation of American youth.

Ms. Smith’s talk will highlight the special 75th Anniversary theme of “Unity and Division.”

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Progress and Enlightenment in the 21st Century
Steven Pinker

Progress is a demonstrable fact: We are healthier, richer, freer, safer, and happier than our ancestors. It’s not because of some mystical force that lifts our species upward. It’s because of the Enlightenment ideal of using knowledge to enhance well-being, and the institutions it created, including science, liberal democracy, commerce, and organizations for international cooperation. Will this progress continue, given the threats of pandemics, climate change, and authoritarian populism? No one knows for sure, but Steven Pinker, award- winning experimental psychologist and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, will offer ways to think about the challenges ahead.

Professor Pinker’s talk will highlight the special 75th Anniversary theme of “Civilization and Commerce.”

Photo credit: Rose Lincoln, Harvard University

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When Should Law Forgive?
Martha Minow

In an age of resentment, mass incarceration, exploding student debt, and recriminations across social media and communities, forgiveness is an under-utilized resource, especially in law and politics. When and how can laws, courts, public officials, and neighbors forgive crimes and debts? Can pardons and amnesties be fairly granted or inevitably reflect the biases of the powerful? Should law encourage people to forgive? Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University and former dean of Harvard Law School, explores the promise and limitations of forgiveness within and beyond law amid a global pandemic, reckonings about racial and gender-based wrongs, and political anxiety.

Professor Minow’s talk will highlight the special 75th Anniversary theme of “Unity and Division.”

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Science and Policy (Title Forthcoming)
Dr. France A. Córdova

Dr. France A. Córdova, former director of the National Science Foundation, is an experienced leader in science, engineering, and education with more than three decades experience at universities and national labs.  She has served in five presidential administrations, both Democratic and Republican, and is an internationally recognized astrophysicist for her contributions in space research and instrumentation. Dr. Córdova is the only woman to serve as president of Purdue University, where she led the university to record levels of research funding, reputational rankings, and student retention and graduation rates and is also chancellor emerita of the University of California, Riverside. She has also served as NASA’s chief scientist, the youngest person and first woman, and was awarded the agency’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal.

Dr. Córdova’s talk will highlight the special 75th Anniversary theme of “Science and Policy.”

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Live broadcast information for alumni, parents and friends will be forthcoming shortly.