Leading Voices Share Solutions for Restoring Respectful Discourse
The Civility in America series, sponsored by the Dilenschneider Group, The Ferguson Library, and Hearst Media Services, features some of the nation’s leading thinkers from a wide variety of professions, who provide their perspective on what must be done to restore civility in our country.
Recent Speakers
Jens Frederiksen, President of the University of New Haven
Lecture Date: 6/18/2024
General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)
Lecture Date: 10/22/23
Joanne Lipman, Author of Next! The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work
Lecture Date: 5/9/2023
Dr. Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations
Lecture Date: 3/6/2023
Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm
Lecture Date: 9/21/2022
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton
Lecture Date: 6/2/2022
Former U.S. Congressman Chris Shays
Lecture Date: 4/14/2022
Management Consultant Cyrus Freidheim
Lecture Date: 3/10/2022
Historian Andrew Roberts
Lecture Date: 2/22/2022
Indra Nooyi, Former Chairman and CEO of Pepsico
Lecture Date: 2/7/2022
Greg Zuckerman, A Shot to Save the World
Lecture Date: 10/18/2021
The Wisdom of Civility
Rick Slager
Lecture Date: 2/24/2021
Janet Jensen, Executive Director of the Jensen Project
Lecture Date: 2/3/2021
U.S. Diplomacy
Robert B. Zoellick
Lecture Date: 10/8/2020
Coronavirus and other Pandemics and the Impact on Civility
Clive A. Meanwell
Lecture Date: 6/4/2020
Beyond the Great Divide
Former New York Governor George Pataki
Lecture Date: 5/15/2020
Civility in Public Service
General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)
Lecture Date: 5/10/2020
Stemming the Tide of Whale Extinction: Why it must be our civil duty
Stephen Coan, President and CEO, Mystic Aquarium
Lecture Date: 10/20/2019
Civility, Democracy and Journalism
Scott Pelley, CBS News
Lecture Date: 10/15/2019
Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis
Lecture Date: 9/4/2019
Civility in American History
Historian Douglas Brinkley
Lecture Date: 6/24/2019
Civility in a Growing Economy
Oren Cass
Lecture Date: 4/23/2019
Civility in the Fight Against AIDS
Elliott Millenson
Lecture Date: 3/14/2019
Ethics in the Digital Age
Jim Blasingame
Lecture Date: 10/25/2018
Diversity in Diplomacy
Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas
Lecture Date: 6/28/2018
Restoring Civility
HUD Secretary Ben Carson
Lecture Date: 6/6/2018
Civility and Community Colleges
Dr. David Levinson, President of NCC
Lecture Date: 5/5/2018
Civility in the Corporate World
Joann Lublin, Former Management News Editor of the Wall Street Journal
Lecture Date: 5/3/2018
Civility in Sports & Health
Dr. Rock Positano
Lecture Date: 3/26/2018
Civility in TV Journalism
Marvin Scott, WPIX news anchor
Lecture Date: 2/15/2018
Reckoning with Race
Gene Dattel, Author
Lecture Date: 1/16/2018
Civility in Technology & the Arts
Grace Cho, Founder & CEO of Orangenius
Lecture Date: 11/28/2017
Civility at an American School in a Muslim Country
Jonathan Starr, Founder of the Abaarso School
Lecture Date: 10/23/2017
Civility and the Law
Richard Edlin, Greenberg Traurig
Lecture Date: 9/26/2017
Civility and the Fate of the West
Bill Emmott, Former Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
Lecture Date: 6/13/2017
Five Star Civility
Francois-Olivier Luiggi, GM, Pierre Hotel
Lecture Date: 5/23/2017
Civility and a Life of Meaning
Amr Al-Dabbagh, Founder, Stars Foundation
Lecture Date: 4/4/2017
Civility in Business
Mike Perlis, CEO, Forbes Media
Lecture Date: 2/28/2017
Civility in the Sports Business
George Bodenheimer, former President, ESPN
Lecture Date: 1/17/2017
Civility and the Spirit of Thanksgiving
Melanie Kirkpatrick, author and journalist
Lecture Date: 11/15/2016
Civility in Music
Mike Love of the Beach Boys
Lecture Date: 10/14/2016
Civility in Broadcasting, Politics & Public Life
Lawrence Kudlow, conservative commentator
Lecture Date: 10/4/2016
Civility in Comedy and Humor
Jerry Zezima, humor writer
Lecture Date: 5/31/2016
Civility Between Young and Old
Ken Dychtwald, Longevity expert
Lecture Date: 5/10/2016
“Civility in Politics and American Life”
David Sokol, Owner and CEO of Teton Capital, LLC
Lecture Date: 4/6/2016
“Silo-Busting”
Gillian Tett, Editor, Financial Times
Lecture Date: 3/8/2016
“Civility in Government”
James H. Douglas, Former Governor of Vermont
Lecture Date: 2/9/2016
“Civility and Why Girls Matter”
Anna Maria Chavez, CEO, Girls Scouts of the USA
Lecture Date: 1/12/2016
“Civility and Artificial Intelligence”
Steve Lohr, New York Times Technology Writer
Lecture Date: 2/6/2016
“Civility and The Power of Thank You”
Deborah Norville, Two-time Emmy Award-winning TV anchor
Lecture Date: 10/5/2015
“Civility in Government”
Joseph Califano, Former Secretary of Health, Education & Welfare
Lecture Date: 10/10/2015
“Civility in Arts & Letters”
Barbara Taylor Bradford, Best-selling Author
Lecture Date: 6/25/2015
“Civility in the Future of Zoos and Aquariums”
Dr. Stephen Coan, President and CEO, Mystic Aquarium
Lecture Date: 5/26/2015
“Show Civility, It Pays”
Julie Kampf, President & CEO, JBK Associates
Lecture Date: 3/25/2015
“Civility in New Media”
Henry Timms, Executive Director, 92nd Street Y
Lecture Date: 2/10/2015
“Civility in Business”
Geoff Colvin, Editorial Director for Fortune
Lecture Date: 11/18/2014
“Civility in Animal Welfare”
Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO of the Humane Society of United States
Lecture Date: 10/7/2014
“Civility in Management”
Cindi Bigelow, President & CEO of R.C. Bigelow, Inc.
Lecture Date: 9/16/2014
“Civility in the Spy Business”
Jack Devine, high level CIA director and author
Lecture Date: 6/24/2014
“Civility in Public Service”
Abraham Foxman, National Director of ADL
Lecture Date: 5/20/2014
“Civility in Dining”
Alex von Bidder, owner of Four Seasons Restaurant
Lecture Date: 4/22/2014
“Truth, Love and Civility”
Bishop Frank Caggiano, Diocese of Bridgeport
Lecture Date: 3/4/2014
“Heroism and Civility”
Thomas Von Essen, former New York City Fire Commissioner
Lecture Date: 2/25/2014
“Civility on the Gridiron”
George Martin, former defensive end of the New York Giants
Lecture Date: 1/14/2014
“Civility in Baseball”
Brian Cashman, General Manager of the NY Yankees
Lecture Date: 2/2/2013
“Civility in American Society”
Georgia Nugent, Chair, Council of Independent Colleges, Former President, Kenyon College
Lecture Date: 10/15/2013
“Civility in Business”
Tom Donohue, President & CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Lecture Date: 10/10/2013
“Civility in Sports”
Fay Vincent, Former Commissioner, Major League Baseball
Lecture Date: 6/11/2013
“Civility in Politics”
Gov. Rick Perry, Governor of Texas
Lecture Date: 6/17/2013
"Civility in History"
Amity Shales, Author (Coolidge) and Syndicated Columnist
Lecture Date: 5/7/2013
“Civility in International Scholarship”
Allan Goodman, President & CEO, Institute of International Education
Lecture Date: 4/16/2013
“Civility in Law Enforcement”
William Bratton, former Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department as well as former New York City and Boston Police Commissioner. Mr. Bratton is now Chairman of Kroll.
Lecture Date: 3/12/2013
“Civility in Education”
Joel Klein, former Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education and currently CEO of Amplify and EVP/Office of the Chairman at News Corporation.
Lecture Date: 2/28/2013
“Civility in Management”
Edward Reilly, President & CEO of American Management Association
Lecture Date: 12/4/2012
“Civility and the Art of Giving Thanks”
Georgette Mosbacher, CEO, Borghese Cosmetics
Lecture Date: 11/19/2012
“Civility in Politics”
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine
Lecture Date: 10/17/2012
“Civility in the Media”
Ernie Anastos, WNYW Fox 5 News Anchor
Lecture Date: 10/3/2012
“Civility in Art”
Dr. James Cuno, CEO & President, J. Paul Getty Trust
Lecture Date: 9/24/12
“Civility in Politics”
Mickey Edwards, Vice President, The Aspen Institute
“Civility in Society”
Philip K. Howard, Partner, Covington & Burling
“Civility in Corporate America”
Steve Forbes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes
“Civility in Public Life”
John Brademas, President Emeritus, New York University
“Civility in the Media”
Charles Osgood, radio and television commentator
“Civility in the Financial Sector”
Dr. Henry Kaufman, President, Kaufman & Co.
