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Guest Speakers

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Collage of speakers who visited Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Selected Guest Speakers

Frances Arnold
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Michelle Bachelet
Former President of Chile

Jerry Brown
Former Governor of California

Lord John Browne
UK Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology

Ken Burns
Documentary Filmmaker

Nick Cave
American Artist

Raj Chetty
Harvard University Professor of Economics

Jeanne Gang
Gang Studio

Melinda Gates
Gates Foundation

Al Gore
Former Vice President of the United States

Alexandra Hughes
E-Bite Project

Anthony Abraham Jack
Professor and Author

Ro Khanna
California Congressman

Sal Khan
Founder of Khan Academy

Phil Knight
Nike Founder

Roman Krznaric
Author/Philosopher

Andrew Luck
Former Football Quarterback

James Manyika
Google SVP of Technology and Society

James Mattis
Former US Secretary of Defense

Michael McFaul
Former US Ambassador to Russia

Aubrey Merriman
LifeMoves

Ellen Ochoa
Former Astronaut and Director of Johnson Space Center

Jeff Orlowski
Documentary Filmmaker

Condoleeza Rice
Former US Secretary of State

Alberto Savoia
Author, Entrepreneur

Libby Schaaf
Mayor of Oakland, California

Michael Specter
New Yorker Magazine

Sri Srinivasan
Chief Judge of US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit

Mary Elizabeth Taylor
Former US Assistant Secretary of State

Michael Tubbs
Former Stockton California Mayor

Isabel Wilkerson
Author

Susan Wojicki
YouTube CEO

Albert Woodfox
Activist/Author

Malala Yousafzai
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Fareed Zakaria
CNN Host, Journalist

2022/2023 Stanford Speakers

Mildred Cho
Topic: Bioethics

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros
Topic: Latin America

Rodolfo Dirzo
Topic: Environmental Justice

David Lobell
Topic: Food Security

Oriana Skylar Mastro
Topic: China

Pam Matson 
Topic: Harnessing Knowledge for Transformative Changes

Michael McFaul
Topic: Europe

Fiorenza Micheli
Topic: Climatic Impacts on Oceans

Rob Reich
Topic: Effective Altruism and Philanthropy

Will Tarpeh
Topic: Wastewater Recycling

Amy Zegart
Topic: National Security

2021/2022 Stanford Speakers

Steve Blank
Topic: From Idea to Implementation

Aneel Chima
Topic: Flourishing Workshop

Christopher Costanza
St. Lawrence String Quartet 
Topic: Music and Leadership

Mark Duggan
Topic: Healthcare Reform

Rob Dunbar
Topic: Climate Change

Jack Fuchs
Topic: Ethics in Entrepreneurship

Aleta Hayes
Topic: Embodied Leadership

Mykel Kochendorfer
Topic: Artificial Intelligence

Allison Okamura
Topic: Robotics

Megan Palmer
Topic: Ethics in BioTechnology

Sean Reardon
Topic: Education Equity

Rob Reich
Topic: Ethics in Technology

Mehran Sahami
Topic: Ethics in Technology

Debbie Senesky
Topic: Space Exploration

Shirin Sinnar
Topic: Revisiting Hate Crime Law

Piya Sorcar
Topic: TeachAIDS

Will Tarpeh
Topic: Designing Circular Economies to Make Wastewater Obsolete

Ge Wang
Topic: Ethics in Technology

Jeremy Weinstein
Topic: Ethics in Technology

Tony Wyss-Coray
Topic: The Science of Longevity

Janine Zacharia
Topic: Ethics in Journalism