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Events

Watch: As part of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging speaker series, Heather McGhee talks to Kenji Yoshino about the importance of transcending zero-sum thinking and building solidarity.

Speaker Series

The Meltzer Center offers an annual speaker series featuring leaders from academia and the public and private sectors on a range of topics relating to diversity and inclusion. Speakers for the 2024-25 academic year are:

  • , Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University and author of Seeing Others: How Recognition Works—and How It Can Heal a Divided World (2023). [October 22, 2024]
  • , Founder and President of Interfaith America and author of We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy (2022). [November 12, 2024] Watch the recording.
  • , Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness (2024). [February 14, 2025] 
  • ’87 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Esq. Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard University School of Law and former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. [February 26, 2025] Watch the recording.
  • Deborah Archer, President of the ACLU and Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Clinical Law at ÈâÂþÎÝ School of Law. [April 15, 2025]

 

Past Speakers

 

2023-2024

Speakers for the 2023-24 academic year were:

  • , President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). [September 12, 2023] Read about the event.
  • , Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego and author of The Equality Machine (2022). [October 17, 2023]
  • Andy Marra, Executive Director of the . [February 28, 2024]
  • , Author of Disability Pride: Dispatches from a Post-ADA World (2022). [March 26, 2024]
2022-2023

Speakers for the 2022-23 academic year were:

  • , Professor at Smith College in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender and author of several books on reproductive justice. [October 6, 2022]. .
  • , Jacob. B. Melnick Term Professor at ÈâÂþÎÝ Stern School of Business and author of A More Just Future (forthcoming, 2022). [October 27, 2022]. .
  • , Chief Executive Officer of PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All (2020). [March 7, 2023]. .
  • , Author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (2021). [April 19, 2023].
2021-2022

Speakers for the 2021-22 academic year were:

  • , Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. [October 13, 2021] .
  • , Yale social psychologist and expert on political and psychological dynamics of increasing racial and ethnic diversity. [November 11, 2021] .
  • , Wharton professor and author of How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (2021). [February 15, 2022] .
  • , University of Denver law professor and author of Identity Capitalists: The Powerful Insiders Who Exploit Diversity to Maintain Inequality (2021). [April 5, 2022] .
2020-2021

Speakers for the 2020-21 academic year were:

  • , Professor of Journalism at ÈâÂþÎÝ Arthur Carter Journalism Institute and author of Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business (2019) [September 17, 2020]. Read about the event. .
  • , and , authors of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America (2018) [October 8, 2020].
  • , Harvard Business School professor and renowned organizational behavior scholar on issues of gender inequality and work/family narratives. [October 27, 2020] .
  • (JD '08). [April 8, 2021]. .
2019-2020

Speakers for 2019-20 academic year were:

  • , Professor of Philosophy and Law at ÈâÂþÎÝ School of Law [September 26, 2019]. .
  • , Reuben Mark Professor of Organizational Character at Columbia Business School, and Director of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership & Ethics at Columbia Business School [October 29, 2019]. .
  • , Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at ÈâÂþÎÝ Stern School of Business and author of The Person You Mean To Be: How Good People Fight Bias (2018) [February 20, 2020]. .
2018-2019

Speakers for the 2018-19 academic year were:

  • , Commissioner at Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [September 12, 2018]. .
  • , Managing Partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink [October 17, 2018]. .
  • , Professor at Kellogg School of Management and author of Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs (2015) [March 5, 2019]. .
  • , founding director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab [April 4, 2019]. .
2017-2018

Speakers for the 2017-18 academic year were:

  • , Professor Emerita at UC Berkeley Sociology Department and author of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016) [November 6, 2017]. .
  • , Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court [February 5, 2018]. .
  • , Emmy Award-winning host of All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC and author of A Colony in a Nation (2017) [March 22, 2018]. .
  • , Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University and author (with Anthony Greenwald) of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People (2013) [April 12, 2018].
2016-2017

Speakers for the 2016-17 academic year were:

  • , Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court [November 10, 2016].
  • , Director of People Analytics at Google [February 15, 2017]. 
  • , Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and author of (2016) [March 2, 2017]. .
  • JD '87, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund [April 21, 2017]. . .

Other Events

To watch some of our other events, go to our .

The Meltzer Center is delighted to partner with groups at the Law School on events consistent with our mission. If you would like the Meltzer Center to co-sponsor an event with your group, .