2015 - Speakers
These distinguished and provocative presenters, moderators, interviewers and debaters participated in the 2015 KentPresents. Click on any presenter's photo to learn more.
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André Aciman
Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at The Graduate Center of CUNY
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Frances Arnold
Prof. of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry at Caltech
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James Atlas
Author of numerous books, magazine staff editor and writer, many publishing projects
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Stewart Brand
Whole Earth Catalog, environmentalist, pro-nuclear power, de-extinction leader
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David Benedict
Currently writing the authorized biography of Stephen Sondheim
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Christopher Buckley
Novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor and memoirist
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Bonnie Burnham
President of World Monuments Fund. Expert in preservation of cultural heritage
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Bill Burns
President Carnegie Endowment, Former Dep. Secy of State, Amb. to Russia and Jordan
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Amy Cappellazzo
Founder of Art Agency, Partners. Former Christie's executive
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Gilbert Castillo
Led Hyundai to first production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sold in the United States
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Ted Chapin
President of Rodgers & Hammerstein
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Charlie Cook
Editor of Cook Political Report. Political Analyst, National Journal
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Frank Delaney
Writer, broadcaster, BBC host, Booker Prize judge, best-selling author
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Judith Dobrzynski
Journalist specializes in the arts, business, philanthropy and government
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Scott Fraser
USC Provost Professor, Keck School of Medicine and the Viterbi School of Engineering
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Jim Fruchterman
MacArthur Fellow, Benetech CEO, creates technology for societal needs
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Janet Gornick
Prof. at Graduate Center of CUNY. Expert in gender inequality and income inequality
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Michael Govan
Director of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, former Director of DIA Art Foundation
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Bill Gross
Idealab founder, a "company factory." Over 45 IPOs and acquisitions.
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Christine Harper
Executive editor, Bloomberg Finance, worldwide. Covered Wall Street since 2006.
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James Hoge
Former editor and/or publisher Chicago Sun-Times, New York Daily News, Foreign Affairs
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Hakeem Jeffries
Represents New York's Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives
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Pepe Karmel
Associate Professor of of Art History, New York University
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Dodie Kazanjian
Covered art world for Vogue since 1989. Founding director of Gallery Met (Met Opera).
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Dan Kevles
Yale University Professor of History and Senior Research Scholar in Law
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Henry Kissinger
Nobel Laureate, Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, Author
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Steve Koonin
Director NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress. Was Under Secy Dept. of Energy
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Michael Kramer
Playwright, political columnist, author
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Jay Kriegel
John Lindsay Chief of Staff, involved in urban issues, Sr. Advisor Related Companies
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Paul Krugman
Nobel Laureate, Op-Ed Columnist New York Times, Economist
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Corby Kummer
Senior editor of The Atlantic, restaurant critic, contributor to other magazines, author
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Joshua Landis
Director, Center for Middle East Studies, Associate Professor University of Oklahoma.
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Mitch Landrieu
Mayor of New Orleans, elected landslides
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Lewis Lapham
Founder, Lapham's Quarterly, editor for 30 years of Harper's Magazine, author of 13 books
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Nick Lemann
Staff writer New Yorker, former dean Columbia School of Journalism, author
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Christopher Y. Lew
Assoc. Curator, Whitney Museum, has put on exhibitions, solo and group shows
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Adam Lowe
Heads Factum Arte, created exact facsímile of burial chamber of Tutankhamun
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Amb. William Luers
Director of the Iran Project, formerly Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Venezuela.
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Richard Maltby, Jr.
Broadway director and lyricist, two-time Tony winner
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Paul Marks
President Emeritus Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
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Howard Morgan
Seed-stage venture capitalist, former Professor of Decision Sciences, Univ. of Penn.
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Michael Moritz
Legendary VC, original board member of Google, PayPal, Yahoo, now LinkedIn & others
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Edmund Morris
Biographer of Theodore Roosevelt, Reagan and Beethoven
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Sylvia Jukes Morris
Biographer of Clare Boothe Luce (two volumes), Edith Roosevelt, reviewer, lecturer
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Gregory Mosher
Director and/or producer of over 200 plays in New York and London
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Siddhartha Mukherjee
Physician, researcher. Wrote "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer"
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David Nasaw
Professor of History at CUNY Graduate Center, president Society of American Historians.
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Francis Naumann
Independent scholar, curator, art dealer, focusing on the Dada and Surrealist periods
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Joe Nocera
Op-Ed columnist New York Times, formerly at Fortune, GQ, Esquire and Texas Monthly
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Soledad O'Brien
Journalist, news anchor, producer, philanthropist, and media CEO
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Richard Olcott
Partner, Ennead Architects, Rome Prize Winner
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Steve Pearlstein
Business and Economics columnist Washington Post, on faculty George Mason U.
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Carlos Riva
CEO Poseidon Water, building the Americas' largest seawater desalination facility
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Chase Robinson
President, Graduate Center of CUNY, formerly Chairman of Oriental Studies at Oxford
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Edward Rollins
Managed Reagan's reelection campaign, major roles in 9 presidential campaigns.
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Rachel Rose
Artist, forthcoming solo exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art and Serpentine.
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Jerry Saltz
Senior art critic New York Mag., visiting critic Columbia, Yale and Art Institute Chicago
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Gavin Schmidt
Climate scientist and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
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David Sanger
National Security Correspondent NY Times, author of two bestsellers
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Judith Shulevitz
Author, critic, journalist, science editor The New Republic
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Xaviera Simmons
Exhibited and performed widely...MoMA, PS1, Studio Museum of Harlem
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Andrew Solomon
Writer, lecturer on politics, culture, psychology. Columbia Professor, President of PEN
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J.B Straubel
Co-founder of Tesla, oversees the technical and engineering design of the vehicles
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Alex Taylor
Senior Editor-at-large (ret.), Fortune, covered the auto industry more than 30 years
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Susan Taylor
President of Association of Art Museum Directors, Director of New Orleans Museum of Art
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Scott W. Tinker
Director Bureau of Economic Geology, State Geologist of Texas, professor at Univ. of Texas
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Jeffrey Toobin
Staff writer New Yorker, senior legal analyst CNN, author of numerous books
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Harold Varmus
Nobel Laureate, Director, National Cancer Institute, Scientist
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Jack Viertel
SVP of Jujamcyn Theaters, Artistic Director of New York City Center's Encores! Series
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Darren Walker
President Ford Foundation, second-largest philanthropy in the United States
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Jane Whitney
Writer, TV correspondent, producer. Hosted The Jane Whitney Show
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James Zirin
Host of “Conversations in the Digital Age,” prolific op-ed writer