College + University Speakers

Engaging today with the world-changers of tomorrow, our college author speakers inspire students and faculty to foster dialogue on topics as diverse as the campuses they visit.

Edwidge Danticat

MacArthur Fellow and acclaimed Haitian writer, author of Brother, I'm Dying and Claire of the Sea Light

Bryan Stevenson

Attorney, human rights activist, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and author of Just Mercy

Tara Westover

Author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling memoir Educated

Colson Whitehead

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author of The Underground Railroad

More College + University Speakers

Omar El Akkad

Award-winning journalist and author of the debut novel American War

Will Allen

Founder of Growing Power, MacArthur Genius Award winner, and author of The Good Food Revolution

Moustafa Bayoumi

Journalist and author of How Does it Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America

Brit Bennett

Debut novelist of New York Times-bestselling The Mothers, National Book Foundation 2016 5 Under 35 Honoree

Sam Bracken

Inspirational speaker and guide to initiating positive life changes

Peter Buffett

Emmy Award-winning musician, author, and philanthropist

Bill Burnett

Executive Director of the Design Program at Stanford and co-author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling book Designing Your Life

Francisco Cantú

Former US Border Patrol Agent and author of The Line Becomes a River

Ta-Nehisi Coates

#1 New York Times-bestselling author of Between the World and Me and We Were Eight Years in Power

Ron Currie, Jr.

Author of Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles, Everything Matters! and God is Dead

Jennifer Egan

Critically acclaimed novelist and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit from the Goon Squad

Dave Evans

Co-founder of Electronic Arts and co-author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling book Designing Your Life

Dr. Sheri Fink

Pulitzer Prize-winning medical journalist and author of Five Days at Memorial, M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford

Franklin Foer

National correspondent for The Atlantic, New America Foundation fellow, and former editor of The New Republic

Jamie Ford

New York Times-bestselling author and book club favorite

Allen Gannett

Big data entrepreneur and author of The Creative Curve

Paul Greenberg

James Beard Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food and American Catch: The Fight for our Local Seafood

Yaa Gyasi

Debut novelist of Homegoing and recipient of the National Book Foundation's 'Under 35' award

Doc Hendley

Founder and president of Wine to Water, CNN Hero, and author of Wine to Water

Kristen Iversen

Award-winning author and PhD program director in Literary Nonfiction at University of Cincinnati

Daisy Khan

Women's advocate, media commentator, and Executive Director of the Women's Islamic Initiative

Phil Klay

U.S. Marine Corps veteran and author of Redeployment, winner of 2014 National Book Award for Fiction

Mark Kurlansky

New York Times bestselling-author of Cod, Salt, and The Food of a Younger Land

Jean Kwok

Award-winning author of Girl in Translation

Steve Lopez

Author of The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music

Amanda Lucidon

Obama White House photographer, award-winning filmmaker, and New York Times-bestselling author

Drew Magary

Author of The Postmortal, The Hike, and Someone Could Get Hurt

Sarah McBride

LGBTQ activist and National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign

Colum McCann

Author of the National Book Award-winning novel Let the Great World Spin

Dinaw Mengestu

Named one of The New Yorker '20 Under 40' writers to watch and author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears and How to Read the Air

Celeste Ng

Author of the New York Times bestseller Everything I Never Told You

Jenny Nordberg

Award-winning investigative reporter, foreign correspondent, and author of The Underground Girls of Kabul

Téa Obreht

National Book Award finalist, Orange Prize winner, and author of The Tiger's Wife

Ruth Ozeki

Filmmaker, novelist, and Zen Buddhist priest

Ahmed Rashid

Journalist and author of Descent into Chaos and Pakistan on the Brink

Robert B. Reich

Former Secretary of Labor, economist, and New York Times-bestselling author

Shaka Senghor

Author of Writing My Wrongs and leading voice on criminal justice reform

Neil Shubin

Evolutionary biologist and discoverer of the "Missing Link," and author of Your Inner Fish and The Universe Within

J. Ryan Stradal

New York Times-bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Darin Strauss

Bestselling novelist and author of the acclaimed memoir Half a Life, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography

Cheryl Strayed

Author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling memoir Wild and "Dear Sugar" columnist

Mark Sundeen

Award-winning author of The Man Who Quit Money and The Unsettlers

Dr. Vint Virga

Distinguished veterinary practitioner and animal behaviorist, and author of The Soul of All Living Creatures

Isabel Wilkerson

Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the critically acclaimed bestseller The Warmth of Other Suns

John Wood

Founder and board co-chairman of Room to Read and author of Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy

Zachary R. Wood

Editor at The Atlantic and former President of Uncomfortable Learning at Williams College and free speech advocate