The Alfred M. Landon Lecture Series is a series of

speeches This list of speeches includes those that have gained notability in English or in English translation. The earliest listings may be approximate dates. Before the 1st century *c.570 BC : Gautama Buddha gives his first sermon at Sarnath *431 ...

on current public affairs, which is organized and hosted by

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It is named after Kansas politician Alf Landon, former

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

and Republican presidential candidate. The first lecture in the series was given by Landon on December 13, 1966. The lecture series has been described as "prestigious," and

Eric Lichtblau Eric Lichtblau (born 1965) is an American journalist, reporting for ''The New York Times'' in the Washington bureau, as well as the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Time'' magazine, ''The New Yorker'', and the CNN network's investigative news unit. He ha ...

noted in his 2008 book ''Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice'' that the "Landon Lecture Series has provided an unlikely but powerful platform allowing world leaders, from Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev to Jimmy Carter and Henry Kissinger, to expound on the critical public issues of the day." Among the speakers who have delivered Landon Lectures are nine

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

s, eight

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winners, and more than 40

Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Notable speeches

Seven of the ten men to serve as

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

since the series began in 1966 have delivered Landon lectures (excluding Lyndon B. Johnson, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump). George W. Bush (2006), Ronald Reagan (1982) and Richard Nixon (1970) delivered speeches during their tenure in office. Bill Clinton (2007), Jimmy Carter (1991) and Gerald Ford (1978) spoke after leaving office. George H. W. Bush delivered a Landon Lecture while serving as

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

in 1985, before being elected to the presidency. Before Reagan delivered his Landon Lecture as U.S. president in 1982, he previously spoke in the series in 1967, while

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

. Other sitting U.S. federal officials to speak in the series include: Vice President

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

; Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield; Minority Leaders Hugh Scott,

Howard Baker Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then ...

and

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

; House Speakers

Tip O'Neill Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as ...

and

Jim Wright James Claude Wright Jr. (December 22, 1922 – May 6, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas's 12th congressional district as a ...

; Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor; and Attorney General Janet Reno. In addition, nine current or former foreign heads of state have also spoken in the series, including former Soviet Premier

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, former British Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, former Malawian President

Joyce Banda Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the ...

, and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.

Robert F. Kennedy (1968)

U.S. Senator

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

was one of twenty-two active U.S. Senators to deliver a lecture in the series (including also his brother

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

in 1984). Kennedy's speech on March 18, 1968, " Conflict in Vietnam and at Home", is notable for being the first speech Kennedy delivered after announcing his much-anticipated candidacy for the U.S. presidency two days earlier. The campaign speech was attended by a crowd of 14,500 people, and Kennedy used the opportunity to share anti-war views on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Evan Thomas wrote in his biography of Kennedy that "the setting was ideal for a raucous campaign kickoff." Kennedy was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

less than three months later, on June 6, 1968, after winning the California Democratic primary.

Gen. William Westmoreland (1969)

U.S. General

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from ...

, a main target for

student protests Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or acad ...

against the

, spoke on April 9, 1969. The alternative newspaper in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, wrote afterwards: "The man himself came to speak to the students of Kansas State. Yes, General William Westmoreland decided to deliver his first college lecture since returning from Viet Nam here, and he could not have picked a better place. Kansas State students will be courteous at all times... The General was greeted by applause, by cheering, by approval."

Richard Nixon (1970)

U.S. President Richard Nixon spoke at the Landon Lecture Series on September 16, 1970. As student protestors gathered outside, Nixon delivered what the '' Christian Science Monitor'' called "one of the strongest and most uncompromising speeches of his career," denouncing the protests as part of a "cancerous disease" that is gripping the United States. Nixon asserted: "we face the greatest crisis in the history of American education today." The complete speech was aired on network television, and then rebroadcast on several local stations after Nixon supporters purchased time to re-air it.

Ian Smith (1980)

Former

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

n Prime Minister Ian Smith was scheduled to deliver a Landon Lecture on October 31, 1980. The speech was disrupted by protestors objecting to the denial of voting rights to blacks in the former Rhodesia (now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) under Smith's governance. Due to the controversy, the speech was recategorized as a non-Landon Lecture and is not included in the history of the series.

Ashleigh Banfield (2003)

MSNBC news reporter

Ashleigh Banfield Ashleigh Dennistoun Banfield (born December 29, 1967) is a Canadian-American journalist and host of ''Banfield'' on the NewsNation network. She is a former host of ''Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield'' and ''Early Start'' on CNN. Education ...

delivered a Landon Lecture on April 24, 2003. Banfield used the forum to raise concerns regarding media coverage of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. She spoke against "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic" and specifically named

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

as an example. ''The New York Times'' reported that her speech angered NBC management, who rebuked her and lowered her profile.

George W. Bush (2006)

On January 23, 2006, U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

spoke at the Landon Lecture, one month after news reports broke the story of the U.S. government's warrantless wiretapping of telephone conversations in the United States. In his Landon Lecture, Bush gave the domestic wiretapping program the name of "

Terrorist Surveillance Program The Terrorist Surveillance Program was an electronic surveillance program implemented by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was part of the President's Surveillance Program, ...

" for the first time. Before Bush's speech, NPR aired a piece comparing Bush's Landon Lecture speech to Nixon's appearance in the series in 1970, noting both were defending their national security policies "as public discontent with a foreign war persists."

Landon Lecture speakers

Through March 2017 there have been 177 Landon Lectures, featuring 180 speakers. The most recent speaker was

, the former president of Malawi, who spoke on January 29, 2018. Unless otherwise noted, the speaker held the office indicated below at the time the Landon Lecture was delivered:

U.S. Presidents

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

(1970) *

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

(1978) (not in office) *

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

(1982) *

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

(1991) (not in office) *

(2006) *

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

(2007) (not in office)

U.S. Vice Presidents

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

(1970) (not in office) *

(1979) *

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

(1985)

Cabinet officials

Wally Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1 ...

, Secretary of Interior (1970) *

Earl Butz Earl Lauer "Rusty" Butz (July 3, 1909 – February 2, 2008) was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. His policies favored large-scale corporate farming an ...

, Secretary of Agriculture (1972) *

William Ruckelshaus William Doyle Ruckelshaus (July 24, 1932 – November 27, 2019) was an American attorney and government official. Ruckelshaus served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1966 to 1968, and was the United States Assistant Attorney Genera ...

, first EPA Administrator (1972) *

Elliot Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and public servant who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S. Attorney General, he was a prominent figure in the Watergate ...

, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1972) *

Anne Armstrong Anne Legendre Armstrong (December 27, 1927 – July 30, 2008) was a United States diplomat and politician. She was the first woman to serve as Counselor to the President and as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, serving in those cap ...

Counselor to the President Counselor or counsellor may refer to: A professional In diplomacy and government * Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability * Counselor (dipl ...

(1974) *

William E. Simon William Edward Simon (November 27, 1927 – June 3, 2000) was an American businessman and philanthropist who served as the 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury. He became the Secretary of the Treasury on May 9, 1974, during the Nixon admi ...

, Secretary of Treasury (1975) * Robert Bergland, Secretary of Agriculture (1977) * John Connally former Secretary of Treasury (1980) (not in office) *

Edmund Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 6 ...

, Secretary of State (1980) *

James R. Schlesinger James Rodney Schlesinger (February 15, 1929 – March 27, 2014) was an American economist and public servant who was best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior ...

, former Secretary of Defense (1980) (not in office) * John Rusling Block, Secretary of Agriculture (1981, 2013) * Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense (1984) *

William Bennett William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...

, Secretary of Education (1986) * George P. Shultz, Secretary of State (1986) *

Clayton Keith Yeutter Clayton Keith Yeutter, ONZM (; December 10, 1930 – March 4, 2017) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991 before serving as Counselor to the President i ...

, Secretary of Agriculture (1989) * Elizabeth Dole, Secretary of Labor (1990) * Lamar Alexander, Secretary of Education (1992) * Mike Espy, Secretary of Agriculture (1994, 2013) *

William Perry William Perry may refer to: Business * William Perry (Queensland businessman) (1835–1891), businessman and politician in Queensland, Australia * William H. Perry (businessman) (1832–1906), American businessman and entrepreneur Politics and ...

, Secretary of Defense (1995) *

Dan Glickman Daniel Robert Glickman (born November 24, 1944) is an American politician, lawyer, lobbyist, and nonprofit leader. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented as a Democrat in Congr ...

, Secretary of Agriculture (1995, 2013) * Janet Reno, Attorney General (1995) *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, former Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (1996) (not in office) *

William S. Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

, Secretary of Defense (1997) *

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...

, Secretary of Health (2000) * Gale Norton, Secretary of Interior (2002) *

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...

, Secretary of Defense (2006) * Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense (2007) *

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...

, Secretary of Health (2010) *

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...

, Secretary of Agriculture (2012) * Mike Johanns, former Secretary of Agriculture (2013) (panel of 6 former Secretaries of Agriculture) * Ann Veneman, former Secretary of Agriculture (2013) (panel of 6 former Secretaries of Agriculture) * Ed Schafer, former Secretary of Agriculture (2013) (panel of 6 former Secretaries of Agriculture) * Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security (2015) * Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture (2018) *

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

, Secretary of State (2019)

Congress members

* Rep.

Patricia Schroeder Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (born July 30, 1940) is an American politician who represented Colorado in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Schroeder was the first female U.S. Represe ...

(1984) * Speaker

(1985) * Speaker

(1988) * Rep.

Henry Hyde Henry John Hyde (April 18, 1924 – November 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's ...

(1999) * Rep.

J.C. Watts Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and athlete. Watts was a college football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He served in ...

(2002)

U.S. diplomats

* Ambassador

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as an ...

(1975) * Ambassador

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

(1979) *

Vernon A. Walters Vernon Anthony Walters (January 3, 1917 – February 10, 2002) was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassado ...

, U.N. Ambassador (1988)

Finance and business figures

* Paul Volcker, Federal Reserve Chairman (1981) * John Hofmeister, corporate officer (2006) *

Sheila Bair Sheila Colleen Bair (born April 3, 1954) is an American civil servant who was the 19th Chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), during which time she assumed a prominent role in the government's response to the 2008 financi ...

, FDIC Chairman (2009) * Mehmood Khan, corporate officer (2016) *Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune (2019)

Governors

* Alf Landon (1966) (not in office) * George W. Romney (1967) * Ronald Reagan (1967) *

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

(1968) *

Douglas Wilder Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstruction ...

(1991)

Health and science figures

* Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel laureate (1979) *

Richard Truly Richard Harrison Truly (born November 12, 1937) is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, a former fighter pilot, engineer, astronaut, and was the eighth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1 ...

, NASA Administrator (1990) * Dr. Harold Varmus, NIH Director, Nobel laureate (1996) * Dr.

David Satcher David Satcher, (born March 2, 1941) is an American physician, and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health, and th ...

, U.S. Surgeon General (2001) * Dr. Temple Grandin, author, spokesperson, professor (2016)

Historians, economists and political theorists

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a spe ...

, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (1968) * John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1971) *

William F. Buckley William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

(1973) *

Walter Heller Walter Wolfgang Heller (27 August 1915 – 15 June 1987) was a leading American economist of the 1960s, and an influential adviser to President John F. Kennedy as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1961–64. Life and career Heller ...

, economist (1974) *

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...

, Nobel Prize-winning economist (1978) *

Franco Modigliani Franco Modigliani (18 June 1918 – 25 September 2003) was an Italian-American economist and the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He was a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Carnegie Mellon Uni ...

, Nobel Prize-winning economist (1987) *

Barbara Tuchman Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (; January 30, 1912 – February 6, 1989) was an American historian and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for ''The Guns of August'' (1962), a best-selling history of the prelude to and the first month of World ...

, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (1988) *

Doris Kearns Goodwin Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream ...

, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (1997) *

David Gergen David Richmond Gergen (born May 9, 1942) is an American political commentator and former presidential adviser who served during the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He is currently a senior political ...

(2001) * Stephen Ambrose, historian (2001) * David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (2002) * Michael Beschloss, historian (2003) *

H. W. Brands Henry William Brands Jr. (born August 7, 1953) is an American historian. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored 30 books on U.S. histor ...

, historian (2016)

Media figures

Ralph McGill Ralph Emerson McGill (February 5, 1898 – February 3, 1969) was an American journalist and editorialist. An anti-segregationist editor he published the ''Atlanta Constitution'' newspaper. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Juror ...

, Pulitzer Prize winner (1967) * Dan Rather (1972) *

Carl T. Rowan Carl Thomas Rowan (August 11, 1925 – September 23, 2000) was a prominent American journalist, author and government official who published columns syndicated across the U.S. and was at one point the highest ranking African American in the United ...

(1975) * David Broder, Pulitzer Prize winner (1977) * Charles Collingwood (1978) *

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism ...

(1978) *

Hugh Sidey Hugh Swanson Sidey (September 3, 1927 – November 21, 2005) was an American journalist who worked for ''Life (magazine), Life'' magazine starting in 1955, then moved on to ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine in 1957. He covered presidents, from E ...

(1980) * Charles Kuralt (1982) *

Lesley Stahl Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's ''60 Minutes''. She is known for her ne ...

(1984) *

Hodding Carter III William Hodding Carter III (born April 7, 1935) is an American journalist and politician. He was Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the Jimmy Carter administration. Life and career Carter was born in New Orleans to journalist a ...

(1984) * Tom Brokaw (1986) * George Will, Pulitzer Prize winner (1987) * Bernard Shaw (1992) *

William Raspberry William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke Uni ...

, Pulitzer Prize winner (1995) *

Sam Donaldson Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) and as a panelist ...

(1997) *

Cokie Roberts Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. Her career included decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio, PBS, ...

(1999) * Bob Woodward (2000) *

(2003) *

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

(2003) *

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. Arthur Ochs "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr. (born September 22, 1951) is an American journalist. Sulzberger was the chairman of The New York Times Company from 1997 to 2020, and the publisher of ''The New York Times'' from 1992 to 2018. Early life and ...

(2004) * Bill Schneider (2004) * Jim Lehrer (2005) *

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. ...

(2005) *

John Skipper John Skipper is an American television executive, former executive chairman of DAZN Group, and former president of ESPN. Career Education and early career Skipper attended Lexington Senior High School in Lexington, North Carolina. He the ...

(2014) * Steve Forbes (2015) *

John Avlon John Phillips Avlon (born January 19, 1973) is an American journalist and political commentator. He is a Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN and was the editor-in-chief and managing director of ''The Daily Beast'' from 2013 to 2018. Avlon ...

(2016) * Margaret Hoover (2016) *

Martin Baron Martin Baron (born October 24, 1954) is an American journalist who was editor of ''The Washington Post'' from December 31, 2012, until his retirement on February 28, 2021. He was previously the editor of ''The Boston Globe'' from 2001 to 2012. Ba ...

, executive editor of the Washington Post (2017)

Military and intelligence

* Gen.

(1969) * Gen. Alexander Haig (1973) * Gen.

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

(1989) * Gen.

Richard B. Myers Richard Bowman Myers (born March 1, 1942) is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the United Stat ...

(2000) *

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer and government official who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York ...

, FBI Director (2004) *

Lee Hamilton Lee Herbert Hamilton (born April 20, 1931) is an American politician and lawyer from Indiana. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and a former member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the ...

(2005) * Gen. Michael Hayden, CIA Director (2008) * Gen. David Petraeus (2009) *

Dennis C. Blair Dennis Cutler Blair (born February 4, 1947) is the former United States Director of National Intelligence and is a retired United States Navy admiral who was the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region., Aspen Security Forum, 2013 Blair ...

, National Intelligence Director (2010) * Adm.

Michael Mullen Michael Glenn Mullen (born October 4, 1946) is a retired United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral, who served as the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2011. Mullen previously served as ...

(2010) * Gen.

Martin Dempsey Martin “Marty” Edward Dempsey (born March 14, 1952), is a retired United States Army general who served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2011 until September 25, 2015. He previously served as the 37th chief o ...

(2012) *

Thomas Donilon Thomas Edward Donilon (born May 14, 1955) is an American lawyer, business executive, and former government official who served as the 22nd National Security Advisor in the Obama administration from 2010 to 2013.

, former National Security Adviser (2014) * Lt. Gen. Robert Calsen Jr., Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (2016) (Higher Education Panel of Kansas State University Alumni) * Navy Adm.

Cecil Haney Cecil Eugene Diggs Haney (born December 1, 1955) is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as Commander, United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) from November 15, 2013 to November 3, 2016. Prior to STRATCOM, he served as Commander, Unit ...

, Outgoing commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (2016)

Religious figures

* Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 19, 1968) * The Venerable

Fulton J. Sheen Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen, May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979) was an American bishop of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in 1 ...

(1970) * Rev. Billy Graham (1974) * Pat Robertson (1993)

U.S. Senators

(1968) * Edward Brooke (1969) * Mike Mansfield, Majority Leader (1969, 1977) * Hugh Scott, Minority Leader (1971) * William Fulbright (1975) (not in office) *

Thomas Eagleton Thomas Francis Eagleton (September 4, 1929 – March 4, 2007) was an American lawyer serving as a United States senator from Missouri, from 1968 to 1987. He was briefly the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972. He ...

(1976) * Charles Mathias (1976) *

Henry M. Jackson Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and anti- ...

(1976) *

Charles H. Percy Charles Harting Percy (September 27, 1919 – September 17, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964, and served as a Republican U.S. senator from Illinois from 1967 ...

(1977) *

, Minority Leader (1979, 1999) *

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

(1980) *

Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropr ...

(1982) *

(1984) *

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

(1985) *

Nancy Landon Kassebaum Nancy Jo Kassebaum Baker (née Landon; born July 29, 1932) is an American politician who represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 19 ...

(1987, 1996) *

David L. Boren David Lyle Boren (born April 21, 1941) is a retired American lawyer and politician from the state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as 21st governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and three terms in the United States Senat ...

(1991) *

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

(1991) *

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

(1997) *

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

(1999) * Chuck Hagel (2003) * Pat Roberts (2004) *

, Minority Leader (2004) * Sam Brownback (2006) *

Alan K. Simpson Alan Kooi Simpson (born September 2, 1931) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party, who represented Wyoming in the United States Senate (1979–97). He also served as co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibil ...

(2011) (not in office) * Jerry Moran (2018)

U.S. Supreme Court Justices

* Chief Justice

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...

(1970) (Ret.) * Justice

Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...

(1988) * Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2011)

Foreign politicians and diplomats

, former British Prime Minister (1981) * Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani (1983) * José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (1984) * Óscar Arias, President of Costa Rica (1987) * Abba Eban, former Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister (1990) * Violeta Chamorro, President of Nicaragua (1992) * Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, former President of Poland (1996) * Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico (2001) * Ryozo Kato, Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. (2005) *

, former Premier of the USSR (2005) * Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland (2006) * Prince

Turki bin Faisal Al Saud Turki bin Faisal Al Saud ( ar, تركي بن فيصل آل سعود, Turkī ibn Fayṣal Āl Su‘ūd; tr, Türki bin Faysal Al Suud) (born 15 February 1945), known also as Turki Al Faisal, is a Saudi prince and former government official who se ...

, Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. (2007) * Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. (2008) *

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...

, former President of Mexico (2008) * Michael Oren, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. (2013) *

Luis Guillermo Solís Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a Costa Rican politician and educator who was the 47th President of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC). Solís led the field in the 2014 pre ...

, President of Costa Rica (2016) *

, President of Malawi (2018) (not in office)

Others

Leonard Woodcock Leonard Freel Woodcock (February 15, 1911 – January 16, 2001) was President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the first US ambassador to China after being the last Chief of the US Liaison Office in Beijing. Early life Woodcock was born in ...

, President of UAW (1971) * Alan Shepard, astronaut (1973) * George Gallup (1981) * Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles (1984) * Lynne Cheney, National Endowment for the Humanities (1992) * Rev.

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

(1993) *

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...

(1995) *

Marlin Fitzwater Max Marlin Fitzwater (born November 24, 1942) is an American writer-journalist who served as White House Press Secretary for six years under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secreta ...

, former White House Press Secretary (1996) *

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

(2005) *

DeLoss Dodds DeLoss Dodds (born August 8, 1939) was the sixth men's athletic director of The University of Texas at Austin. During his tenure as AD from the fall of 1981 to November 2013, Texas won 19 National Championships and 287 conference titles. Dodds an ...

, former University of Texas men's athletic director (2014) (panel on collegiate sports) *

Bob Bowlsby Robert Addison Bowlsby (born January 10, 1952) is an American college athletic administrator. Bowlsby most recently was the fourth commissioner of the Big 12 Conference a position he held from 2012 to 2022. Prior to that position, he served as th ...

, Big 12 Conference Commissioner (2014) (panel on collegiate sports) *

Kirk Schulz Kirk Herman Schulz (born May 11, 1963) is an American educator, currently serving as the 11th president of Washington State University, a position he began on June 13, 2016. Prior to serving at Washington State, Schulz was the 13th president of ...

, KSU President (2014) (panel on collegiate sports) *

Wes Bush Wesley G. Bush is an American systems engineer and business executive. He is the former CEO and chairman of Northrop Grumman, and he is currently a director of General Motors and Cisco. Bush was raised in Morgantown, West Virginia. He has both B ...

, CEO of

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

(2016) * David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands (2016) (Higher Education Panel of Kansas State University Alumni) * Bud Peterson, president of

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

(2016) (Higher Education Panel of Kansas State University Alumni)

References

External links

* {{Kansas State University 1966 establishments in Kansas Kansas State University Kansas culture Lecture series