Keynote Speaker Series

The keynote speakers provide an opportunity to expand ones view of race and race-related issues. The speakers are brought in from all over the United States. They are selected based on their outstanding reputation in researching and dealing with race related issues.

Here is a list of Keynote speakers, and their topics of discussion during Rethinking Race week:

 

Keynote Speaker	Title	Topic
Charles Holt	Broadway actor, "The Lion King"	Empowerment and Leadership: "Finding Your Voice"
Gregory Robinson	Franklin Professor Department of Chemistry The University of Georgia	Chemistry, Race, Football, and  O. Henry
Adis Maria Vila	Chief Diversity Officer United States Air Force Academy	The Seven Core Competencies Required to Lead Diverse Organizations in the 21st Century
Zachery Williams	Associate Professor Department of History The University of Akron	In Search of the Talented Tenth: Howard University Public Intellectuals and the Dilemmas of Race, 1926-1970
Charles Ogletree	Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and the Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice	From Dr. King’s Dream to President Obama’s Mission:  Race Matters
Jasmine Armstrong	National Park Service Park Ranger U.S. Department of the Interior - Frederick Douglass National Historic Site	The Life and History of Frederick Douglass
Lanna Samaniego	Executive Director of the North American Indian Cultural Center (NAICC)	Native American Issues and Needs
Douglas Blackmon	Pulitzer Prize Winner Author	Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black People in America from the Civil War to World War II
Jack T.F.Ling	Executive Director Institutional Diversity & Inclusion University of Dayton	Holistic Diversity: A Black-White Paradigm
Robert Jensen	Professor University of Texas at Austin	Power and Privilege
Martin Belsky	Dean and Randolph Baxter Professor of Law The University of Akron	The Battle Over Affirmative Action
Vivian Ota Wang	Psychologist, Rockville, MD	What Race and Genomics Are and Aren’t in Meaning and Measurement
Keith Beauchamp	Emmy-Nominated Documentary Filmmaker	The Untold Story of Emmet Louis Till
Brant Lee	Associate Professor of Law The University of Akron	Secrets and Lies:  Misperceiving the Asian Next Door
Steve M. Dettelbach	United States Attorney Northern District of Ohio	Reaching out to our Muslim- and Arab-American Neighbors
W. Kamau Bell	Acclaimed Standup Comedian	Ending Racism in about an Hour
Thomas F.  Nelson Laird	Associate Professor/faculty Indiana University	Diversity on College Campuses and Learning Experience