E.N. Thompson Forum On World Issues

E.N. Thompson Forum On World Issues

For more information on E.N. Thompson Forums, CLICK HERE.

Mission: to bring a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and the residents of the state to promote understanding and encourage debate.

Over the past three decades, the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues has established itself as one of the preeminent speakers series in higher education. Past Thompson Forum events have featured, among many others: Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; Holocaust survivor and peace activist Elie Wiesel; Camelia Sadat, the daughter of Anwar Sadat and founder of the Sadat Peace Institute; Maki Mandela, daughter of the former South African president; the Rev. Peter Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University; Hedrick Smith, journalist and expert on the former Soviet Union; Kennedy Administration Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara; Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; Derek Chollet from the US Department of Defense; journalist Sonia Shah; and Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of Define American.

Programming Committee

Program Committee members are globally-minded university and community leaders who are responsible for developing the Forum theme and for generating speaker ideas.

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Candace Millard

"A Clear and Steady Eye: Storytelling and Our Shared History"

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 - 7:30 P.M.

Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities, Humanities Nebraska

Candice Millard’s talk will touch on her four New York Times bestselling books. In her most recent book, “River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile” focused on English explorers Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, Millard tells a story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers. This book also profiles Sidi Mubarak Bombay, the formerly enslaved local guide who played a pivotal role in the expedition. Millard’s essays have appeared in the Guardian, National Geographic and TIME.

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Dr. Ali S. Khan

"Putting the Public Back in Public Health: A Global Perspective"

OCTOBER 11, 2022 - 7:00 P.M.

With Community Climate Awareness Week

Dr. Ali S. Khan is Dean and Tenured Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, and a Retired Assistant Surgeon General. He served at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 23 years before retiring as the director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. At the CDC, Dr. Khan led and responded to numerous high-profile public health emergencies, including Ebola, the Asian Tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina. In 2016 Dr. Khan published “The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankind’s Gravest Dangers” with William Patrick.

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Tyler Riewer

"The Craziest Thing We Can Do is Nothing"

NOVEMBER 7, 2022 - 7:00 P.M.

With College of Journalism and Mass Communications

Tyler Riewer is Creative Director at charity: water, a $100M nonprofit organization that uses data and storytelling to connect donors to their impact and dream up new ways to think about sustainability in the water sector. As of today, charity: water has funded 91,414 projects to bring clean and safe water to 14,762,215 people. Riewer leads a team of designers and storytellers, and travels the globe capturing stories about local partners. He studied Advertising and Journalism at Nebraska and started his career at marketing agencies Archrival and Grady Britton.

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Martha Schwartz

"The Urban Landscape and The Future of Cities"

JANUARY 23, 2023 - 7:00 P.M.

Hyde Lecture Series, College of Architecture

Martha Schwartz is a landscape architect, urbanist, and climate activist. Her work and teaching focuses on the urban public realm landscape and its importance in making cities “climate ready”. For more than 40 years, Martha Schwartz Partners has completed projects around the globe, from site-specific art installations to public spaces, parks, master-planning and reclamation. Schwartz is also a tenured Professor in Practice at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and recently founded MAYDAY. Earth, a non-profit focused on communications and education about Nature Based and Geoengineering Solutions.

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Jane Chen

"How Design Thinking Saves Lives - Lessons on Innovation, Leadership and Resilience"

MARCH 28, 2023 - 7:00 P.M.

With College of Business

Jane Chen is a globally recognized entrepreneur, inventor, and speaker. She is co-founder & CEO of Embrace Global, which developed a groundbreaking, low-cost infant incubator that has saved over 350,000 babies. Embrace has been featured by the New York Times, CNN, Newsweek, the Guardian, and ABC’s 20/20. Chen is a TED speaker and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She was selected for Forbes' Impact 30, the Economist Innovation Award, and the Fast Company Innovation Award, and was recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Chen also served on the Board of Directors of the Center for Humane Technology.

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Lectures are streamed online at http://enthompson.unl.edu, and are available on Lincoln City and Education TV channels, and University of Nebraska–Lincoln KRNU radio 90.3 FM.

The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center for Performing Arts, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage debate.

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