Lugar
Lecture

The biennial Lugar Lecture Series brings prominent public servants to the campus to address issues of national and international concern.

Here are just a few notable speakers from past years:

  • Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State
  • Olympia Snowe, Senator
  • Robert Gates, 22nd Secretary of Defense
  • Leon Panetta, Former Secretary of Defense

About Lugar Lecture Series

The series was established by donations to the Golden Anniversary Fund at the 50th reunion of the class of 1954 in honor of their distinguished classmate, Former Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.).

Richard Lugar ’54 (1932-2019) represented Indiana in the United States Senate from 1977-2013. His lifetime of engagement in public life, which included two terms as Mayor of Indianapolis, serving as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a long tenure as a Denison Trustee, provides a model for all who aspire to public service.

Richard Lugar greets attendees
Richard Lugar greets attendees
Former ambassador Susan Rice speaks to a political science class
Former ambassador Susan Rice speaks to a political science class
Senator Sam Nunn
Senator Sam Nunn speaks at the Lugar Series
Senator Olympia Snowe speaks in class
Senator Olympia Snowe speaks in class

Lugar Lecture
Archives

2024 - 2025

Eric Holder
Lugar Lecture series presents former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

Denison University's Lugar Lecture series presents former United States Attorney General Eric Holder for a moderated conversation.

2018 - 2019

Former Ambassador Susan Rice
Former Ambassador Susan Rice

The Lugar Lecture Series presents former Ambassador Susan Rice.

2016 - 2017

Photo of Leon Panetta
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta

The Lugar Lecture Series presents former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

2015 - 2016

Side-by-side portrait photos of Richard Lugar and Robert Graham
Sen. Richard Lugar ’54 and Sen. Bob Graham: ‘Political Polarization’

The Lugar Symposium with Senator Richard Lugar '54 and Senator Bob Graham on "Political Polarization."

2014 - 2015

Robert Gates speaks with colorful flags in the background
Robert Gates

Denison University's Lugar Symposium welcomes Robert Gates, the 22nd secretary of defense.

2012 - 2013

A portrait photo of Olympia Snowe posing with an American flag in the background
Olympia Snowe

Denison University's Lugar Lecture Series welcomes Olympia Snowe, former U.S. Senator from the State of Maine

Senator Olympia Snowe
Olympia Jean Snowe (born February 21, 1947) is a former American politician who was a United States Senator from Maine and a senior fellow for the Bipartisan Policy Center.

2010 - 2011

Secretary Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright is an American politician and diplomat. She is the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State.

2008 - 2009

Ambassador Christopher Hill
Christopher Robert Hill (born 1952) is an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from 2009-2010.

2007 - 2008

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker.

He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world (Asia from 1977 to 1981 and Europe from 1994 to 1996).

2005 - 2006

Senator Sam Nunn
Samuel Augustus "Sam" Nunn, Jr. (born 1938) is an American lawyer and politician. Nunn served for 24 years as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972 until 1997) as a member of the Democratic Party.
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