Street view of the Normal Theater.

Illinois State University Speaker Series

Series Schedule

The Illinois State University Speaker Series seeks to bring innovative and enlightening speakers to the campus with the aim of providing the community with a platform to foster dialogue, cultivate enriching ideas, and continue an appreciation of learning as an active and lifelong process.

Spring 2018

The Spring 2018 University Speaker Series at Illinois State will feature speakers that include a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a celebrated chef, the CEO of a national insurance company, and a disrupter in the cause of race and education.

  • Portrait of Tricia Griffith. Tricia Griffith
    CEO and President of Progressive Insurance
    3:30 p.m. February 22
    Center for Performing Arts, Illinois State University
    2018 Business Week Keynote Speaker
  • Portrait of Adrienne Dixon. Adrienne D. Dixson
    Professor of critical race theory and education
    Are we there yet?: Race, protest and the challenge of multicultural education
    7 p.m. February 28
    Prairie Room, Bone Student Center
    Black History Month Speaker
  • Portrait of Sinclair Bell Sinclair Bell
    Classical archaeologist and art historian
    Race and Representation in the Roman Empire: African Athletes as Case Study
    Noon March 29
    University Galleries, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal, IL
  • Portrait of Nyle DiMarco Nyle DiMarco
    Deaf Community ambassador, Dancing with the Stars winner
    6 p.m. March 29
    Brown Ballroom, Bone Student Center
  • Portraits of Robin Whitburn and Abdul Mohamud Robin Whitburn and Abdul Mohamud
    Educators, developers of curricula
    Pugilists, Diggers and Choreographers: Activism and Educational Change in Urban Schools
    4 p.m. April 9
    Prairie Room, Bone Student Center
  • Portrait of Muhammad Yunas. Muhammad Yunus
    Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2006
    A World of Three Zeroes: Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emission
    7 p.m. April 14
    Brown Ballroom, Bone Student Center
  • Portrait of Roy Choi Roy Choi
    Chef, restaurateur, and author
    Riding Shotgun with an L.A. Chef: An Evening with Roy Choi
    7 p.m. April 17
    Prairie Room, Bone Student Center
  • Portrait of Janaya Khan Janaya Khan
    Ambassador for the #BlackLivesMatter Network
    23rd annual Women's and Gender Studies Symposium
    1 p.m. April 20
    Prairie Room, Bone Student Center
  • Portrait of Lynn Hunt Lynn Hunt
    Historian and author
    Why the History of Human Rights Matters
    7 p.m. April 26
    Prairie Room, Bone Student Center