Spring 2017 
(in collaboration with the Littleton-Franklin Lecture Series)

Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, a researcher and Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis, with expertise in the use of animal genomics and biotechnology in livestock production systems.  

Fall 2016

Dr. Jayson Lusk, an agricultural economics professor and endowed chair at Oklahoma State University and the author of The Food Police: A Well-Fed Manifesto about the Politics of Your Plate and Unnaturally Delicious: How Science and Technology are Serving Up Super Foods to Save the World.

Spring 2016

Dr. Robert Bertram,  chief scientist, Bureau for Food Security, USAID.

Dr. Beth Bell,  director of the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Fall 2015

Dr. Ugarte Muniz, senior scientist with the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture’s Soil Institute in Havana and a senior member of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba.

Spring 2015

Jack W. Szostak, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Alex Rich Distinguished Investigator in the Department of Molecular Biology and the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital

Fall 2014

Jerome Lyman, corporate vice president for McDonald’s Corporation, responsible for enterprise leadership in the area of food safety, quality systems, emergent issues and supplier compliance

Spring 2014

Carl Zimmer, a New York Times columnist, Yale University lecturer in science writing and critically acclaimed author, science journalist and blogger

Fall 2013 

Philip Martin, a Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California-Davis and award-winning author who works for UN agencies around the world on labor and migration issues

Spring 2013 

Roger Thurow, an award-winning author, a senior fellow of Global Agriculture and Food Policy with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and a fellow of the anti-poverty ONE Campaign

Fall 2012 

Gale Buchanan, former Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Spring 2012 

Arthur Caplan, internationally known bioethics expert who addresses such issues as GMOs and genetic cloning and the ethics of synthetic biology and biotechnology

Fall 2011 

Gebisa Ejeta, 2009 World Food Prize winner and Distinguished Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics and International Agriculture at Purdue University

Spring 2011 

Temple Grandin, best-selling author and professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University

Fall 2010 

Valentin Abe, fisheries development entrepreneur in Haiti, Time magazine hero for 2010 and Auburn alumnus

Spring 2010 

Fritz Haeg, artist, activist, gardener and educator

Fall 2009 

Fabien Cousteau, aquatic filmmaker and oceanographic explorer, son of Jean-Michel Cousteau and grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Fall 2008 

Doug Phillips, creator, producer and host of Alabama Public Television’s award-winning and Emmy-nominated Discovering Alabama series

Spring 2008 

David Lambert, nationally recognized advocate to end hunger

Fall 2006 

James T. Morris, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme

Fall 2005 

Catherine A. Bertini, former executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme and recipient of the 2003 World Food Prize

Winter 2005 

James E. Horne, nationally recognized sustainable farming advocate

Winter 2004 

Norman Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner, known as the father of Green Revolution

 Fall 2003 

Joe Lewis, USDA research entomologist internationally recognized for his ground breaking work in ecologically based pest management, and Beth Lewis, veteran educator who focuses on fostering community-based schools

Spring 2003

Frederick Kirschenmann, director of the Iowa State University-based Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture