Past York Lecturers
Fall 2017
Vimlendra Sharan, Director of the North American Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
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