Search For Lectures

Leadership: Finding a Roadmap for Success - Lt.Col.(ret) Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Lt.Col.(ret) Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch is founder and head of Educational Achievement Services, which has a mission to prepare tomorrow’s leaders. Born and raised in a tiny barrio in Laredo, Texas, she overcame the challenges of poverty, discrimination and illiteracy. After graduating from Hardin Simmons University, she entered the U.S. Army as an officer and served for two decades, breaking barriers and setting records to become the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the U.S. Army. She retired as a 22-year veteran, returned to her roots and became a community leader. She has worked with children, parents and educators as well as corporate, professional, and non-profit audiences. Latinx Heritage Month and Women’s Leadership Series Keynote

Can You Be Born a Couch Potato? The Genetics of Physical Activity - J. Timothy Lightfoot
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - J. Timothy Lightfoot directs the Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine and Human Performance at Texas A&M University, where his research focuses on the genetics of daily physical activity and exercise endurance. His lab also has a unique interest in the physiological responses of athletes in a variety of non-traditional venues such as auto racing and in musicians. Lightfoot’s research has been featured in numerous general media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Time.com, National Public Radio, and NBC’s Today Show. He began his career as a research consultant at NASA’s Biomedical Laboratory and has been on the faculty at Florida Atlantic University and the University of North Carolina Charlotte. He is currently the Omar Smith Endowed Professor of Kinesiology at Texas A&M. Pease Family Scholar in Kinesiology

Political and Economic Transition at Home and Abroad - Ali Velshi
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - MSNBC anchor and correspondent Ali Velshi brings a unique perspective to his coverage of politics and the impact of the current administration's domestic and international policy shifts. He was previously CNN’s chief business correspondent and is known for his ability to explain in plain terms the causes of the global financial crisis, the debt ceiling and the budget debates. Velshi reported on the U.S. presidential campaign and provided overseas coverage of ISIL, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the Iran nuclear deal as the host of Al Jazeera America's “Ali Velshi On Target.” He also serves as an NBC news business correspondent, is the author of Gimme My Money Back, and co-authored How to Speak Money with former CNN colleague and Iowa State alum Christine Romans. Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science. No podcast of this event will be available online.

Betting on Africa to Feed the World - World Food Prize Laureate Akinwumi Adesina
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Akinwumi Adesina is President of the African Development Bank and the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. Heralded as “Africa’s Norman Borlaug,” Adesina has for the past two decades helped transform African agriculture. He organized the 2006 Africa Fertilizer Summit, was an early leader in the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and, more recently, served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture. His policy reforms in support of the African farmer have expanded access to financing and credit, helped end corruption in the fertilizer and seed sectors, and promoted investment in agriculture from both the public and private sectors. The 2017 Norman Borlaug Lecture and part of the World Affairs Series A reception and student poster display will precede the lecture from 7 to 8 p.m. in the South Ballroom, Memorial Union. Posters will address world food issues and are submitted by undergraduate and graduate students.

It's What I Do - Lynsey Addario
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist who has covered conflicts and humanitarian crises in Iraq, Darfur, South Sudan, Congo, and Libya, where she was one of four journalists held captive by the Libyan Army. Named one of the most influential photographers of the past 25 years, she received a Pulitzer Prize for her work documenting life under the Taliban in Afghanistan as well as a MacArthur Fellowship. Her recent work includes Syrian refugees, ISIS’s push into Iraq, and maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. Lynsey Addario’s New York Times bestselling memoir, It's What I Do, is being made into a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Steven Spielberg.Part of the World Affairs Series. No podcast available for this event.

Controversy and the U.S. Supreme Court - A Panel Discussion
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Panelists discussing recent Supreme Court rulings include ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis and Dirk Deam, senior lecturer in Political Science. They will also discuss any shift in the balance of the court caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the appointment of Neil Gorsuch. Iowa State Bioethics Program Director and philosophy professor Clark Wolf, an expert in philosophy of the law, will moderate. Constitution Day Event

National Defense and International Security - Maj. Gen. Clinton E. Crosier
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Maj. Gen. Clinton E. Crosier is Director of Operational Capability Requirements and Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements for the U.S. Air Force at the Pentagon. He is responsible for developing and evaluating requirements for Air Force-wide modernization programs, including fighters, bombers, space systems, missile defense and cyber requirements.   Prior to his current assignment, he was the Director of Plans and Policy at U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where he oversaw the development and implementation of national security policy, military strategy, as well as development of the nation’s strategic war plan. General Crosier attended Iowa State University on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. He was commissioned and entered the Air Force in 1988 after receiving a degree in aerospace engineering. Part of the World Affairs Series

Financial Regulation and Reform - Michael Piwowar
11:00 AM – Stark Lecture Hall, 1148 Gerdin Business Building - Michael Piwowar was appointed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2013 and currently serves as Acting Chairman of the Commission. He was the Republican chief economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the lead Republican economist on the four SEC-related titles of the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. During the financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, Piwowar served as a senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations. His first tenure at the SEC was in the Office of Economic Analysis as a visiting academic scholar on leave from Iowa State University, where he was an assistant professor of finance.  Stafford Lecture on Banking.

Back to the Future: The Social Justice Origins and Future of Latinx Studies - Ginetta Candelario
8:00 PM – Benton Auditorium, Scheman Building - Ginetta Candelario is professor of sociology and Latin American & Latino/a Studies at Smith College, where her teaching focuses on race and ethnicity in the Americas, Latina/o communities in the United States and Latin American, and Latina feminist activism. Her research interests include Dominican history and society, especially Dominican identity formation. Candelario has been a Fulbright Scholar in the Dominican Republic twice, most recently in 2016, and is the author of Black Behind the Ears: Dominican Racial Identity From Museums to Beauty Shops. Latino/a Heritage Month No recording will be available for this event.

A Tale of Resiliency, Entrepreneurship and the Value of Mentors - Joe Kerns
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Joe Kerns of Ames-based Kerns and Associates has been a consultant in agricultural operations and the animal production industry for more than twenty-five years. The company’s clients include producers, veterinarians, packers, researchers, and mill operators from more than a dozen states. Kerns advises on procurement and risk management activities related to a range of operations, commodity markets, nutritional factors impacting production, and operational sustainability, leadership, and ownership. Prior to this consulting venture, he directed risk management activities for industry leaders such as ADM, Premium Standard Farms, Continental Grain, and Iowa Select Farms. Kerns is a graduate of Iowa State, where he earned a degree in agricultural business. William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture and part of CALS Week