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Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think - Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
8:00 PM РGreat Hall, Memorial Union - Viktor Mayer-Sch̦nberger, a visionary thinker and entrepreneur, is coauthor of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think. Best known for his ground-breaking research into the role of information in the networked economy, Mayer-Sch̦nberger is a professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University's Internet Institute and author of eight books, including Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. Founder of the data security company Ikarus Software in his native Austria, he advises governments, businesses and NGOs on information innovation. He is also affiliated with the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and the author of over a hundred articles and book chapters on the governance of information. National Affairs Series on Innovation Keynote

A Pope Named Francis and His Witness to Love - Anne Clifford
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - When the Argentinian Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope of the Catholic Church in March 2013 he chose the name Francis in honor of Francis of Assisi, widely revered for his commitment to poverty, his concern for the poor, his peace-making efforts, and his care for creatures. Anne Clifford, the Msgr. James Supple Chair in Catholic Studies at Iowa State, will examine Pope Francis's mission with attention to the significance of his name choice as he goes forth giving witness to love in both his words and deeds. Anne Clifford earned a PhD from the School of Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America and has held faculty positions at Duquesne University and John Carroll University. She is also a past-president of the College Theology Society. Msgr. James A. Supple Lecture Series.

Comedy! The League's Steve Rannazzisi
11:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Steve Rannazzisi plays "Kevin," the League Commissioner on FX's hit show The League. The actor and comedian got his first taste of television success in 2003 as one of the smart-ass cast members on MTV's Punk'd. Since then Steve has continued to make audiences laugh in television, feature films and on comedy stages across the country. In addition to performing stand-up, his credits include guest starring in the FOX series Kitchen Confidential, HBO's Sex in the City, and NBC's Third Watch. Rannazzisi has also performed on Comedy Central's Premium Blend and appeared in the feature films Summer of Sam and For Your Consideration. ISU AfterDark

Politically Engaged Poetry for the 21st Century - Sam Taylor
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Sam Taylor is the author of two books of poetry, Body of the World and Nude Descending an Empire. His work explores the contemporary moment, with an emphasis on politics, globalism and the urgency of our ecological crisis. Taylor spent three years as a caretaker in a remote wildlife refuge and cites the experience as an essential foundation of his work. He is an assistant professor in the MFA program at Wichita State University and the recipient of the 2014-2015 Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. Environmental Imagination Series

Twenty Years of Yellowstone Wolves: Reintroduction to Recovery - Douglas Smith
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Douglas Smith is a senior wildlife biologist with the National Park Service and has been involved with wolves in Yellowstone since their controversial reintroduction to the park in 1992. He joined the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Restoration Project in 1994 as a research technician and now serves as the project leader, supervising research on ecosystem responses to the predator and educating people on wildlife conservation and endangered species preservation. Prior to Yellowstone, Smith worked with wolves on Michigan's Isle Royale and in Minnesota. He is the author of Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone. 50th Anniversary Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecture

Manipulating Culture after the Conquest: The First Operas in the New World - Chad Gasta
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Chad Gasta, a professor of Spanish and chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State, will discuss the discovery of the first operas in the New World and their importance as examples of cross-cultural collaboration between Europeans and Indians. The presentation will include musical accompaniment and vocal performance by faculty from the Department of Music. Gasta is the author of a recent book on the subject, Transatlantic Arias: Early Opera in Spain and the New World. He directs Iowa State's International Studies Program and is co-director of the Languages and Cultures for Professions Program. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean's Lecture Series.

Don't Wait for the Next War - General (Ret) Wesley Clark
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - General (Ret) Wesley Clark was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, where he led Operation Allied Force and helped put an end to the Serbian-Albanian conflict in Kosovo. A retired four-star general, he has received many military decorations, including a purple heart and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. General Clark is the author of the new book Don't Wait for the Next War: Rethinking America's Global Mission as well as Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat, Winning Modern War: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire, and A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor, Country. He graduated first in his class at West Point, was a Rhodes Scholar and is currently a senior fellow at UCLA's Burkle Center for International Relations. He serves as chairman and CEO of his own strategic consulting firm and as co-chairman of Growth Energy. World Affairs Series Keynote.

Planet Money Live! - With Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein are correspondents with NPR's Planet Money team. Their stories, which are heard by millions of listeners on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and This American Life, explain the economy with humor and insight. The Planet Money team understands the economy by diving in - and brings audiences along for the ride. They made T-shirts, and followed them from a Mississippi cotton field to a factory in Bangladesh and back to the U.S. again. They bought one of the toxic assets that nearly destroyed our economy - and met the homeowners inside it. In addition to his work at NPR, Jacob Goldstein has written for The New York Times Magazine and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. He has degrees from Columbia and Stanford. David Kestenbaum has been a correspondent at NPR for fifteen years and holds a PhD in physics from Harvard and was a Fulbright scholar. Greater Iowa Credit Union Business Lecture Series

A Virtual Reconstruction of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls - Robert Cargill
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Robert Cargill, an assistant professor of Classics and religious studies at the University of Iowa, will discuss how recent advances in the fields of archaeology and the digital humanities have enabled scholars to create digital reconstructions of archaeological remains at Qumran, the site associated with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He uses 3D and virtual reality to introduce the audience to the ancient sites, proposes various reconstructions, and highlights the process for databasing archaeological data. Cargill was the chief architect and designer of the Qumran Visualization Project at UCLA's Center for Digital Humanities. He has appeared as an expert on the National Geographic special, Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls, and History's documentary series Bible Secrets Revealed. He is also the author of the recent book, Qumran through (Real) Time: A Virtual Reconstruction of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

United Nations Call to Action on Climate Change - Patricia Beneke
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Patricia Beneke is the director and regional representative of the United Nations Environment Programme's Regional Office for North America. She previously served as senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for nearly twenty years, specializing on legislation and oversight matters relating to energy policy, water resources, and environmental issues. She also served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science, where she played a leadership role with respect to several ecosystem restoration efforts, and was responsible for programs of the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School with a BA in political science from Iowa State University. World Affairs Series