Annual Speaker Series

Since 1992, the University Speaker Series has hosted speakers of international acclaim on the NMSU campus.  From artists and authors to scientists and world leaders, the speakers in this series have shared important ideas with the NMSU and Las Cruces communities.  Presentations are open to the public and free of charge as a contribution to the rich cultural life of southern New Mexico.

Past Speakers

• 2023 Lindy Elkins-Tanton- Author and NASA Scientist 
• 2021 B. D. Wong-Actor and Activist
• 2019 Janna Levin- Author and Astrophysicist
• 2018 Margot Lee Shetterly- Author
• 2016 Laurie Garrett- Pulitzer, Peabody, and Polk Prize-winning Author and Activist
• 2015 Sherman Alexie- Poet and Novelist
• 2014 Steven Pinker- Cognitive Scientist
• 2013 Luis Alberto Urrea- Author
• 2012 Jaron Lanier- Computer Scientist and Author
• 2011 Alma Guillermoprieto- Author
• 2010 Bill McKibben- Environmentalist and Author
• 2009 Sir Salman Rushdie- Author
• 2008 Dr. Michael Walton- Partners in Health
• 2007 Maria Hinojosa- Radio/TV Journalist and Host of “Latino USA”
• 2006 Vali Nasr- Middle East Specialist
• 2006 E.O. Wilson- Biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning Author
• 2005 Ed Morales- Contributor to The Village Voice and Author of “Living in Spanglish”
• 2005 Seymour Hersh- Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist
• 2004 Karen Armstrong- Historian of Religion
• 2004 Robert F. Kennedy- Environmental Lawyer
• 2003 Edward James Olmos- Actor and Social Activist
• 2003 Samuel Bilson and Roy Hawthorne- Navajo Code Talkers
• 2002 Susan Sontag, Essayist- Novelist and Critic
• 2002 Judy Chicago- Artist
• 2001 N. Scott Momaday- Novelist
• 2000 Oliver Sacks- Neurologist and Author of “Awakenings”
• 1999 Gloria Steinem- Author and Activist
• 1998 F.W. de Klerk- former Prime Minister of South Africa and Nobel Prize Laureate
• 1997 Elie Wiesel- Author, Humanitarian, and Nobel Prize Laureate
• 1996 Alice Walker- Novelist and Essayist
• 1995 Jane Goodall- Primatologist
• 1994 Stephen Jay Gould- Paleontologist and Author
• 1992 Carlos Fuentes- Mexican Novelist and Diplomat