Bill Clinton
Jay Leno
Loretta Lynch
Theresa May
Van Jones
Tom Friedman
Madeleine Albright
Colin Powell
Jane Fonda
Rick Steves
Jeb Bush
Susan Rice
Rita Moreno
Dan Rather
Bill Nye
David McCullough
Ken Burns
Newt Gingrich
Pittsburgh Speakers Series
Presenting the World Up Close®
Since 2002, the Pittsburgh Speakers Series has presented remarkable individuals who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields. Our speakers are distinguished leaders, creative visionaries and courageous trailblazers who will challenge your mind, enlarge your world, and make you laugh.
You can’t stay mad at somebody who makes you laugh.
I like some animals more than some people, some people more than some animals.
It’s the choices that you make and the things that you’re willing to accept and not accept that define who you are.
Science is the best idea humans have ever had. The more people who embrace that idea, the better.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
If I didn’t have a front-row seat on history, it was at least a seat on the aisle.
I believe that each person is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.
Presenting thought-provoking speakers since 2002
2024-2025
- Neal Katyal
- Liz Cheney
- Annette Gordon-Reed
- Oren Etzioni
- Adm. James Stavridis
- Chris Wallace
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
2023-2024
- Van Jones
- Jane Fonda
- Adam Kinzinger
- Marie Yovanovitch
- Laurie Santos
- Michael Beschloss
- Céline Cousteau
2022-2023
- Loretta Lynch
- John Brennan
- Maria Ressa
- Erik Larson
- Tom Friedman
- Scott Kelly
- Anthony Ray Hinton
2021-2022
- John Bolton
- Platon
- Walter Isaacson
- Mara Liasson
- Jamie Metzl
- Theresa May
- Bill Nye
2019-2020
- John Kerry
- Zanny Minton Beddoes
- Bob Woodward
- Douglas Brinkley
- Peter Diamandis
- Susan Rice
- Jason Alexander
2018-2019
- James Comey
- Lisa Genova
- Gloria Steinem
- Jeb Bush
- Ian Bremmer
- Bryan Stevenson
- Jay Leno
2017-2018
- David Cameron
- Jeffrey Toobin
- Jane Pauley
- Robin Wright
- Rick Steves
- Newt Gingrich
- Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords
2016-2017
- Rita Moreno
- Ehud Barak
- Michel Martin, Jason Riley and Morris Dees
- John Cleese
- Martin Dempsey
- Ted Koppel
- Jon Meacham
2015-2016
- John Irving
- Sanjay Gupta
- Dennis Ross
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Diana Nyad
- Leon Panetta
- Dave Barry
2014-2015
- Alan Alda
- Julia Gillard
- Robert Mueller
- Arianna Huffington
- P.W. Singer
- David McCullough
- Michio Kaku
2013-2014
- George Papandreou
- Bill Bryson
- Robert Gates
- Steve Wozniak
- Olympia Snowe
- Dan Rather
- Doris Kearns Goodwin
2012-2013
- President Bill Clinton
- Jon Huntsman, Jr.
- Lisa Ling
- Erskine Bowles
- Jeannette Walls
- Vicente Fox
- Nando Parrado
2011-2012
- Ron Chernow
- Michelle Rhee
- Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson
- Michael Pollan
- Azar Nafisi
- Stanley McChrystal
- Tom Brokaw
2010-2011
- Thomas Friedman
- Elizabeth Gilbert
- Ben Carson
- Charles Krauthammer
- F.W. de Klerk
- Mark Shields
- Karl Rove and Howard Dean
2009-2010
- Pervez Musharraf
- Jean-Michel Cousteau
- Laura Bush
- Robert Reich
- Mia Farrow
- David Brooks
- Greg Mortenson
2008-2009
- Steve Forbes
- Paul Rusesabagina
- Garrison Keillor
- Anna Quindlen
- Bob Woodward
- Jane Goodall
- David McCullough
2007-2008
- Aron Ralston
- George Will
- Christiane Amanpour
- Madeleine Albright Salman Rushdie
- Frank McCourt
- The Capitol Steps
2006-2007
- Nora Ephron
- James Lovell
- Colin Powell
- Paul Bremer
- Michael Medved
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Ari Fleischer
2005-2006
- Beck Weathers
- Robert Redford
- Bill Moyers
- John Major
- Robert Ballard
- Mark Russell
- Christine Todd Whitman
2004-2005
- Henry Kissinger
- James Carville
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Ehud Barak
- Frank Abagnale
- Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Dave Barry
2003-2004
- Rudy Giuliani
- Elie Wiesel
- Amy Tan
- Julian Bond
- Cokie Roberts
- David Gergen
- David McCullough
2002-2003
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Walter Cronkite
- Ken Burns
- Beverly Sills
- Benazir Bhutto
- Frank McCourt
- Richard Holbrooke