Inaugurated in early 2011, the University of Warwick's Distinguished Lecture Series brings public speakers of the highest calibre from the worlds of academia, business, the arts and civil society to our campus to share their thoughts and ideas.
The purpose of the series is to provoke discussion and debate about a range of topics and subjects in the past have included energy sustainability and the value of wealth. The agenda is kept deliberately broad and the lectures are intended to be accessible to a general audience. We encourage attendance from across the wider University community and hope you will join us at the lectures.
If you would like to suggest a speaker for the series, please get in touch with Vice-Chancellor's Office at vc at warwick dot ac dot uk
Forthcoming Lectures
Professor Richard Ellis - Let There Be Light: Finding the Earliest Galaxies
Wednesday 22nd May, 6.00 pm
Richard Ellis is the Steele Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. He is an observational astronomer who studies the distant Universe with a variety of facilities including the Hubble Space Telescope and the twin Keck telescopes in Hawaii.
Professor Ellis received his B.Sc at University College London and his D.Phil at Oxford University. As a young researcher he established a major astronomy group at Durham University and later became the Director of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. He emigrated to the United States in 1999 where he has played a leading role in developing the science case and international partnership for the Thirty Meter Telescope: an ambitious next generation ground-based telescope to be completed in 2020.
Ellis' research interests include cosmology - the form and content of the Universe as a whole - and the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. He has been influential in making many discoveries in these areas and is one of the world's most highly-cited astrophysicists.
His numerous awards include the Gruber Cosmology Prize and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded a CBE in 2008 for his contributions to international science.
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Previous Lectures
 Dr Oliver Sacks
Narrative and Medicine: The Importance of the Case History
Oliver Sacks is a professor of neurology at NYU School of Medicine and a Visiting Professor at the University of Warwick. .
Watch Dr Oliver Sacks' lecture
|
 Professor David Harvey
The Contradictions of Capital
David Harvey is the Distinguished Professor of
Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York.
Watch Professor David Harvey's lecture
|
 Professor Ian Goldin
Mind the Gap: Politics, Economics and Technological Change
Professor Ian Goldin is the first Director of the Oxford Martin School. He was Vice President of the World Bank from 2003-2006.
Watch Professor Goldin's lecture
|
 Dr Steven Koonin
The Promise of Urban Science
Dr Steven Koonin is Director of NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress.
Watch Dr Koonin's lecture
|
 Dr Tachi Yamada
Lessons from Global Health
Dr. Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada is MD, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer, Executive Vice President & Board Member - Takeda Pharmaceuticals .
Watch Dr Yamada's lecture
|
 Professor Sir Ghillean Prance
Towards Global Sustainability: a Faith perspective
Ghillean Tolmie Prance is Scientific Director of the Eden Project in Cornwall and Visiting Professor at Reading University (1988-).
Watch Professor Prance's lecture |
 Mario Vargas Llosa
In Conversation
Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the world’s greatest contemporary novelists, a playwright of distinction and a leading public intellectual. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010.
Watch the discussion with Mario Vargas Llosa
|
 Sir Paul Nurse
The Great Ideas of Biology
Sir Paul Nurse is a geneticist and cell biologist who has worked on how the eukaryotic cell cycle is controlled and how cell shape and cell dimensions are determined.
Watch Sir Nurse's lecture
|
 Marina Warner
The Tales Things Tell: Charmed Goods in the World of the Arabian Nights
Marina Warner is a writer of fiction, criticism and history.
Watch Marina Warner's lecture
|
 Dame Julia Cleverdon
Companies and communities in tough times
Listed by The Times as one of the 50 most influential women in Britain, Dame Julia Cleverdon, DCVO, CBE is a renowned speaker on corporate responsibility, leadership and career development for women.
Watch Dame Cleverdon's lecture
|
 Peter Forbes
Science Morphing into Art
Peter Forbes is a writer who has consistently worked at the interface between art and science. His book Dazzled and Deceived won the 2011 Warwick Prize for Writing.
Watch Peter Forbes's lecture
|
 Neil MacGregor
Objects of Concern
Neil MacGregor has been Director of the British Museum since August 2002. In 2009 he received an honorary DLitt from the University of Warwick.
Watch Neil MacGregor's lecture
|
 James Smith
Stepping Up To The Energy Challenge
James Smith was appointed Chairman of Shell UK in 2004. He is President of the Energy Institute and chairs the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership.
Watch James Smith's lecture
|
 Lord Robert Skidelsky
The Economics Of The Good Life
Lord Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick.
Watch Lord Skidelsky's lecture
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