All President's Lecture Series lectures are held at Webb University Center and begin at 7:30 p.m.
The lectures are free and open to the public.
2012 President's Lecture Series Featured Speakers
September 18, 2012
President's Lecture Series Speaker
Greg Gumbel
Emmy Award-Winning Sportscaster and Play-By-Play Announcer for THE NFL ON CBS
Greg Gumbel's standout work in the world of sports broadcasting has made his face, name and voice as familiar as any in the industry. Throughout almost 40 years in the business, Gumbel has become one of the most outstanding and best known announcers in sports television. He has covered everything from Major League Baseball to the NBA to the NFL, the Men's NCAA Championship Tournament, the Summer and Winter Olympic games, World Figure Skating Championships and the Daytona 500 to name a few. In the fall, he teams with his partner, Dan Dierdorf, to call exciting NFL play-by-play action across the country on CBS. Prior to returning to the booth in 2006, Gumbel successfully completed his second season as the host of the CBS' Emmy award winning show "The NFL Today." He formerly hosted "The NFL Today" on CBS from 1990-93 and "The NFL on NBC." Gumbel was also the lead play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports' coverage of the National Football League from 1998 to 2003. In that capacity, he called the thrilling action at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston and Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa. He is the first network broadcaster to both call play-by-play and host the Super Bowl. He hosted Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis, Super Bowl XXX in Tempe and Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego. He also called the 2007 NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu. When the NFL season winds down, Greg switches from one premiere sports attraction to another. This year marks his 15th season as CBS' College Basketball Host for one of the most thrilling events in all of sports, the Men's NCAA Championship Tournament. During March Madness, Greg spends hours hosting in the studio with his colleagues, analysts Seth Davis and Greg Anthony, providing the latest highlights on the exciting Road to the Final Four. Greg is a member of the National Board of Advisors for The March of Dimes and is honored to have become a member of the St. Jude Children's Hospital Sports Council. He is the 2007 Honoree of the prestigious Pat Summerall award for his outstanding work in broadcasting. The 3-time Emmy award winner is also a member of the Board of Regents at his alma mater, Loras College, in Dubuque, Iowa.
October 18, 2012
President's Lecture Series Speaker
Rebecca Costa
Sociobiologist and Author, The Watchman's Rattle
Rebecca Costa is a sociobiologist who offers an evolutionary explanation for current events and emerging trends. A new voice in the mold of Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Gladwell and Jared Diamond, Costa examines "the big picture" - tracing everything from terrorism, crime on Wall Street, epidemic obesity and upheaval in the Middle East to genetic imperatives. Retiring from her executive career in Silicon Valley, Costa spent six years researching and writing "The Watchman's Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction." The success of Costa's book led to a weekly radio program in 2010 called "The Costa Report" as well as a weekly television news program called "Countermeasures," which launched in 2011. A former CEO and founder of one of the largest marketing firms in Silicon Valley (sold in 1997 to J. Walter Thompson), Costa developed a track record of introducing new technologies to mainstream markets. Her clients included industry giants such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, Oracle Corp., Seibel Systems, 3M, Amdahl and General Electric Corp.
