Astman Distinguished Conference Scholars

1986  Marilyn French, author
Conference: The World of George Sand

1988  Andrea Bonanome (Italy), medical researcher
Conference: Chocolate: Food of the Gods

1989  Edmund W. Gordon, psychologist
Conference: Minorities in Higher Education

1989  Nicole Pellegrin (France), scholar
Conference: The French Revolution of 1789 and its Impact

1990  Edmond Morris, biographer,
and Sylvia J. Morris, biographer
Conference: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern America

1990  Dore Ashton, art historian
Conference: Van Gogh 100

1990  John Cage, composer and artist
Conference: Bamboo and Oak: The Impact of East Asia on American Society  and Culture

1991  Paul Badura-Skoda (Austria), musician, and
Eva Badura-Skoda (Austria), musicologist
Conference: Mozart: 200 Years of Research and Analysis

1991  Charles W. Smithson, banker
Conference: Innovative Financial Instruments and Development in Financial Services

1991  Lucine Amara, opera singer
Conference: Opera and the "Golden West"

1991  John G. Cawelti, scholar
Conference: Detective Fiction and Film

1991  Marc Shell, scholar
Conference: Money: Lure, Lore and Liquidity

1992  Artie Kamiya, scholar
Conference: East Coast Regional Conference on "Games Children Play"

1993  Paul John Eakin, scholar
Conference: First Person Singular: Autobiography Past, Present, and Future

1994  Tovah Feldshuh, actress
Conference: Women in Theatre: On the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Sarah Bernhardt

1994  Martin Bauml Duberman, scholar
Conference: Art, Glitter and Glitz: The Theatre of the 1920s Celebrates American Diversity

1995  Kazuo Sayama (Japan), writer and baseball historian
Conference: Baseball and the “Sultan of Swat”: Commemorating the 100th Birthday of Babe Ruth

1995  Ngȗgiȋ, Thiong’o, novelist and essayist
Conference: Africa 2000

1995  Nicholas Johnson, former commissioner, federal communications commission (FCC)        
Conference: 11th International Interdisciplinary Conference on General Semantics

1996  Seyyed Hossein Nasr, scholar
Conference: Inscription as Art in the World of Islam

1996  Peter A. Quinn, author
Conference: Irish Literatures: Old and New Worlds

1996  Rem Koolhas, founder and principal, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and professor of architecture, Harvard University
Conference: (In)Visible Cities: From the Postmodern Metropolis to the Cities of the Future

1996  Joyce Carol Oates, author and poet, Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities, Princeton University
Conference: George Sand: History, Politics and Society: From the First Empire to the Third Republic

1997  Herbert S. Parmet, distinguished professor emeritus,
City University of New York
Conference: The Tenth Presidential Conference: George Bush: Leading in a New World

1997  Edward Peters, scholar
Conference: Pope Innocent III and His World

1997  Mario Lavista (Mexico), composer
Conference: The Hispanic Connection: Spanish and Spanish American Literature in the Arts of the World

1998  Oren Lyons (Iroquois), scholar
Conference: Native American Experience: Long Island, New York and Beyond

1998  Will Friedwald, writer and Frank Sinatra historian
Conference: Frank Sinatra: The Man, The Music, The Legend

1999  Jon C. Teaford, scholar
Conference: Nassau County: From Rural Hinterland to Suburban Metropolis

1999  Michele Luzzati (Italy), scholar
Conference: The Most Ancient of Minorities: History and Culture of the Jews of Italy

1999  David B. Ruderman, scholar
Conference: The Most Ancient of Minorities: History and Culture of the Jews of Italy

1999  Blanche Wiesen Cook, historian
Conference: The Vision of Eleanor Roosevelt: World Citizen Ahead of Her Time

1999  Donald Spoto, author
Conference: Alfred Hitchcock: In Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Alfred Hitchcock

1999  Michael A. Morrison, scholar
Conference: Millennial Shakespeare:
Performance/Text/Scholarship

2000  Peter Riddell, associate editor, The Times (London)
Conference: The Thatcher Years: The Rebirth of Liberty?

2000  Walter Isaacson, managing editor, Time
Symposium: The Leadership Difference: Rating the Presidents

2000  Jackson R. Bryer, scholar
Conference: A Robert Anderson Retrospective: Theater and Film

2000 Carlisle Floyd, composer, Susannah
Conference: Contemporary Opera at the Millennium

2001  Kenneth T. Jackson, scholar
Conference: Redefining Suburban Studies

2001  Bill Michaelis, scholar
Conference: The Child’s Right to Play: A Global Approach

2001  E.L. Doctorow, author
Conference: Moby-Dick 2001: An International Celebration

2001  Richard A. Falk, scholar
Conference: 2001: A Peace Odyssey

2001  George Wein, producer
Symposium: Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong: A Celebration of Jazz

2002  John Seelye, scholar
Conference: John Steinbeck's Americas

2002  Gwen Kirkpatrick, scholar
Symposium: Spanish and Spanish-American Poetry: Transition 2000 and Beyond

2002  Howard Zinn, scholar
Symposium: Representing Sacco and Vanzetti

2002  Ian Thomson, scholar
Conference: “If This Is a Man”: The Life and Legacy of Primo Levi

2002  Gary Giddins, biographer
Conference: Bing! Crosby and American Culture

2003  Robert Kimball, author and historian of musical theatre
Conference: The Broadway Musical: 1920-2020

2003  Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, writer, Equatorial Guinea
Symposium: Beyond the Patria: Exile, Border-Crossing, and Transnationalism in the Spanish-Speaking World

2003  Carl R. Gunther, historian and archivist
Conference: From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Past, Present and Future of an Aviation Industry

2003  George D. Jackson, historian
Conference: St. Petersburg 300th Anniversary: The City as a Cradle of Modern Russia

2004  J. Richard Hackman, scholar
Conference: Applied Organizational Psychology

2004  Edith Grossman, translator
Conference: Don Quixote: The First 400 Years

2005  Robert Fishman, scholar
Conference: New Visions of Suburban Life: An Interdisciplinary Conference

2005  Paul Ryan, scholar
Conference: Youth Employment in the Global Economy

2005  Douglas Brinkley, scholar
Conference: 11th Presidential Conference: William Jefferson Clinton: The "New Democrat" From Hope

2006  Ronald G. Knapp, scholar
Conference: Asian Merchant Cultures at the Crossroads

2006  Anthony Saunders, scholar
Conference: Managing Risk in Financial Institutions: From Theory to Practice

2006  Eric J. Topol, scholar
Conference: Biomedical Research and the Law

2006  Cathy L. Jrade, scholar
Symposium: Rubén Darío: 90 Years Later

2007  Jay Pasachoff, scholar
Conference: Building a Scientifically Literate Population and Workforce for the 21st Century

2007  Harold Koda, scholar
Conference: Defining Culture Through Dress: Individual and Collective Identities

2007  Talal Asad, scholar
Conference: The Politics of Religion-Making

2007  Robert Davi, artist
Symposium: Bond, James Bond: The World of 007

2007  Raymond Benson, scholar
Symposium: Bond, James Bond: The World of 007

2007  Richard Kadison, scholar
Conference: College Student Mental Health:
Psychological, Institutional, and Legal Issues

2007  Jessica Milner Davis, scholar
Conference: At Whom Are We Laughing? Humor in Romance Language Literatures

2008  Alison Stone, scholar
Conference: Philosophy of Luce Irigaray

2008  Doug Hesse, scholar
Conference: “Who Owns Writing?” Revisited

2008  John A. Pojman, scholar
Symposium: Building a Scientifically Literate Population and Workforce for the 21st Century: The Science of Patterns and Colors

2008  Stephen Hart, scholar
Symposium: I Am Going to Speak About Hope: International Poetry Symposium Celebrating the Work of César Vallejo

2008  Jeffrey T. Sammons, scholar
Conference: The Greatest: From Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali

2009  William F. McComas, scholar
Conference: Darwin’s Reach: A Celebration of Darwin’s Legacy Across Academic Disciplines

2009  Neal A. Baer, MD, writer and executive producer
Symposium: Media and Social Change: Using Entertainment Education to Improve the Outcomes of Health and Social Issues of Women

2009  Miguel Angel Sikota Ndjoli, audiovisual artist
Conference: Between Three Continents: Rethinking Equatorial Guinea on the 40th Anniversary of its Independence From Spain

2009  Eugenio Nkogo Ondo, philosopher
Conference: Between Three Continents: Rethinking Equatorial Guinea on the 40th Anniversary of its Independence From Spain

2009  Joan Marter, scholar
Symposium: Perle Fine and Early Leaders of Abstract Expressionism

2009  Bernard Neville, scholar
Conference: Jean Gebser: Identity, Civilization and Consciousness

2009  John A. Powell, scholar
Conference: The Diverse Suburb: History, Politics and Prospects

2009  Suzanne Jill Levine, scholar
Conference: Borges and Us: Then and Always

2010  Ritch C. Savin-Williams, scholar
Symposium: Sexual Identities: They Ain’t What They Used to Be!

2010  Peter Zweifel, scholar
Conference: New Directions in American Health Care: Innovations From Home and Abroad

2010  Howard P. Chudacoff, scholar
Symposium: Child’s Play, Children’s Pleasures: Interdisciplinary Explorations

2010  Remo Bodei, scholar
Conference: For a Dangerous Pedogogy: A Manifesto for Italian and Italian American Studies

2010  Francesco Durante, scholar
Conference: For a Dangerous Pedogogy: A Manifesto for Italian and Italian American Studies

2010  Michael Bérubé, scholar
Symposium: The Future of the Liberal Arts in the 21st Century

2010  Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2007-2009)
Symposium: U.S. Presidential Leadership at the United Nations: Evaluating the Past 65 Years and Looking Ahead to 21st-Century Governance

2010  Kevin Smith, scholar
Symposium: KAPOW! From Pulp Fiction to Google Books

2010  Margo Wootan, scholar
Conference: Public Health Challenges and Achievements: 1935-2010

2010  James P. Gee, scholar
Symposium: 75 Years: The Transformation of Public Schools

2010  Sheila W. Wellington, scholar
Conference: Social Responsibility in Business in the 21st Century

2011  Kathleen Hall Jamieson, scholar
Conference: Communication, Technology and Democracy:
Promises, Prophecies and Projections, 1935-2011

2011  Morris Dickstein, scholar
Conference: 1935: The Reality and the Promise

2011  Fritz Stern, scholar
Conference: 1935: The Reality and the Promise

2011  David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Into Sunlight: The Impact of War on the Social Body From the Vietnam Era to the Present

2011  Juan Gonzalez, journalist
Conference: Innovative Communication Within and Across Communities

2011  Stefania Rinaldi, (Italy), Direttrice Laboratorio
“Coro di Voci Bianche” del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli
Conference: Delirious Naples: For a Cultural, Intellectual, and Urban History of the City of the Sun

2011  Angelo Cannavacciuolo (Italy), writer, director, screenwriter, actor
Conference: Delirious Naples: For a Cultural, Intellectual, and Urban History of the City of the Sun

2012  Erik Gunderson, scholar
Symposium: Queer Rhetoric

2012  Chuck E. Morris, III, scholar
Symposium: Queer Rhetoric

2012  Martine Hackett, scholar
Symposium: The Ethical Use of Internet Cloud-Based Apps and Social Media (ICASM) in Healthcare

2012  Bradley H. Crotty, MD, scholar
Symposium: The Ethical Use of Internet Cloud-Based Apps and Social Media (ICASM) in Healthcare

2012  John Thorn, scholar
Conference: The 50th Anniversary of the New York Mets

2012  Edwin Charles, athlete and poet
Conference: The 50th Anniversary of the New York Mets

2012  Donna Gabaccia, scholar
Conference: E Pluribus: What is Italian American?

2013  William Fulton, author
Conference: From the Outside In: Sustainable Futures for Global Cities and Suburbs

2013  Burrell Montz, scholar
Conference: From the Outside In: Sustainable Futures for Global Cities and Suburbs

2013  Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, scholar
Symposium: Impact Investing: From Private Equity to Microfinance

2014  Roderick Ferguson, scholar
Symposium: Michel Foucault 2014: Beyond Sexuality

2014  Ladelle McWhorter, scholar
Symposium: Michel Foucault 2014: Beyond Sexuality

2014  Jennifer Doyle, scholar
Conference: Soccer as the Beautiful Game: Footballs Artistry, Identity, and Politics

2014  David Goldblatt, scholar
Conference: Soccer as the Beautiful Game: Footballs Artistry, Identity, and Politics

2014  Pyong Gap Min, scholar
Association of Asian Studies: Asia Transforming: Old Values and New Presences

2014  Bridget Welsh, scholar
Association of Asian Studies: Asia Transforming: Old Values and New Presences

2015  Peter Baker, former White House correspondent
Conference: The George W. Bush Presidency

2015  Joaquin Borges-Triana, scholar
Symposium: Cuban Popular Music and its Diaspora

2016  Gerard Puccio, scholar
Symposium: Can We Teach Creativity? Creativity Studies in 2016?

2016  Christine Planté, scholar
Symposium: 40th Anniversary of George Sand Association

2017  David Harvey, scholar
Conference: Karl Marx's Critique of Political Economy and the Global Crisis Today: On the 150th Anniversary of the Publication of Capital

2017  Mahmood Mamdani, scholar
Symposium: Culture and Idenity Configurations: Reflections on the 21st Century

2018  Melissa Mark-Viverito, New York City Councilwoman
Symposium: Shoot 4 Change New York, Shoot Local, Change Global Conference

2018  Twyla Tharp, Dance Choreographer
Lecture: Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit

2018  Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, Director, National Weather Service
Conference: Long Island Hurricanes on the 80th Anniversary of the 1038 Storm: Past, Present, and Future

2018  Dr. Blanche Wiesen Cook, Scholar
Symposium: 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2018  Russell Shorto, Author, Historian, and Journalist
Symposium: New Netherland, New Amsterdam: A Celebration of Dutch Heritage and Transatlantic Exchange

2018  Dr. Sarah Cole, Scholar
Conference: Artistic Expressions and the Great War: A Hundred Years On

2019  Dr. Matthew Hersch, Scholar
Conference: ONE GIANT LEAP: Apollo 11 @ 50

2019  Dr. Mae C. Jemison, Former NASA Astronaut
Conference: ONE GIANT LEAP: Apollo 11 @ 50

2019  Michael Moss, Investigative Journalist and Author
Lecture: Salt, Sugar, Fat

2019  Max Boot, The Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
The 2019 Donald J. Sutherland Lecture: Conservatism in the Age of Trump

2019  Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr., Scholar
The Legacy 1619-2019

2019  Ramachandra Guha, Scholar
On the Occasion of International Day of Non-Violence

2019  Dr. Deborah Gray White, Scholar
The Legacy, 1619-2019

2020  Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times Staff Writer and MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow
The Legacy, 1619-2019

2022  Rolando Pérez, Scholar
Symposium: Cesar Vallejo’s Trilce – One Hundred Years later, 1922-2022

2022  Adolph Reed Jr., Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Conference: Anti-Fascism in the 21st Century

2022  Eric Gobetti, Independent Scholar, Turin, Italy
Conference: Anti-Fascism in the 21st Century

2023 Melissa Harris-Perry, Wake Forest University
Conference: 13th Presidential Conference Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

2023 Dr. Kathleen Creel, Asst. Professor of Philosophy & Computer Science, Northeastern University
Presidential Symposium: Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Friend or Foe?

2024 Isabel Wilkerson, American Journalist and Author, Signature Speaker