2000-01 through 2009-10

2009-10

  • Kofi Annan - Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997 - 2006), Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
  • Tony Blair - Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1997 - 2007)
  • Steve Lopez - Author of the 2009 UB Reads Selection - "The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and The Redemptive Power of Music" and LA Times Columnist
  • Cornel West* - Scholar, Public Intellectual and Best-Selling Author
  • Margaret Atwood - Booker Prize-Winning, Best-Selling Author
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysicist, Host of PBS's "NOVA scienceNOW," F.P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, and Best-Selling Author
  • Bill Maher - Political Satirist, Host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" and Best-Selling Author

2008-09

  • Karl Rove - Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush
  • Wesley Clark - Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and 2004 Presidential Candidate
  • Khaled Hosseini - Best-Selling Author of the UB Reads 2008 Book Selection: "The Kite Runner"
  • Jon Stewart - Host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show"
  • Donna Brazile* - Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute
  • Anna Quindlen - Newsweek Columnist, Social Critic and Author
  • Bill Nye - Scientist, Comedian and Author

2007-08

  • Michael Moore - Academy Award-Winning Documentarian
  • Ishmael Beah - Human Rights Activist, Best-Selling Author of A" Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier"
  • Steven Levitt - Award-Winning Economist, Best-Selling Author of "Freakonomics"
  • Harold Ford, Jr.* - Chair, National Democratic Leadership Council, Former U.S. Representative, D-Tenn.
  • Tina Brown - Best-Selling Author of "The Diana Chronicles," Former Editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker
  • Stephen Colbert - Host of "The Colbert Report" and Best-Selling Author of "I Am America (And So Can You!)"

2006-07

  • The Dalai Lama - The Head of state in exile of Tibet and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people
  • Anderson Cooper - Journalist and Host of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°"
  • Wangari Maathai* - 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate and Green Belt Movement founder
  • Jean-Michel Cousteau - Ocean Explorer and Environmentalist
  • Al Gore - Former U.S. Vice President, Author and Activist

2005-06

  • Alex Kotlowitz - Critically Acclaimed Author
  • Colin Powell - Former U.S. Secretary of State
  • Brian Greene - Physicist and Groundbreaking String Theorist
  • Tavis Smiley* - Host, "The Tavis Smiley Show" on PBS and "The Tavis Smiley Show" from PRI
  • Laurie Garrett - Pulitzer-Winning Expert on Global Health Care, Disease Prevention & Bioterrorism
  • Conan O'Brien - Comedian and Host of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"

2004-05

  • Donald Trump - Chairman & President of The Trump Organization, Producer & Star of "The Apprentice"
  • Steven Squyres - Principal Investigator, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Project
  • Barbara Ehrenreich - Critically Acclaimed Author and Journalist
  • Bob Woodward - Political Investigative Reporter & Author
  • Janet Reno - Former U.S. Attorney General
  • Ann Coulter - Author, Columnist & Political Commentator
  • Dr. Michael Eric Dyson* - Scholar/Best-Selling Author
  • Salman Rushdie - Internationally Acclaimed Novelist & Public Intellectual

2003-04

  • Antwone Fisher - Hollywood Producer/Screenwriter and Author of "Finding Fish" (the 2003 book selection of the UB Reads Program)
  • Wolf Blitzer - CNN News Anchor and UB Alumnus
  • Bill Cosby - Comedian, Actor, Author and Humanitarian
  • Joyce Carol Oates - Best-Selling and Critically Acclaimed Author, Professor
  • Kweisi Mfume* - NAACP President and Chief Executive Officer, AND 
  • J.C. Watts* - Former Congressman and Pioneering Republican Visionary
  • Tim Russert - NBC Senior Vice President, Producer and Moderator of "Meet the Press"

2002-03

  • Katie Couric - Co-Anchor of NBC's "Today Show"
  • Rudy Giuliani - 107th Mayor of New York City
  • Mae Jemison* - Astronaut, Physician, Engineer and Entrepreneur
  • Amy Tan - Acclaimed Best-Selling Author
  • Bill Bradley - Political Visionary and Former U.S. Senator

2001-02

  • Ken Burns - Celebrated Filmmaker
  • Stephen L. Carter* - Scholar, Author and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale University
  • Madeleine Albright - 64th Secretary of State
  • Jane Goodall - The Great Conservationist

2000-01

  • John Glenn - American Legend
  • Mary Higgins Clark - Best-Selling Author
  • Dick Vitale - Basketball Guru
  • Sidney Poitier* - Oscar-Winning Author and Actor
  • Doris Kearns Goodwin - Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian, Author and TV Commentator

* Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Speaker