Named for David M. Rubenstein, a Duke alumnus, benefactor, and former chair of Duke’s Board of Trustees, this endowed lecture series brings high-profile thought leaders and policy makers to campus each year.
Dr. Joy Buolamwini
Unmasking AI: Protecting What is Human in a World of Machines
February 18, 2025
Dr. Joy Buolamwini is a poet of code who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. As an MIT grad student, Joy was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin tones and facial structures. Now she is on a mission to make sure AI works for all of us. It's an eye-opening talk about the need for accountability in AI ... as algorithms take over more and more aspects of our lives.
David Brooks
How to Know a Person: Bringing Humanity Back from the Brink
October 29, 2024
Hundreds of people turned up to hear writer, columnist and commentator David Brooks. He says much of our current political division is caused by the fact that we don’t know don’t treat each other well. We’ve forgotten how to connect with one another on a human level. Fortunately, these skills are learnable and have far-reaching effects, from healing personal and familial relationships to making you a more effective leader and strengthening business impact. Based on his bestselling book, “How to Know a Person,” the talk is a guide to becoming a better person, living a more connected and fulfilling life, and repairing our torn social fabric.
Maria Ressa
Technology, Humanity, and Democracy--The State of Journalism February 8, 2024
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Filipino and American journalist, Maria Ressa, spoke to a packed house about her thoughts on the intersection of fake news, freedom of expression, human rights, and where journalism is heading today. The talk was moderated by professor Stephen Buckley.
Nicholas Kristof
50th Anniversary Event of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy: Nicholas Kristof in Conversation with Frank Bruni (with support from the Rubenstein Lectures Series) February 5, 2024
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof spoke with Duke Sanford professor Frank Bruni about some of the most pressing issues facing the United States today, how to deal with them, and what the stakes of the 2024 presidential election are.
Mitch Landrieu
Yes We Can Do Big Things: Lessons Learned from Rebuilding America September 7, 2023
Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor to President Biden, spoke about lessons learned from rebuilding New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how he is applying those insights in his current role at the federal level. Landrieu is in charge of implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law -- a once-in-a-generation, $1.2 trillion opportunity to invest in our roads, bridges, airports, high-speed internet, a clean energy economy, and more.
Alice Hill
Powering A Resilient Future November 7, 2022
Alice Hill is the David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. She previously served as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Senior Director for Resilience Policy on the National Security Council staff where she led the development of national policy, including executive orders related to natural disasters, national security, and climate change. Her lecture kicked off Energy Week at Duke – and coincided with the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt.
michael sorrell, judy woodruff, and David gergen
The Future of Public Service and Our Democracy: What are the Needs of Our Nation and Our World? April 14, 2022
A panel of experienced leaders took to the stage in Penn Pavilion to address large questions about political division in the country and the value of public service for our democracy. Michael Sorrell MPP’90/JD’94, president of Paul Quinn College; PBS journalist Judy Woodruff T’68; and David Gergen, former presidential adviser, gave the David M. Rubenstein Distinguished Lecture, as one of the final events marking 50 years of public policy at Duke.
DR. JIM YONG KIM
What the World Needs Now: Global Policy Leaders for the Future October 15, 2021
Jim Yong Kim, M.D., Ph.D., is Vice Chairman and Partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, a fund that invests in infrastructure projects across several sectors around the world. From July 2012 to February 2019, Kim served as the 12th President of the World Bank Group. A physician and anthropologist, Kim’s career has revolved around health, education, and improving the lives of the poor. Before joining the World Bank Group, he served as the President of Dartmouth College and held professorships at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. From 2003 to 2005, Kim served as Director of the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department. In 1987, Kim co-founded Partners In Health, a non-profit medical organization that now works in poor communities on four continents.
PAUL FARMER
Building Capacity is the Path to Global Health Equity February 2020
If the global health community has a rock star, it’s Paul Farmer. A physician and medical anthropologist who is internationally known for his work with people living in poverty, Farmer gave the David Rubenstein lecture in Page Auditorium in conversation with Sanford Associate Professor Manoj Mohanan on Wednesday. A Duke alumnus, Farmer joked that he used to come to Page for rock concerts, and that he and John Bolton would perform a duet later. Farmer flew in from Rwanda, where he has been involved in the establishment of the University of Global Health Equity, which opened last year.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT
Former Secretary of State Stresses Threats to Democracy, Role of Citizens February 2019
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was both humorous and somber Thursday during a dialogue with Judith Kelley, dean of the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy, about threats to democracy, foreign policy and the responsibilities of citizenship. Describing herself as having attended college “sometime between the invention of the iPad and the discovery of fire,” Albright, 81, delivered the David M. Rubenstein Lecture to a full house in Page Auditorium. She served as secretary of state during the Clinton administration, and was the first woman to serve in that role.
JAMES CLAPPER
Former Director of National Intelligence Warns About World Threats March 2018
James Clapper spoke at the Sanford School of Public Policy about the cyber security challenges facing the United States. Clapper served as director of national intelligence under President Obama between 2010 and 2017, at the Defense Intelligence Agency under President George H.W. Bush, and as director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in President George W. Bush’s administration. Clapper’s lecture, moderated by Peter Feaver, professor of political science and public policy, was the inaugural lecture of the David M. Rubenstein Distinguished Lecture series.