The Signature Lecture Series features speakers noted nationally or internationally for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work. Many of the lectures are supported by endowments, while others honor notable figures and milestones in the university’s history. All Signature Lectures are free and open to the public. Capacity is limited for some lectures, with registration required.
Fall 2025 Signature Lectures featuring arts-related speakers
Lea Salonga
Tony Award-winning Broadway star
Sept. 10, 5 p.m.
Ramsey Concert Hall, UGA Performing Arts Center
Salonga is best known for her Tony Award-winning role in “Miss Saigon.” In addition to the Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards. Many fans will recognize Salonga as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from “Aladdin” and Fa Mulan from “Mulan” and “Mulan II.” For her portrayal of the beloved princesses, the Walt Disney Company bestowed her with the honor of Disney Legend.
Sponsored by the UGA Performing Arts Center.
Calendar: Event Listing
Contact: Mark Mobley
Eddie Opara
Renowned graphic designer
Sept. 18, 5:30 p.m.
M. Smith Griffith Auditorium, Georgia Museum of Art
Opara is a multifaceted designer and partner at Pentagram, whose work encompasses strategy, design and technology. His award-winning projects include the design of brand identity, publications, packaging, environments, exhibitions, interactive installations, websites, user interfaces and software, with many of his projects ranging across multiple media.
Sponsored by the Georgia Museum of Art and the Lamar Dodd School of Art.
Calendar: Event Listing
Contact: Callan Steinmann
Tom Johnson
Former chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Times and CNN
Oct. 29, 4 p.m.
UGA Special Collections Building Auditorium
Before his tenure as CEO of the Los Angeles Times and CNN, Johnson was chosen for the first class of White House Fellows, then became assistant press secretary under Bill Moyers. He later served as assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. A UGA alumnus, he is a recipient of several awards, including the Horatio Alger Award, Ten Outstanding Young Americans, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Paul White Award and the John Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award by the White House Fellows for lifetime achievement in public service. His new book is “Driven: A Life in Public Service and Journalism from LBJ to CNN,” with a foreword by Judy Woodruff.
Sponsored by the University of Georgia Press, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, and The Red & Black .
Calendar: Event Listing
Contact: Candice Lawrence
Edward Hirsch and Robin Coste Lewis
World-renowned poets
UGA Poetry Festival Keynote Event
Nov. 4, 5:30 p.m.
University of Georgia Chapel
A MacArthur Fellow, Hirsch has published ten books of poetry, including “Gabriel: A Poem” and “Stranger by Night.” His eight books of prose include “How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry” and “The Heart of American Poetry.” His new book is the memoir “My Childhood in Pieces.” He has received numerous prizes, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pablo Neruda Presidential Medal of Honor, and the National Jewish Book Award. Since 2003, he has been president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Lewis won the National Book Award for “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” which the online magazine Literary Hub named one of the best books of the last 20 years. Lewis is a former poet laureate of Los Angeles, and her work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Paris Review. Lewis is professor of poetry and poetics at the University of Southern California.
Sponsored by the Georgia Review and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.
Calendar: Event Listing
Contacts: Gerald Maa; Dave Marr
Hanna Pylväinen
National Book Award finalist in fiction
Dec. 2, 6 p.m.
Ramsey Hall, UGA Performing Arts Center
Pylväinen is the author of the novels “We Sinners,” which received the Whiting Award and the Balcones Fiction Prize, and “The End of Drum-Time,” a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award in fiction. Her work has appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. She teaches at the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.
Sponsored by The Georgia Review and the UGA Performing Arts Center.
Calendar: Event Listing
Contact: Gerald Maa
Accommodations
Requests for accommodations for those with disabilities should be made as soon as possible but at least seven days prior to the scheduled lecture. To request an accommodation, please notify one of the event contacts listed above.
Parking Information
For details about parking on the UGA campus, click here.
