University of Georgia

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 2026 Signature Lectures featuring arts-related speakers

Tyehimba JessTyehimba Jess
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet 

Oct. 1, 5:30 p.m.
Georgia Museum of Art

Born in Detroit, Jess is a former artist in residence with Cave Ganem and has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and the Fine Arts Work Center at Provincetown as well as a Lannan Writing Residency. Jess has taught at the Juilliard School, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and at the College of Staten Island in New York City. His Pulitzer Prize-winning book of poetry “Olio” (2016) includes a section that gives voice to Edmonia Lewis and her sculptures, and Barbara McCaskill, Distinguished Research Professor in the department of English at UGA and scholar of African American literature. The program will begin with a reading by Jess of selections from “Olio,” followed by a discussion moderated by Shawnya Harris, the museum’s Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art and co-curator of the exhibition.

Sponsored by the Georgia Museum of Art

Calendar: Event Listing
Contact: Callan Steinmann 

Joseph WalshJoseph Walsh
Internationally renowned sculptor and designer

Nov. 9, 5:30 p.m.
Georgia Museum of Art

Walsh is an Irish designer and maker whose work reflects his passion for expression through material and form. From monumental scale sculptures to one-of-a-kind site-specific commissions, every piece within his body of work reveals an intuitive relationship with making, a sympathetic use of materials and an expressive engagement with form. Walsh was born in County Cork, Ireland, where he established his own studio and workshop in 1999 and remains based today. With no formal training, he began to explore his passion for making, visiting master makers around Europe, and developing his own mastery of wood working and deep knowledge of the material. His achievements in design have been recognized by an honorary doctorate from University College Cork, a major commission for the National Gallery of Ireland and the acquisition of works for many major international collections, including more recently the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Sponsored by the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, Georgia Museum of Art, Lamar Dodd School of Art and Odum School of Ecology 

Calendar: Event Listing
Contact: Dave Marr

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.

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. 

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.

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 .

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. 

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.