Notable speakers include: Ken Burns | Temple Grandin | James E. Hansen | James O. Horton | Tracy Kidder | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | Roland S. Martin | Orion Samuelson |

Founders’ Day Convocation

Pulitzer Prize-nominated historian James O. Horton gave an address titled “Abraham Lincoln: Slavery and the Civil War” for Illinois Wesleyan University’s annual Founders’ Day Convocation on February 18, 2009.

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President's Convocation

Temple Grandin shared personal insights into the unique ways autistic individuals perceive the world during the President's Convocation on Sept. 10, 2008.

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First-Year Convocation

McFee Professor of Religion and Humanities Brian Hatcher addressed first-year students in their first Illinois Wesleyan convocation on Aug. 19, 2008.

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Commencement 2008

Actor Kevin Dunn, who attended Illinois Wesleyan in the '70s, delivered the Commencement address on May 4, 2008.

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Soul Food Dinner

Journalist and author Roland S. Martin spoke at the Soul Food Dinner on Feb. 24, 2008.

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Founders' Day

James E. Hansen, Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies, encouraged the 2008 Founders' Day audience to take action before irrevocable damage is done to the planet.

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Stevenson Lecture Series

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns spoke about his recent series on World War II, The War. Burns visited Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State Universities on Nov. 1, 2007, as part of the Adlai E. Stevenson Lecture Series.

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President's Convocation

Tracy Kidder, author of the 2007 summer reading selection, Mountains Beyond Mountains, addressed the President's Convocation on Sept. 26, 2007

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Commencement 2007

Demetria Kalodimos '81, an award-winning news anchor with WSMV Television in Nashville, Tenn., addressed the graduates on May 6, 2007.

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Honors Convocation

James Sikora, professor of sociology and winner of the 2007 Pantagraph Award for Teaching Excellence, addressed the Honors Convocation on April 18, 2007.

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Illinois Wesleyan Associates Luncheon

Orion Samuelson, renowned agribusiness director of WGN and Chicago's "Voice of Agriculture" since 1960, spoke at the Illinois Wesleyan Associates Luncheon on April 17, 2007.

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Commencement 2006

Michael A. Mason '80, Executive Assistant Director for Administration at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington D.C., delivered the Commencement address on Sunday, April 30.

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Commencement 2005

Greg Poland '77, director of the Mayo Vaccine Research Group, delivered the Commencement address on May 1, 2005.

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Commencement 2004

Immigration attorney Carlina Tapia-Ruano '77 delivered the Commencement address on May 2, 2004.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

Feb. 10, 1966

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or Read a Transcript