The spring 2026 Signature Lecture Series at the University of Georgia will showcase a lineup of accomplished leaders and scholars including a Nobel Prize-winning economist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author.
Signature Lectures are coordinated by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and highlight speakers renowned 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.
“This semester’s Signature Lectures Series offers an extraordinary window into the discoveries and stories defining our time — from the arts and humanities to science and technology,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “The University of Georgia is proud to host these distinguished speakers, and I invite students, faculty, staff and community members to experience the impact of their work firsthand.”
The spring 2026 Signature Lectures are:
Adrienne Madison
Award-winning biomechanical engineer and first graduate of the UGA College of Engineering
Mary Frances Early Lecture
Feb. 9, 2 p.m., Mahler Hall, Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel
As a research biomedical engineer in the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory in Fort Rucker, Alabama, Madison oversees research in injury biomechanics that focuses on sustaining mission performance and preventing spinal musculoskeletal disorders and injury while wearing personal protective equipment, such as helmets. This work has led to the development and dissemination of helmet system guidelines for ground soldiers; this guidance previously existed only for aviators. For more than 20 years, she has provided STEM-focused mentoring to students from elementary through collegiate levels.
Sponsored by the Mary Frances Early College of Education, Office of Academic and Community Engagement, Graduate and Professional Scholars and UGA Graduate School.
Audrey King
Senior vice president of corporate responsibility, Georgia Power, and president and CEO, The Georgia Power Foundation
Holmes-Hunter Lecture
Feb. 23, 2 p.m., University of Georgia Chapel
King leads and directs Georgia Power’s efforts to advance corporate responsibility, philanthropic and community engagement and volunteerism initiatives across the state with a focus on education, the environment and empowering Georgia communities. She also is a member of the company’s management council. King began her career at Georgia Power as a customer service representative, and she has held several roles over her more than 30 years at the company, including sales representative, auditor, support engineer, sales manager, external affairs manager, area manager and regional director.
Sponsored by the Office of the President.
Anne Barge Clegg
Bridal fashion designer and philanthropist
“Fashioning the Classic Bride: A Conversation with Anne Barge Clegg”
Feb. 24, 6 p.m., Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries
Clegg was born in Cordele, Georgia, and aspired to a career in fashion from an early age. She earned a degree from UGA in 1969 and opened her first store, Anne Barge for Brides, in Atlanta in 1981. In 1999, she launched her eponymous label, which became a staple in the bridal industry. In 2025, UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences named its historic clothing and textile collection in Barge’s honor.
Co-sponsored by the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries and College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Stefan Lehmann-Karp
Executive director and portfolio manager for Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures
“Corporate Venture Capital Funding in a Changing World”
March 4, noon, Delta Innovation Hub
Lehmann-Karp leverages his two decades of investment banking and venture capital experience to lead strategic support for early-stage companies and founders. His work integrates capital access, mentorship and ecosystem-building to accelerate venture development and long-term impact. His career spans roles such as CFO and COO for venture-backed startups, senior roles at Bridgewater Associates and capital markets experience at Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Lehmann-Karp is also committed to mentorship and talent development, offering career guidance for startup CEOs. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in government and international relations from Cornell University.
Sponsored by the UGA Innovation District.
Milind Tambe
Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, Harvard University, and principal scientist and director, Google Research
“AI for Social Good and Public Health”
March 12, 10 a.m., UGA Memorial Hall Ballroom
Tambe and his team have developed pioneering artificial intelligence systems that deliver real-world impact in public health, public safety and wildlife conservation. Tambe’s work focuses on advancing AI and multiagent systems for public health, conservation and public safety, with a track record of building pioneering AI and multiagent systems for social impact. As a result, this research has often provided the first uses of key multiagent systems models and algorithms in the real world. Tambe and his team are now exploring new paradigms with large language model agents and multiagent systems to accelerate AI for social impact process. He has won numerous awards including the Association for the Advancement of AI’s Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity.
Sponsored by the Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
Honorable Steve C. Jones
Senior U.S. district judge
Shoukry Leadership Speaker Series
March 18, 9:55 a.m., University of Georgia Chapel
Jones was appointed by former President Obama in 2011 as a senior U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Georgia. He has served in the judiciary for over three decades, including roles in municipal, state and federal courts. A UGA graduate, he is widely recognized for his leadership, community service and numerous professional honors.
Sponsored by the Institute for Leadership Advancement.
Rick Atkinson
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian
Ferdinand Phinizy Lecture
March 27, 11 a.m., University of Georgia Chapel
Atkinson is one of the nation’s foremost public historians and the author of eight narrative histories about five American wars, including the 2025 New York Times bestseller, “The Fate of the Day,” his second book in a planned trilogy on the American Revolution. Atkinson won the Pulitzer Prize in history for “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943,” the first volume of his trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II. His other books include “The Long Gray Line” about the West Point class of 1966; “Crusade,” a narrative history of the Persian Gulf War; and “In the Company of Soldiers,” an account of his time with the U.S. 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. During his long career in journalism, which included two decades at The Washington Post, Atkinson won Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting (1982) and public service (1999).
Co-sponsored by the department of history, Willson Center for Humanities and Arts and University of Georgia Press
Lars Peter Hansen
Nobel Prize-winning economist, David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor, professor of economics, professor of statistics, Booth School of Business and director of Becker Friedman Institute’s Macro Finance Research Program, University of Chicago
Bradley Lecture
April 3, 4 p.m., Brooks Hall, Room 145
Hansen is a leading expert in economic dynamics, drawing approaches from macroeconomics, finance and statistics. Hansen has made fundamental advances in the understanding of how economic agents cope with changing and risky environments. He is the recipient of the 2013 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. He also won the 2010 Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Economics, Finance and Management. In 2008, Hansen was awarded the CME Group-MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications, which recognizes innovation in the use of mathematical, statistical or computational methods for the study of the behavior of markets.
Sponsored by the department of statistics.
Peter C. Erickson
Former executive vice president for innovation, technology and quality, General Mills Inc.
J.G. Woodroof Lecture
April 9, 1 p.m., University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel, Mahler Hall
Erickson built a distinguished 35-year career leading global teams in the creation and commercialization of breakthrough food products and technologies. His leadership helped strengthen General Mills’ reputation for trusted brands through a commitment to product quality, food safety and technical excellence. A champion of open innovation, Erickson played a key role in advancing partnerships, venture investing and external collaborations — encouraging researchers to expand their perspective “from the lab as their world, to the world as their lab.” In retirement, he continues to foster innovation and entrepreneurship as a member of several corporate boards and advisory groups. He is also co-founder of two food-focused nonprofits: Partners in Food Solutions and 4 Access Partners. He holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in food science from the University of Massachusetts.
Sponsored by the department of food science and technology.
Alfred M. Spormann
Civil, environmental and chemical engineering professor emeritus, Stanford University
Lars G. Ljungdahl Lecture
April 10, 4 p.m., Fred C. Davison Life Sciences Complex, Room C127
Spormann is a microbial physiologist and biochemist known for his work exploring how microbes can transform waste gases into climate-neutral fuels and materials. His research bridges microbiology, environmental engineering and biotechnology, offering bold new solutions for sustainable energy, bioremediation and gut health. In addition to providing insights into fundamentals of microbial life, his findings are used to develop innovative approaches to bioenergy and carbon dioxide mitigation, treat intestinal microbial diseases and develop new concepts of adaptation of microbial life in the marine deep subsurface. He was also the founding director of the Novo Nordisk Foundation CO₂ Research Center at Aarhus University.
Sponsored by the department of biochemistry and molecular biology.
Jack Knight
Frederic Cleaveland Distinguished Professor of Law and Political Science, Duke University
George S. Parthemos Lecture
April 17, 3 p.m., Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, Auditorium (271)
Knight is a political scientist and legal theorist whose work examines modern social and political theory, law and political economy. He holds joint appointments at Duke Law School and Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, teaching in the politics, philosophy and economics program and co-directing the Duke Law Center for Judicial Studies. His research focuses on the rules and norms that shape institutions, with particular attention to judicial decision-making and the role of prior judicial experience in Supreme Court appointments. He is the author of several influential books including “Institutions and Social Conflict” and “The Choices Justices Make,” the latter of which won the American Political Science Association’s C. Herman Prichett Award for the best book published on law and courts. Before joining Duke in 2008, he was a professor and department chair at Washington University in St. Louis and previously taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan.
Co-sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs, department of political science and Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.
Robert J. Jones
President, University of Washington
Louise McBee Lecture in Higher Education
April 23, 11 a.m., University of Georgia Chapel
Jones serves as the 34th president of the University of Washington and holds a faculty appointment in the department of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to leading UW, Jones served as chancellor of Illinois’ flagship university, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and as president of the State University of New York at Albany. He is a distinguished scholar whose research focuses on crop physiology, and he has served in leadership roles in national academic organizations and the Big Ten Conference.
Sponsored by the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education.
All Signature Lectures are free and open to the public. Capacity is limited for some lectures, with registration required.
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 the event contact. Event contacts are listed here.