Events

Watch: As part of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging speaker series, Heather McGhee talks to Kenji Yoshino about the importance of transcending zero-sum thinking and building solidarity.

Speaker Series

The Meltzer Center offers an annual speaker series featuring leaders from academia and the public and private sectors on a range of topics relating to diversity and inclusion. Speakers for the 2025-26 academic year are: 

• Zeke Hernandez, Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Professor at the Wharton School and author of The Truth About Immigration. [September 25, 2025]
• Iris Bohnet,Albert Pratt Professor of Business at Harvard Kennedy School and co-author of Make Work Fair. [November 5, 2025]
• Ned Blackhawk,  Howard R. Lamar Professor of History at Yale University and author of The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History . [February 10, 2026]
• Hahrie Han, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Political Science  at Johns Hopkins University,  and author of Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church  [April 7, 2026]

Past Speakers

2024-2025

Speakers for the 2024-25 academic year were:

• Michèle Lamont, Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University and author of Seeing Others: How Recognition Works—and How It Can Heal a Divided World (2023). [October 22, 2024] Watch the recording.
• Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith America and author of We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy (2022). [November 12, 2024] Watch the recording. Jamil Zaki, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness (2024). [February 14, 2025] Watch the recording.
• Sherrilyn Ifill ’87 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Esq. Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard University School of Law and former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. [February 26, 2025] Watch the recording.
• Deborah Archer, President of the ACLU and Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Clinical Law at NYU School of Law. [April 15, 2025] Watch the recording.

2023-2024

Speakers for the 2023-24 academic year were:

• Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). [September 12, 2023] Read about the event. Watch the recording.
• Orly Lobel, Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego and author of The Equality Machine (2022). [October 17, 2023] Watch the recording.
• Andy Marra, Executive Director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF). [February 28, 2024] Watch the recording.
• Ben Mattlin, Author of Disability Pride: Dispatches from a Post-ADA World (2022). [March 26, 2024] Watch the recording.

2022-2023

Speakers for the 2022-23 academic year were:

• Loretta J. Ross, Professor at Smith College in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender and author of several books on reproductive justice. [October 6, 2022]. Watch the recording.
• Dolly Chugh, Jacob. B. Melnick Term Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and author of A More Just Future (forthcoming, 2022). [October 27, 2022]. Watch the recording.
• Suzanne Nossel, Chief Executive Officer of PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All (2020). [March 7, 2023]. Watch the recording.
• Heather McGhee, Author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (2021). [April 19, 2023]. Watch the recording.

2021-2022

Speakers for the 2021-22 academic year were:

• Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. [October 13, 2021] Watch the recording.
• Jennifer Richeson, Yale social psychologist and expert on political and psychological dynamics of increasing racial and ethnic diversity. [November 11, 2021] Watch the recording.
• Katy Milkman, Wharton professor and author of How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (2021). [February 15, 2022] Watch the recording.
• Nancy Leong, University of Denver law professor and author of Identity Capitalists: The Powerful Insiders Who Exploit Diversity to Maintain Inequality (2021). [April 5, 2022] Watch the recording.

2020-2021

Speakers for the 2020-21 academic year were:

• Pamela Newkirk, Professor of Journalism at NYU Arthur Carter Journalism Institute and author of Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business (2019) [September 17, 2020]. Read about the event. Watch the video.
• John Sides, and Michael Tesler, authors of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America (2018) [October 8, 2020]. Watch the recording.
• Robin Ely, Harvard Business School professor and renowned organizational behavior scholar on issues of gender inequality and work/family narratives. [October 27, 2020] Watch the recording.
• Jill Filipovic (JD '08). [April 8, 2021]. Watch the recording.

2019-2020

Speakers for 2019-20 academic year were:

• Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law at NYU School of Law [September 26, 2019]. Watch the video.
• Katherine Phillips, Reuben Mark Professor of Organizational Character at Columbia Business School, and Director of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership & Ethics at Columbia Business School [October 29, 2019]. Watch the video.
• Dolly Chugh, Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern School of Business and author of The Person You Mean To Be: How Good People Fight Bias (2018) [February 20, 2020]. Watch the video.

2018-2019

Speakers for the 2018-19 academic year were:

• Chai Feldblum, Commissioner at Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [September 12, 2018]. Watch the video.
• Julie Fink, Managing Partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink [October 17, 2018]. Watch the video.
• Lauren Rivera, Professor at Kellogg School of Management and author of Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs (2015) [March 5, 2019]. Watch the video.
• Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab [April 4, 2019]. Watch the video.

2017-2018

Speakers for the 2017-18 academic year were:

• Arlie Russell Hochschild, Professor Emerita at UC Berkeley Sociology Department and author of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016) [November 6, 2017]. Read about the event.
• Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court [February 5, 2018]. Watch the video.
• Chris Hayes, Emmy Award-winning host of All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC and author of A Colony in a Nation (2017) [March 22, 2018]. Watch the video.
• Mahzarin Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University and author (with Anthony Greenwald) of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People (2013) [April 12, 2018].

2016-2017

Speakers for the 2016-17 academic year were:

• Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court [November 10, 2016]. Read about the event.
• Brian Welle, Director of People Analytics at Google [February 15, 2017]. 
• Iris Bohnet, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and author of What Works: Gender Equality By Design (2016) [March 2, 2017]. Read about the event.
• Sherrilyn Ifill JD '87, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund [April 21, 2017]. Read about the event. Watch the recording.

Other Events

To watch some of our other events, go to our playlist on the NYU Law YouTube channel.

The Meltzer Center is delighted to partner with groups at the Law School on events consistent with our mission. If you would like the Meltzer Center to co-sponsor an event with your group, please complete a survey.