Past Speakers: COA Summer Institute

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2025: Path Breaking

Thelma Golden Ford Foundation Director and Chief Curator \| The Studio Museum in Harlem	The Honorable George J. Mitchell American politician, diplomat, and lawyer
Glenn Lowry The David Rockefeller Director \| Museum of Modern Art	Philip Lader Former US Ambassador; Senior Adviser at Morgan Stanley
Francis Collins Former Director \| National Institutes of Health	David Remnick Editor \| The New Yorker
Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases \| Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health	Craig Kennedy Historian and Russia Expert \| Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University
Frances Stead Sellers Associate Editor \| The Washington Post	David Hogg Former Vice Chair \| Democratic National Committee
David Rubenstein Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board \| The Carlyle Group	Hannah Pingree Director \| Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (Maine)
Marie Arana Literary Director \| Library of Congress	Navrina Singh CEO & Founder \| Credo AI
Zaakir Tameez Author \| Yale University	Nick Thompson CEO \| The Atlantic
Dorothy Wickenden Staff Writer \| The New Yorker	Doris Kearns Goodwin Presidential Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Patrick Radden-Keefe Staff Writer \| The New Yorker	Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer American Historian; Writer; Speechwriter; Professor, US Government; CUNY
Daniel Zalewski Executive Editor \| The New Yorker

2024: Questions of Democracy

Tim Alberta

Staff Writer, The Atlantic

Joanna Lydgate

President & CEO, States United Democracy Center

Jocelyn Benson

Michigan Secretary of State, US Government

Nina Perales

Vice President of Litigation, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Richard Blanco

US Inaugural Poet

Chellie Pingree

US House of Representatives Member, US Government

Stephen Breyer

Retired Associate Justice,
Supreme Court of the United States

Jamie Raskin

Representative (D-MD 8th District), US House of Representatives

Cornell William Brooks

Professor and Director, Harvard Kennedy School

Jeffrey Rosen

Former Attorney General, US Government

William "Bill" Eacho

US Ambassador, US Government

Joe Scarborough

Co-Host, MSNBC Morning Joe

Judith Goldstein

Founder and Executive Director, Humanity in Action

Rajiv Shah

President, The Rockefeller Foudnation

Marie Griffith

Professor in the Humanities, Washington University in St. Louis

Dave Wasserman

Senior Editor & Elections Analyst, Cook Political Report

Philip Lader

Former United States Ambassador to United Kingdom, US Government

Meg Weston

Founder & Director, The Poets Corner

Jill Lepore

Professor of American History; Staff Writer, Harvard University; The New Yorker

Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer

American Historian; Writer; Speechwriter; Professor, US Government; CUNY

Michael Li

Democracy Program Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

2023: Reimagining Exploration

Lee Berger

Paleoanthropologist, National Geographic Society

Andrew Revkin

Environmental Journalist, Columbia University; New York Times; National Geographic Society

Michael Bogenschutz

Professor of Psychiatry, New York University

Betsy Richards

Executive Director, Abbe Museum

Darron Collins

Former President, College of the Atlantic

Kim Stanley Robinson

Author

Kourtney Collum

Faculty, College of the Atlantic

Nadia Rosenthal

Scientific Director, The Jackson Laboratory

Sylvia Earle

Marine Biologist and Oceanographer, National Geographic Society; Mission Blue

Christian Rutz

Scientist; Explorer; Professor of Biology, University of St. Andrews; National Geographic Society

Keolu Fox

Genomic Scientist, National Geographic Society

Nirav Shah

Principal Deputy Director, US Centers for Disease Control

Andy Goldsworthy

Artist

Amanda Stent

Director of the Davis Institute for AI, Colby College

Adam Goodheart

Historian; Travel Writer; Essayist, National Geographic Society

Jill Tiefenthaler

Chief Executive Officer, National Geographic Society

Moriba Jah

Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, The University of Texas

Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer

American Historian; Writer; Speechwriter; Professor, US Government; CUNY

Tom Klepach

Assistant Professor, Colby College

Kiliii Yuyan

Photographer, National Geographic Society

Courtney Martin

Director, Yale Center for British Art; Yale

Manoush Zomorodi

Journalist, NPR; TED

2022: Our One and Only Ocean

Robert Ballard

Deep Sea Explorer, National Geographic Society

Andrew Revkin

Environmental Journalist, Columbia University; New York Times; National Geographic Society

Abby Barrows

Marine Research Scientist, Long Cove Sea Farm

Tara Roberts

Storyteller; Adventurer; Traveler, National Geographic Society

Fred Bever

Journalist, NPR

Susan Rockefeller

Filmmaker, Entrepreneur and Conservationist

Justin Dunnavant

Assistant Professor of Anthropology, UCLA

David Rockefeller Jr

Businessman, Philanthropist, Conservationist

Joanna Fogg

Co-Founder, Bar Harbor Oyster Company

Andrew Sharpless

Chief Executive Officer, Oceana

Allison Fundis

Chief Operating Officer, Ocean Exploration Trust; National Geographic Society

Brian Skerry

Photojournalist, National Geographic Society

Fiona de Koning

Co-Owner, Hollander & De Koning Shellfish

Natalie Springuel

Marine Extension Program Leader, University of Maine Sea Grant; College of the Atlantic

Scott Kraus

Retired Research Scientist, The New England Aquarium

Tanasia Swift

Field Station Manager, The Billion Oyster Project

Genevieve McDonald

Member, Maine House of Representatives

Jill Tiefenthaler

Chief Executive Officer, National Geographic Society

Jamie McKown

Faculty; Government and Polity, College of the Atlantic

Briana Warner

CEO, Atlantic Sea Farms

Monica Medina

Assistant Secretary, Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

Sam Waterston

Actor; Board of Trustees, Oceana

Stephen Milliken

Judge, DC Superior Court

Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer

American Historian; Writer; Speechwriter; Professor, US Government; CUNY

2021: Good Food and Food Fights

Sarah Alexander

Executive Director, MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association)

Chellie Pingree

US House of Representatives Member, US Government

Dan Barber

Chef and Co-Owner, Blue Hill Restaurant

Michael Pollan

Author and Journalist

Genio Bertin

Non-Profit Director, Mandala Farm

Ruth Reichl

Chef and Food Writer

Kourtney Collum

Faculty, College of the Atlantic

Susan Rockefeller

Filmmaker, Entrepreneur, Conservationist

Anna Davis

Manager; Beech Hill Farm, College of the Atlantic

David Rockefeller Jr

Businessman, Philanthropist, Conservationist

Beth Gardiner

Board of Trustees, College of the Atlantic

Frances Stead Sellers

Associate Editor, Washington Post

Saru Jayaraman

Attorney and Writer

Silas "Sam" Sifton

Food Editor, New York Times

Christina Baker Kline

Novelist

Cara Stadler

Chef; Entrepreneur; Owner; Bao Bao; Tao Yuan; Canopy Farms

Philip Lader

Former United States Ambassador to United Kingdom, US Government

Martha Stewart

American Businesswoman and Writer

Winona LaDuke

Activist; Economist; Environmental Journalist, Green Party

Amber Tamm

Farmer

Soledad O'Brien

Broadcast Journalist, Hearst Television

Anochi Odinga

Chef

Jonathan Web

Founder, AppHarvest

Leah Penniman

Farm Manager and Co-Executive Director, Soul Fire Farm

2020: What's at Stake

Abdi Nor Iftin

Writer / Author, Maine Public Radio; Portland Press Herald

Lynn Boulger

Former Executive Director, The Authors Guild Foundation

Kay C. James

President, Heritage Foundation

Hilary Rodham Clinton

Former Secretary of State, US Government

Philip Lader

Former United States Ambassador to United Kingdom, US Government

Alan Crain

Charmain, Houston Committee on Foreign Relations

Arthur Martinez

Former CEO, Sears

Nick Dowling

CEO, IDS International

Jamie McKown

Faculty; Government and Polity, College of the Atlantic

William "Bill" Eacho

US Ambassador, US Government

George Mitchell

US Senate Majority Leader, US Government

Jasmine El-Gamal

Senior Fellow; Former Middle East Advisor at Department of Defense, US Government; Atlantic Council

Wes Moore

Governor;CEO, State of Maryland; Robin Hood

Frances FitzGerald

American Journalist & Historian; Author

Frances Stead Sellers

Associate Editor, Washington Post

Douglas Ginsburg

Judge, Federal Court

Silas "Sam" Sifton

Food Editor, New York Times

C. Boyden Gray

US Ambassador, US Government

Josh Silver

Founder, RepresentUS

2019: Art - Descent and Diplomacy

Julian Bell

Painter and Writer, Bloomsbury Group

Bryn Mooser

Filmmaker & Humanitarian

Sheila Canby

Curator; Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nancy Schafer

Independent Film Producer and Co-founder, SXSW Film Festival

Catherine Clinger

Faculty; Art & Art History, College of the Atlantic

Frances Stead Sellers

Associate Editor, Washington Post

Catherine Brown Collins

Director of Film; TV and Digital Media, US Government

Silas "Sam" Sifton

Food Editor, New York Times

Darron Collins

Former President, College of the Atlantic

Desson Tomson

Director of Executive Communications, Motion Picture Association of America

Frances FitzGerald

American Journalist & Historian; Author

Hannah Traore

Curator, African Pop Studio

Tim Garrity

Former President, MDI Historical Society

Judith Goldstein

Founder and Executive Director, Humanity in Action

Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer

American Historian; Writer; Speechwriter; Professor, US Government; CUNY

Kay C. James

President, Heritage Foundation

John Wilmerding

Art Historian; Collector; Curator; and Professor Emeritus, Princeton University

Christina Baker Kline

Novelist

Julian Zugazagoitia

Director and CEO, Nelson-Atkins Museum

Imbolu Mbue

Novelist

2018: International Affairs

Tim Bass

Eliza Griswold

Author and Journalist

Anthony "Tony" Blinken

Former US Secretary of State

Neal Katyal

Former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, US Government

Lynn Boulger

Former Executive Director, The Authors Guild Foundation

Jim Lowenstein

US Ambassador, US Government

Sarah Z. Daly

Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow, University of Notre Dame

Jamie McKown

Faculty of Government and Polity, College of the Atlantic

Nick Dowling

CEO, IDS International

George Mitchell

US Senate Majority Leader, US Government

William "Bill" Eacho

US Ambassador, US Government

Chellie Pingree

US House of Representatives Member, US Government

C. Boyden Gray

US Ambassador, US Government

Susan Rice

Former National Security Advisor, US Government

Karen Greenberg

Director of the Center on National Security, Fordham University

William N. Thorndike Jr.

Managing Partner, The Cromwell harbor Partnership

Jonathan Greenert

Former Admiral US Navy, US Government

Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer

American Historian; Writer; Speechwriter; Professor, US Government; CUNY

Marie Griffith

Professor in the Humanities, Washington University in St. Louis

2017: American Democracy

Lynn Boulger

Former Executive Director, The Authors Guild Foundation

Ryan Lizza

Washington Correspondent, The New Yorker; CNN

Lauren Coyle

Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University

Jeffrey Rosen

Former Attorney General, US Government

Michael Gerhardt

Professor of Constitutional Law, UNC Chapel Hill

Kenji Yoshino

Chief Justice; Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University

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