THE FREY FOUNDATION DISTINGUISHED VISITING PROFESSORSHIP is one of the highest honors bestowed by the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill to distinguished public leaders. Established in 1989, this free public lecture brings to campus renowned speakers from a variety of fields, including government, public policy, international affairs and the arts and sciences.
The Frey Foundation was established in 1974 by Edward J. and Frances Frey of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their son, alumnus David Gardner Frey, BA ’64, JD ’67, is the former chairman of the foundation and a longtime supporter of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professors
It Goes So Fast
Peter Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg
September 12, 2023
At the Intersection of Art, Architecture and the Environment
Maya Lin, artist, architect and designer.
April 12, 2022
The Legacy of Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow
Henry Louis Gates Jr., filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic.
February 9, 2021
Nov. 3 Election Forecast
Larry Sabato, election analyst.
October 28, 2020
Frey lecturer Kip Thorne discussed his romance with the “warped side of the universe.” (photo by Donn Young)
My Romance with the Warped Side of the Universe: From Black Holes and Wormholes to Time Travel and Gravitational Waves
Kip Thorne, theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate.
February 21, 2019
Nina Totenberg in a conversation on “The Supreme Court and the Presidency” with UNC School of Law’s Michael Gerhardt.
A Conversation with NPR’s Nina Totenberg: The Supreme Court and the Presidency
Nina Totenberg, legal correspondent for National Public Radio.
September 20, 2016
In Defense of a Liberal Education
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, contributing editor at The Atlantic, and Washington Post columnist.
March 8, 2016
Foreign Policy and National Security
Thomas Donilon
Bart Gellman
Thomas Donilon, adviser to three presidents and national security advisor to Obama.
Barton Gellman, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter (NSA “PRISM” series).
Discussion moderated by Hodding Carter III.
October 30, 2013
Changing the World Through Innovation
Changing the World Through InnovationJohn Kao, Harvard Business professor and expert on innovation; chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council on Innovation.
Gary White (UNC ’94), founder and CEO of Water.org; Philanthropy Hall of Fame inductee.
Discussion moderated by Chancellor Holden Thorp.
March 4, 2013. Watch a video of the lecture.
China Rising
What does China’s unprecedented boom mean for the global economy, U.S. foreign policy, humans’ rights, and the environment?
Orville Schell
James Fallows
James Fallows, national correspondent, The Atlantic.
Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations.
April 9, 2012
Robin Wright
Rock the Casbah
Rage & Rebellion Across the Islamic World
Robin Wright, international correspondent and author.
Discussion moderated by Hodding Carter III.
Nov. 14, 2011
Mid-Term State of the Union
Mark Shields
William Kristol
Mark Shields, commentator, PBS NewsHour.
William Kristol, founder and editor of the Weekly Standard.
Discussion moderated by Hodding Carter III.
Oct. 5, 2010
James Hansen
Global Climate Change
What Must We Do Now?
James Hansen, director of Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA.
Feb. 1, 2010
Presidential Campaign ’08
E.J. Dionne
David Brooks
David Brooks, op-ed columnist, The New York Times.
E.J. Dionne, columnist, The Washington Post.
Sept. 9, 2008
E.L. Doctorow
Notes on the History of Fiction
E.L. Doctorow, acclaimed author and professor of English and American letters at New York University.
March 27, 2008
A Conversation with Ted Turner
Ted Turner and Pat Mitchell
Ted Turner, pioneering founder of CNN, chairman of Turner Broadcasting System.
Discussion moderated by Pat Mitchell, former president of PBS.
Nov. 19, 2007
Harry Belafonte
The Importance of the Arts in America
Harry Belafonte, award-winning actor, singer, producer and humanitarian.
Sept. 24, 2007
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Globalization and Development
The Brazilian Experience
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil.
March 26, 2007
Richard Haas
The Opportunity
America’s Movement to Alter History’s Course
Richard Haas, president of the Council of Foreign Relations.
Oct. 23, 2006
Frank Rich
Art, Culture and Politics
Frank Rich, op-ed columnist, The New York Times.
March 6, 2006
Christine Todd Whitman
It’s My Party, Too
The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America
Christine Todd Whitman, former EPA administrator and former governor of New Jersey.
Feb. 13, 2006
David Gergen
Eyewitness to Power
Leadership in America
David Gergen, editor-at-large, U.S. News & World Report, presidential adviser.
March 3, 2005
Alice Walker
An Evening with Alice Walker
Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple.
April 14, 2004
Joan Weimer
Adapting Works for the Stage
Joan Weimer, playwright and author of Back Talk.
March 18, 2004
Mike Reiss, Bart Simpson
A History of The Simpsons
Mike Reiss, Emmy-winning producer of The Simpsons.
Feb. 3, 2004
China: Ally or Adversary?
How National Security Policy is REALLY Made in Washington
The Origin of the War on Terrorism
Dennis Blair
(Three lectures)
Dennis Blair, retired commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, former Rhodes Scholar.
2003-2004
Sharon Lawrence
Five Desperate Hours
(Film screening and discussion)
Sharon Lawrence (UNC ’83), actress.
Dec. 3, 2003
Uncle Vanya
Laszlo Marton, artistic director of Vigszinhaz Theatre in Budapest, Hungary.
(Directed the Chekhov play for PlayMakers Repertory Company; taught classes in the Professional Training Program, Department of Dramatic Art)
Fall 2002
Philip Kitcher
Lectures and Seminars on Science and Religion
Philip Kitcher, distinguished thinker and author on the philosophy of science.
Fall 2001
Month-Long Residency
R.J. Johnston, professor of geography at the University of Bristol, U.K.; one of the top five professional geographers in the world.
April 2001
Central and Eastern Europe
Ten Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Jiri Dienstbier, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Czechoslovakia.
Oct. 14-15, 1999
In the Jaws of Life
The Story of a Book and a Film in Times of Peace and War
Dubravka Ugresic, novelist, literary critic and political dissident in exile from Croatia.
Oct. 30, 1998
Island Connections
Directions in Caribbean Literature
(Two lectures)
Derek Walcott, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature; poetry professor, Boston University and University of Essex, U.K.
April 2-8, 1998
Questions of Discipline
Cultural Studies, Visual Studies and Art History
Janet Wolff, professor of art history and cultural studies, University of Rochester.
April 3, 1997
Rise and Decline of Chinese Communism
(Undergraduate history course)
Sidney Rittenberg (UNC ’41), journalist who stayed in China after serving there in the U.S. military during World War II; twice sentenced to solitary confinement (for a total of 16 years) before being returning to the United States.
January – December 1994
