Guest Speakers
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A hallmark of the SEGL student experience is exposure to a variety of fascinating, influential, and experienced leaders from many walks of life. As a nonpartisan institution, we strive to provide students the opportunity to hear perspectives that both inspire and challenge, regardless of a student’s ideology or political leanings. Within the classroom, we consider viewpoints through a critical lens, deepening understanding of our own and others’ beliefs.
Below is a list highlighting only a few of the incredible speakers SEGL students have heard from over the years.
David Abshire
- Special Counselor to President Ronald Reagan
Tom Adkins
- Social Entrepreneur
- Founder, and Principal, Open Organize
Simon Allison
- Africa Editor, Mail & Guardian
Ghaith Al-Omari
- Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute
- Executive Director, American Task Force in Palestine (ATFP)
- Former Palestinian negotiator
Capt. Mark Bedrin
- Legislative Liaison, United States Army
Josh Bolten
- White House Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush
Hon. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
- United States Senator, New Jersey
John Brennan
- Former Director Central Intelligence Agency
Kurt Campbell
- Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Hon. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
- United States Senator, Washington
Tucker Carlson
- Host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News
Khary Cauthen
- Former Special Assistant to the Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Jon Cayzer
- Speechwriter
Sasha Chanoff
- Founder and Director, M’pendo International
President Bill Clinton
- Former President of the United States
Hon. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
- United States Senator, Oklahoma
Lt. Col. Daniel Coe
- Chief of the Conventional Arms Control Branch, Pentagon
Alan Coffee
- Professor of Global Ethics and Human Values, King's College London
Brandi Colander
- Former Deputy General Counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality
James Comey
- Former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Amb. Mamady Condé
- Guinean Ambassador to the United States
Danielle Conley
- Former Deputy White House Counsel
Mary Creagh (CBE, MP)
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature
Fernando Cutz
- Former Director for South America, National Security Council
Amb. Mark Dybul
- Former United States Global AIDS Coordinator
Wendy Edelberg
- Associate Director for Economic Analysis, Congressional Budget Office
Khaled Elgindy
- Former Senior Fellow and Director of Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs, Middle East Institute
David Ettinger
- Research Librarian, The George Washington University
Djenanne Feliz-Desir
- Head of Governance, United Nations Development Program Haiti
Amb. Daniel Fried
- Special Envoy for Closure of the Guantanamo Detainee Facility
Nitin Gajria
- Managing Director for Google Africa
Hon. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)
- United States Senator, New York
Rt Hon. John Glen MP
- Paymaster General, Minister for the Cabinet Office
Leanne Govindsamy
- Human Rights Lawyer, Head of the Corporate, Accountability and Transparency Programme at the Center for Environmental Rights
Maggie Haberman
- White House Correspondent, New York Times
Bailey Hand
- Special Assistant/Acting Chief of Staff, United States Secretary of Defense
Hon. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
- United States Representative, New York
Verne Harris
- Head Archivist, Nelson Mandela Foundation
Jin Hee Lee
- Director of Strategic Initiatives, Legal Defense Fund
Jessica Huber
- Former Director for Human Rights, National Security Council
Kevin Jennings
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Jeh Johnson
- (Former) U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
Idrees Kahloon
- Washington Bureau Chief, The Economist
Hon. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
- United States Senator, Virginia
Lord Syed Kamall
- Member of the House of Lords
Carine Kanimba
- Activist, daughter of Paul Rusesabagina of “Hotel Rwanda”
David Keene
- (Former) President, National Rifle Association
Gen. John F. Kelly
- 28th White House Chief of Staff
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
- Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
Steve Killelea
- Founder, Global Peace Index
Meredith Kopit Levien
- CEO, The New York Times Company
Egil “Bud” Krogh
- Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress Senior Fellow and Chair on Leadership, Ethics, and Integrity
Ben Lake MP
- Member of Parliament
Jean Lambert MEP
- Former of the European Parliament
Laura Lane
- President, Global Public Affairs, UPS
- Former United States Embassy official, Kigali, Rwanda
Amb. Jessye Lapenn
- US Ambassador to the African Union
Hon. John Lewis (D-GA)
- United States Representative, Georgia
- Civil Rights Leader
Mara Liasson
- National Political Correspondent, NPR
Adam Liptak
- Supreme Court Correspondent, New York Times
Lawrence Manzi
- First Counselor, Embassy of Rwanda to the United States
Mike McCurry
- Former White House Press Secretary
- Co-Chair, Commission on Presidential Debates
General Stanley McChrystal
- Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
- Commander, United States Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A)
Aaron David Miller
- Middle East Negotiator, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Derek Mitchell
- United States Special Envoy to Rwanda
Stephen Moody
- Director, Office of International Labor Affairs, U.S State Department
Amb. George Moose
- Former Assistant Secretary of State, African Affairs
Amb. Dan Mozena
- Senior Coordinator for Boko Haram, United States State Department
Lissa Muscatine
- Senior Advisor and Chief of Speechwriting, United States State Department
Tal Naim
- Spokesperson, Embassy of Israel to the United States
Ian Neilson
- Former Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa
Clark Neily
- Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute
Mary Neumayr
- Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Dr. Joseph Newhouse
- Director, PhD in Health Policy, Harvard University
Charles Ntageruka
- Counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda
President Barack Obama
- Former President of the United States of America
His Highness Reza Pahlavi
- Former Crown Prince of Iran
Nick Pearson
- Board of Directors, National Energy Resources Organization
Hon. Tom Perriello (D-VA)
- United States Representative, Virginia
Abby Phillip
- White House Correspondent, CNN
Hon. Dean Phillips
- (Former) United States Representative, Minnesota
Pontsho Pilane
- Editor, Journalist
Amb. Samantha Power
- 28th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Hon. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
- United States Representative, Maryland
Mike Rezendes
- Journalist, Pulitzer Prizer Winner
Megan Rooney
- Speechwriter to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
Abdul Aziz Said
- Mohammed Said Farsi Professor of Islamic Peace, American University
Robert Satloff
- Executive Director, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Eric Schmitt
- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The New York Times
William Shoki
- Author, Editor
Hon. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
- United States Senator, New York
L. Michael Seidman
- Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Elodie Shami
- Education Officer, Embassy of Rwanda to the United States
Elad Strohmayer
- Spokesperson of the Embassy of Israel to the United States
Trigg Talley
- Director of the Office of Global Change, United States Department of State
Justice Clarence Thomas
- Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield
- 31st United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Amb. Melanne Verveer
- United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues
Joe Weinstein
- Senior Partner, Global Social Enterprise Initiative
Cornell West
- Philosopher, Activist
Carl Wilkens
- Executive Director, World Outside My Shoes
- Former Director, ADRA in Rwanda
- Medal of Valor, Simon Weisenthal Center
Robert Woodson
- Civil Rights Activist
Helen Zughaib
- Artist, Cultural Envoy to Palestine, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi