University Lectures records, 1972-2016

The University Lecture series was created to provide an opportunity for the Columbia community to hear from one of their own faculty members. Provost William Theodore deBary claimed that before the University Lectures were inaugurated, "there was no regular provision for the University community as a whole to gather to hear some of the most distinguished members discuss their own works… Many leading scholars and teachers were … invited to give public lectures at other institutions around the world, but largely confined to their classrooms on the Columbia campus."

Lionel Trilling was the first University Lecturer. Trilling delivered the first Thomas Jefferson lecture of the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC on April 26, 1972, and few days later, on May 1, he delivered the same lecture, "Mind in the Modern World," to the Columbia community at the Low Library Rotunda. The invitation from the President and the Provost called it "a lecture," but with that one talk, the series of University Lectures was born. In the fall, Provost deBary announced to the members of the faculty and staff that they were "planning further University lectures, which will present the views of distinguished members of the faculty on topics of general interest." The memo from October 1972 includes the names and dates for the 1972-1973 lectures as well as the speakers for the following academic year.

In his appeal to the Deans about possible speakers, Provost Jonathan Cole claimed that the University lecturer is "an outstanding faculty member whose record of achievement is of particular note," and "ideal candidates are able to speak in an interesting and engaging way to an audience of non-specialists." The University Lecture series, as he described it in 2002, was "intended to provide opportunities for the New York Community, and of course, more particularly the local Columbia folks to learn about the work of Columbia's most distinguished scientists and scholars. The lectures are designed to reach an audience that goes well beyond one's discipline or specialty." As such, the lectures cover a wide range of topics: Japanese culture, First Amendment rights, the El Nino phenomenon, the legality of pornography, Soviet-American relations during the Cold War, DNA and evolution, composers and librettists, the Amiens Cathedral in France, avant-garde architecture, and organ transplants.

From 1972-1973 to 1997-1998, there were usually three speakers each academic year (fall, winter and spring). The series changed to a semiannual event starting in 1998-1999. Originally, the Office of the Provost coordinated the event, which included a dinner, lecture and reception. Since 2003, the series has been managed by the President's Office, as part of the University Programs and Events office.