Click here to download a .pdf of the convocation series.

Senator Dick Lugar

6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009
Branigin Room, Napolitan Student Center

Dick Lugar, a fifth generation Hoosier, is the most senior Republican in the U.S. Senate and the longest serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history.

He is the Republican leader of the Foreign Relations Committee and a member and former chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and won a sixth term in 2006 with 87 percent of the vote, his fourthconsecutive victory by a two-thirds majority.

Senator Lugar graduated first in his class at both Shortridge High School in Indianapolis and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He attended Pembroke College at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, studying politics, philosophy and economics. Senator Lugar received an honorary doctorate from Franklin College in 1983.

Students in the Franklin College Pulliam School of Journalism gain valuable public relations and public service internship experience in the Washington, D.C., office of Senator Lugar through The Senator Lugar/Franklin College Media Internship.

Jonathan Sprinkles

How to L.I.V.E. Like a “Real” Leader
October 6, 2009, 8 p.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

For years, Jonathan Sprinkles has been researching the skills vital to becoming a top campus leader. He has published several books on leadership and he shares his secrets to success in this engaging presentation.

Using his own life as an example, Sprinkles gets to the root of student issues by addressing leadership, motivation, success and diversity and will be sure to leave the audience inspired to change the world.

Dr. Lloyd Hunter

Will Stott’s Franklin College
October 17, 2009, 10:30 a.m.
Richardson Chapel

Based upon his forthcoming book, For Duty and Destiny: The Life and Civil War Diary of William Taylor Stott, Hoosier Soldier and Educator, Dr. Lloyd Hunter, professor emeritus of history and American studies, will discuss the experience of Stott as both a student (1857-1861) and the college's longest term president (1872-1905). The presentation will offer a glimpse of a lighter side of campus life, as well as the college's struggles to sustain itself in difficult times and, of course, Stott's crucial role in preparing it for the 20th century and beyond.

Greg Mortenson

Three Cups of Tea
October 30, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Spurlock Center Gymnasium

After his failed attempt at climbing Pakistan’s K2 in memory of his sister, Greg Mortenson met a group of children in a surrounding village and promised to help them build a school. From that promise grew a remarkable humanitarian campaign, in which Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mortenson is the co-author of Three Cups of Tea, which has been a New York Times bestseller for over 120 weeks, many of those at #1.

Veterans Day Luncheon & Lecture by Bradley J. Fishel, Lt. Col., USAF

Rebuilding Two Nations: Boots on the Ground in Iraq and Afghanistan
November 11, 2009, 11:30 a.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

After graduating from Franklin College in May 1987 with a degree in psychology, Bradley J. Fishel joined the Air Force and began a life of service that would last more than two decades and earn him a Bronze Star. Lt. Col. Fishel will share insights gained from his extensive military experience.

RSVP to Public Relations at (317) 738-8185. Cost for the event is $15; Alumni, faculty and staff, $10; FC students, $5.

William D. Cohan & George Melloan

A Conversation on the Economy
November 16, 2009, 7 p.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

Franklin College will host New York Times bestselling author William D. Cohan and retired Wall Street Journal deputy opinion editor George Melloan for a community conversation on the economy moderated by Pulliam School of Journalism Director John Krull. Cohan, author of "House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street," and Melloan, author of the forthcoming book, "The Great Money Binge: Why Washington Must Be Stopped," have differing views about what ails the American economy.

Jonathan Isham, Jr.

Save the World, Get an A: Open-Source Learning for 21st Century Aspirations
November 18, 2009, 7 p.m.
Richardson Chapel

Jonathan Isham, Jr. is an associate professor at Middlebury College, where he has a joint appointment in the department of economics and the program in environmental studies. He is the co-founder of Brighter Planet, a climate-services company, and he currently serves on the advisory board for Focus the Nation and the Power Project. Jonathan has an A.B. in anthropology from Harvard College, an M.A. in international studies from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland.

Martin Luther King Day Lecture by Dr. Boyce D. Watkins

January 18, 2010, 7 p.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

Dr. Boyce D. Watkins is one of the leading financial scholars and social commentators in America. He advocates for education, economic empowerment and social justice and has changed the definition of what it means to be a black scholar and leader in America.

Dr. Watkins has presented his message to millions, making regular appearances in various national media outlets, including CNN, “Good Morning America,” MSNBC, FOX News and BET.

Michael Uslan

February 16, 2010, 8 p.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

Michael Uslan is best known as the originator and executive producer of the Batman movie series. An Indiana University graduate, Uslan successfully created and taught the first accredited college course on comic books.

His inspiring program chronicles the journey he traveled to bring Batman to the screen. He shares the principles that allowed him to persevere despite repeated rejection and encourages audiences everywhere to reach for their dreams and believe in themselves.

Women’s History Month Luncheon & Lecture by Ethlie Ann Vare

Mothers of Invention
March 15, 2010, 11:30 a.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

We have women to thank for Liquid Paper, Scotchgard, disposable diapers, dishwashers, TV dinners, Barbie dolls, hang gliders and the atomic bomb! Co-author of Patently Female: From AZT to TV Dinners, Stories of Women Inventors and their Breakthrough Ideas, Vare presents an entertaining and eye-opening account of the “hidden” women behind familiar products, discoveries and innovations.

RSVP to Public Relations at (317) 738-8185. Cost for the event is $15; Alumni, faculty and staff, $10; FC students, $5.

Alina Fernandez

April 15, 2010, 7 p.m.
Napolitan Student Center, Branigin Room

The daughter of Fidel Castro, Alina Fernandez shares her first-person, intimate account of growing up in Cuba during the political environment of the 1960s and 70s. Just a toddler when her father overthrew the Batista government, her upbringing was a strange combination of privilege and privation.

Fernandez is a witness with a unique vision and by weaving in her sense of style and humor, she reveals exciting and suspenseful anecdotes, snapshots of Cuban society and a detailed view of her father.