The Jefferson Series is an annual lecture and educational event series in New Albany, Ohio, featuring nationally and internationally prominent speakers. Organized by the New Albany Community Foundation since 2014, the series has brought leaders in public affairs, international affairs, health, history and the arts to Central Ohio.
Educational Significance
Intended to stimulate a lifelong learning, The Jefferson Series is named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, who founded the University of Virginia and believed that education and the free exchange of ideas were essential to the progress of democracy. Jefferson wrote in 1813, “Ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe.” The Jefferson Series programs are open to students from local school districts as well as the general public. Students have said that the experience of attending Jefferson Series events has changed their worldview, sparked their desire to learn, and inspired them to pursue ambitious career goals. Guest speakers also meet with students in smaller groups as part of a student lecture program in which more than 13,000 students have participated. In a typical example, more than 1,000 students representing 29 schools in central Ohio participated in a Jefferson Series program featuring Newt Gingrich and Valerie Jarrett in January 2020. In discussing the program, Jarrett, a former advisor to President Barack Obama, said that New Albany’s efforts to promote civil discourse should be emulated “in schools, on college campuses and on factory floors across America.”
Notable Events and Speakers
'''2019–2020'''
In October 2019, the New Albany Community Foundation hosted a Jefferson Series panel discussion featuring two former U.S. Secretaries of State, Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, moderated by CNN host Fareed Zakaria. Powell’s comments, broadcast on CNN, drew national attention and debate. Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, engaged in a dialogue on stage in New Albany on January 28, 2020, before students from 29 local schools. Organized with the New Albany Center for Civil Discourse and Debate, the program offered “A surprising level of civility between the woman who helped shape the Obama agenda and the man… credited with leading the Republican Revolution in 1994,” according to NBC news anchor Colleen Marshall.
'''2018–2019'''
The 2018–2019 Jefferson Series programs included visits from health expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a national-security town hall featuring former United Nations ambassadorSamantha Power, former CIA director Michael Hayden and former National Security AdvisorStephen Hadley, and actress and mental-health advocate Glenn Close. Close was the fourth Jefferson Series speaker to address mental health and well-being. The final event of the season, a May 1 lecture featuring Harvard law professor and Bloomberg columnist Noah Feldman and CNN senior analyst and bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin, was also the first program for the New Albany Center for Civil Discourse and Debate, a platform for students and residents to come together and discuss opposing views freely, passionately and respectfully.
'''2017–2018'''
In February 2018, the New Albany Community Foundation convened a national security panel discussion with General Michael Hayden, General Stanley McChrystal and General Peter Pace for moderated by CNN’s Dr. Fareed Zakaria. The 2017–2018 Jefferson Series also included a presentation by Emmy Award-winning news anchor and author Charles Osgood, who shared inspiring stories from his professional career in television broadcasting, and a presentation by noted journalist and author Elizabeth Vargas, “Overcoming Anxiety: A Private Struggle, A Public Recovery.”
'''2016–2017'''
Presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan participated in Jefferson Series programs in October 2016. In April 2017 the New Albany Community Foundation hosted retired General David H. Petraeus for a public lecture and student event in New Albany. Petraeus said of the event, “It’s wonderful to be part of a community that clearly places so much emphasis on education.” A Jefferson Series program in January 2017 featured speaker Patrick J. Kennedy, a former congressman and leading advocate for mental health and substance abuse care, research and policy. Kennedy’s visit help the local school district launch a well-being initiative for students.
'''2015–2016'''
In the first of several Jefferson Series events focusing on mental health and well-being, the New Albany Community Foundation hosted Mariel Hemingway in October 2015, in an effort to "initiate a community dialogue and decrease the stigma surrounding mental-health issues." Additionally, the 2015-16 Jefferson Series included presentations by Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, presidential historian Jon Meacham, and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCullough.
'''2014–2015'''
Energy executive T. Boone Pickens spoke about achieving energy independence at the inaugural Jefferson Series program in February 2014, held at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts in New Albany. In a subsequent program, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke on the unique leadership qualities of presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Best-selling author Michael Pollan gave a lecture urging audience members to “Eat something your grandmother or great-grandmother would recognize as food.” In February 2015, the New Albany Community Foundation convened a panel discussion with prominent architects Jaque Robertson of Cooper Robertson, landscape architect Laurie Olin, former Harvard dean Gerald McCue, and Graham Wyatt of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, together with New Albany developers Leslie Wexner and Jack Kessler, to reflect on the planning and design of New Albany. The panelists discussed how the city’s Georgian brick architecture, central school campus, and pastoral common areas were influenced by Thomas Jefferson’s design for the University of Virginia and other traditional sources. Senator and former astronaut John Glenn gave a presentation as part of The Jefferson Series in June 2015.
'''Pre-2014'''
Prior to the establishment of The Jefferson Series in 2014, the New Albany Community Foundation arranged at least eight student lectures in association with the Foundation’s annual fundraiser, A Remarkable Evening, which also brings in preeminent speakers from around the world. Student lectures by biographer Walter Isaacson in 2008, former Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice in 2011, and Dr. Paul Farmer in 2012, were all forerunners to The Jefferson Series programs. Additionally, New Albany’s author residency program, began in 2011, featuring speakers such as Clarence B. Jones, a speechwriter and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. Walter Isaacson, who has written biographies on Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin, told New Albany students in 2008, “Intelligent people are a dime a dozen. You meet intelligent people all the time. You can be imaginative and creative to help others or just be intelligent to help yourselves.”
