An Independent School • Grades 5-12

Lakeside Lecture Series

Megan Asaka ’99

Dan Ayrault Memorial Lecture
March 18, 2026

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Time: Lectures begin at 7 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Location: St. Nicholas Hall, Upper School campus

Health and safety: Please review Lakeside’s health and safety protocols. Health and safety are our shared responsibility: all members of the Lakeside community have a responsibility to take care of themselves and others. 

Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Contact us at 206-368-3606 to request special accommodations.

Lakeside Lecture Series speaker selection committee

Joshua A. ’27
Theo C. ’26
Koreb T. ’26
Ashley Z. ’27
Ava Erickson, faculty
Abby Cacho, faculty
Eleanor Long, faculty
Merissa Reed, faculty
Greta Block, staff
Allison Conkin, staff
Chris Hartley, staff
Christine Lessard, staff
Minnie Reichek P ’19 ’27
Brianna Reynaud ’96 Jensen
David de la Fuente P’16 ‘22, trustee
Kai Bynum, head of school

Previous Lecture Series speakers

The Dan Ayrault Memorial Lecture

  • Melba Ayco, choreographer and storyteller
  • Matika Wilbur, social documentarian and photographer
  • Tess Rinearson '11, cryptocurrency and blockchain technologist
  • Monika Batra '92 Kashyap, immigration attorney and law professor
  • Naomi André, professor of Afroamerican and African Studies and Women's Studies
  • Bill Gates '73, co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist
  • Sally Jewell, former secretary of the interior under President Obama and former CEO of REI
  • Emily Johnston '81, emergency room physician and mountain guide
  • Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, former astronaut and teacher

The Mark J. Bebie '70 Memorial Lecture

  • Nic Stone, author
  • Shankar Vedantam, NPR podcast host and social science correspondent
  • Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, author, activist, and scientist
  • Darcy Gaechter, author and adventure kayaker
  • Min Jin Lee, author
  • Jesmyn Ward, author and educator
  • Julie Lythcott-Haims, author and educator
  • Jelani Cobb, professor and director of Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut and staff writer for The New Yorker

Bernie Noe Endowed Lecture on Ethics and Politics (formerly the Belanich Family Speaker on Ethics and Politics)

  • Amy Walter, political journalist
  • Anne Applebaum, historian, journalist, and commentator on geopolitics
  • Michael Sandel, professor and philosopher
  • U.S. Marine Corp Gen. John F. Kelly, general and former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and White House chief of staff
  • Siddhartha Mukherjee, cancer doctor and author
  • Reza Aslan, religious scholar
  • Karl Rove and Howard Dean, deputy chief of staff for George W. Bush/former governor of Vermont, 2004 presidential candidate, and former chair of the Democratic National Committee

The Jerry St. Dennis Speaker Series on Economics

  • Raj Chetty, professor of economics at Harvard University
  • Darrick Hamilton, professor of economics and urban policy at The New School for Social Research
  • Per Espen Stoknes, director of Centre for Sustainability and Energy at the Norwegian Business School in Oslo.
  • Gregg Colburn, professor of economics at University of Washington
  • Lisa Cook, professor of economics at Michigan State University
  • Robert Frank, professor of economics at Cornell University
  • Richard Thaler, recipient of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics 
  • Heather Boushey, former economic advisor to Hillary Clinton, Chief Economist for the Center for Equitable Growth
  • Austan Goolsbee, professor at University of Chicago, chairman of President Obama’s Council on Economic Advisors