An Independent School • Grades 5-12

Lakeside Lecture Series

The Lakeside Lecture Series brings speakers of national renown and from diverse backgrounds to Lakeside’s campus to expose Lakeside students to differing perspectives on a range of topics. A goal of the series is to foster open and inclusive dialogue in order to learn about the world and about each other.

Lectures are free of charge, and registration is required; register at the links below.

2025-2026 Lecture Speakers

Photo of Amy Walter

Laurie Santos

Bernie Noe Endowed Lecture on Ethics and Politics
Oct. 15, 2025

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Award-winning scientist and professor Laurie Santos is one of the world’s foremost experts on human cognition and the science of happiness. Her course “Psychology and the Good Life” became the most popular course in Yale history — enrolling nearly one out of four Yale undergraduates — and the subject of widespread national and international media coverage. Santos’ podcast, “The Happiness Lab,” has drawn more than 100 million downloads since its launch in 2019. 

Washington, in suit and tie, leans in a windowsill smiling

Arlo Washington

Mark J. Bebie ’70 Memorial Lecture
Jan. 28, 2026

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Born into poverty in Little Rock, Arkansas, Arlo Washington became a barber and then an entrepreneur on a mission of economic justice. The barber college he founded has created more than 1,500 jobs in Arkansas — many of them made possible by low- or no-interest loans and creative financing. In 2022, Washington further expanded opportunity by chartering the People Trust Community Federal Credit Union, the first minority-owned and operated financial institution in the state’s history. His story was the subject of the 2024 Oscar-nominated documentary short “The Barber of Little Rock.”

Photo of Melba Ayco

Megan Asaka ’99

Dan Ayrault Memorial Lecture
March 18, 2026

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Megan Asaka ’99 is an award-winning scholar, writer, and teacher of Asian American history at University of California, Riverside. She is the author of “Seattle from the Margins: Exclusion, Erasure, and the Making of a Pacific Coast City” (University of Washington Press, 2022), which examines the erased histories of the immigrant communities that built Seattle. The book was inspired by her own family history in Seattle, as well as her work as an oral historian and archivist at Densho, a community-based organization that seeks to preserve and share the stories of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. 

School-day speaker

Stevenson posed against a neutral background

Betsey Stevenson

Jerry St. Dennis Speaker on Economics
Dec. 17, 2025

A widely published professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, Betsey Stevenson served as the chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor from 2010 to 2011 and was an economic advisor during the second Obama administration. Her research has focused on women in the labor market and the economic forces shaping the modern family. She is the co-host of the podcast “Think Like an Economist.” 

Note: The economics lecture is a school-day visit for students only, with no evening lecture. 

Speakers are selected by a speaker selection committee that includes members drawn from the faculty, staff, parents/guardians, alums, students, and trustees. The committee is happy to receive suggestions for future speakers. Email the speaker selection committee at development@lakesideschool.org.

Views and opinions expressed by speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Lakeside School.

The Lakeside Lecture Series is made possible through individual endowments established by members of the Lakeside community. Each series has a distinct mission.

  • The Bernie Noe Endowed Lecture on Ethics and Politics supports a lecture or debate on political, ethical, or philosophical subjects, with the intent of promoting open discussion. The lecture was renamed by the Belanich family in honor of Noe in September 2021.
  • The Mark J. Bebie ’70 Memorial Lecture sponsors speakers on topics related to the environment, technology, education, and other subjects that were of interest to Bebie.
  • The Dan Ayrault Memorial Endowed Lecture honors the memory of Dan Ayrault, head of school from 1969 to 1990. Honoring Ayrault’s passion for education, lectures are designed to foster a robust exchange of ideas.
  • The Jerry St. Dennis Speaker Series on Economics brings to campus nationally renowned speakers to address issues of economic relevance to the student body. Speakers represent the broad spectrum of economic thinking, both liberal and conservative, found in contemporary economic debate on a host of topics. The economics lecture is a school-day visit for students only, with no evening lecture. 

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