NEW ALBANY, OH] July 20, 2026 – The New Albany Community Foundation will present the 14th season of its New Albany Lecture Series, widely regarded as one of the premier series in America. Tickets for the 2026-2027 season we be on sale at newalbanyfoundation.org beginning August 4th for a lineup that includes former Director of the CIA General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.) and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, a celebration of America at 250 with Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin and American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annette Gordon-Reed, former Speaker of the U.S. House Paul Ryan and former member of the South Carolina House Bakari Sellers, bestselling author and renowned social scientist Arthur Brooks and bestselling author and co-anchor of Squawk Box and founder of DealBook, Andrew Ross Sorkin, among others.
“Our donors and sponsors make it possible to bring some of the most influential thought leaders to New Albany and central Ohio, and we are thrilled to share these opportunities with students from across the region,” said Craig Mohre, President of The New Albany Community Foundation, presenter of The New Albany Lecture Series. “One of our primary areas of impact is to promote lifelong learning and civil discourse. We are dedicated to hosting open forums that challenge our thinking, bring people together, and keep important conversations moving forward.”
Tickets will be on sale at https://newalbanyfoundation.org/ on Tuesday, August 4th at 10:00am. Orchestra seats will be available for $50.00 and balcony seats for $45.00. Special event pricing for seniors 65+, veterans, military, teachers and students will also be available for $25.00. Please note, 10% of the house tickets on sale will be available for purchase at this special event price.
The 2026-2027 series launches September 15 with the national security program featuring former Director of the CIA General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.) and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in conversation moderated by Pulitzer Prize winner and op-ed columnist for The New York Times Bret Stephens. David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.) is one of the leading battlefield commanders and strategists of our time. He served over 37 years in the US military culminating his career with six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat, including command of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan. Marie Yovanovitch served 34 years as a U.S. diplomat, three times as ambassador. Most recently, she was the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Previously, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008) and the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011). She retired from the Foreign Service in 2020 and is the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Lessons from the Edge. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a non-Resident Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
In January, The New Albany Lecture Series celebrates America at 250 with Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin and American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annette Gordon-Reed moderated by Mark Updegrove, historian and author and Chairman and CEO of the LBJ Foundation. Goodwin is often called upon to share her vast knowledge of leadership and provide historical context for current-day events, especially as our democracy is challenged, international wars rage, and we continue to struggle in a divided and polarized country. Her eighth book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, was published in Spring 2024, became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and is being developed as a feature film by Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, Eon Productions’ Barbara Broccoli, and Goodwin’s own Pastimes Production. Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard. Gordon-Reed won sixteen book prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2009 and the National Book Award in 2008, for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. Her most recent book is On Juneteenth, a memoir and history of Texas. A selected list of her honors includes a Guggenheim Fellowship in the humanities, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the National Humanities Medal.
In February, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (2015-2019) Paul Ryan and former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, bestselling author and political analyst Bakari Sellers come together for another program made possible by The New Albany Center for Civil Discourse and Debate, which was established seven years ago by The Barbara and Philip Derrow Family Foundation to promote civil discourse. The program will be moderated by U.S. Special Correspondent BBC Studios, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Katty Kay and cover public policy topics that range from domestic policy to international affairs.
In March, the Lecture Series will focus on Health and Wellbeing, featuring Arthur Brooks.
Brooks is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column. Brooks is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 15 books and is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of human happiness, appearing in the media and traveling the world to teach people in private companies, universities, public agencies, and faith communities how they can live happier lives and bring greater well-being to others. Brooks will be interviewed by Doug Ulman, Pelotonia Vice Chair and founder of Orli. Ulman is making his fourth appearance as a moderator for The New Albany Lecture Series.
The season will conclude in April with a discussion focused on the economy with Andrew Ross Sorkin, an award-winning journalist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of Squawk Box, CNBC’s signature morning program. He is also the founder and editor-at-large of DealBook, an online daily financial report published by The New York Times that he started in 2001. Sorkin is one the preeminent interviewers in the nation, known for his incisive, nuanced long-form conversations with the biggest newsmakers in the world, from Elon Musk to Lebron James to Kim Kardashian and Hillary Clinton. Sorkin will be interviewed by Associate Editor of the Financial Times, global economic analyst and bestselling author Rana Foroohar.
The New Albany Lecture Series has presented more than 70 compelling speakers since the series debuted. It is widely recognized as one of the premier lecture series in the country, not only for the caliber of speakers and the topics covered, but also for the Student Lecture Series that has hosted 37,000+ students representing 50 Central Ohio high schools.
Sponsors of the 2026-2027 New Albany Lecture Series include Special Program Underwriter: The Barbara W. & Philip R. Derrow Family Foundation; Season Sponsors: Abercrombie & Fitch Co., AEP Foundation, Amazon, Battelle, Bath & Body Works, CAS, Encova and Igel; Speaker Sponsors: Anonymous Donors, CK Construction, Meta, M/I Homes Foundation, QTS, T. Marzetti, The Ohio State University Foundation; Premier Sponsors: NAI Ohio Equities, Mount Carmel; The New Albany Lecture Series Endowment Fund Supporters: Donna & Nick Akins Fund, Karen & Irving Dennis Family Fund, Ben W. Hale Jr. Memorial Fund, Linda Hondros and John Hondros, In Memoriam and the Hondros Family Foundation, Judge Family Fund, Redgrave Family Fund, Ryan Family Fund, Lynne & Steve Smith Family Fund, Leslie H. Wexner New Albany Lecture Series Fund, Wolman Family Fund.