Celebrity Forum
Celebrity Forum Speakers, 1968-2019
Founded by Dick Henning in 1968, the Celebrity Forum Speakers Series was first held in the Foothill College gymnasium.
In 1976 it moved to the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the De Anza College campus. Since then, many guest speakers have held audiences in sway with their commentaries on the times.
Select from years to view speakers
1968–1971: Louise Leakey to Gloria Steinem
1968
Louis Leakey
Bennett Cerf
Edwin O. Reischower
Alastair Cooke
1968-1969
Indira Gandhi
Pearl S. Buck
Allen Ginsberg
Gen. Lewis Hershey
Earl Warren
1969-1970
Philip Roth
Kurt Vonnegut
Edward Albee
James Baldwin
1970-1971
Jacques Cousteau
S. I. Hayakawa
Mary Leakey
Ralph Nader
1971-1972
Dick Gregory
Ray Bradbury
Buzz Aldin
Gloria Steinem
1972–1975: S.I. Hayakawa to Art Buchwald
1972-1973
S.I. Hayakawa
Arthur B. Laffer
John Housman
Bennett Cerf
1973-1974
Bishop James Pike
Alex Haley
Sam Levenson
Pat Paulsen
1974-1975
Margaret Mead
Ogden Nash
Ben Bradlee
Golda Meir
1975-1976
Ruth Gordon
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Garry Marshall
Ralph Nader
Art Buchwald
1976–1979: Uri Geller to Louis Rukeyser
1976-77
Uri Geller
Joyce Brothers
Hugh Lynn Cayce
John W. Dean, III
Buckminster Fuller
Laurence Peter
1977-78
Jack Anderson
Murray Banks
David Frost
Pauline Frederick
Richard Armour
Jean-Michel Cousteau
1978-79
Alvin Toffler
Carl Sagan
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross & Ken Kesey
Art Buchwald
Truman Capote
Ray Bradbury
1979-80
Gen. Alexander Haig
Gene Roddenberry
Olivia de Havilland
Lowell Thomas
Gerald R. Ford
Louis Rukeyser
1980–1983: Eliot Janeway to Pearl Bailey
1980-81
Eliot Janeway
Herb Caen
Paul Duke & 3 WWiR
Gore Vidal
James Kilpatrick
Bob Hope
Patricia Neal
Andy Rooney
1981-82
Milton Friedman
Ginger Rogers
Jonathan Winters
Ann Landers
Walter Cronkite
Louis Rukeyser
Ray Bradbury
1982-83
William Safire
Cary Grant
Mark Russell
Art Linkletter
Toni Grant
Henry Kissinger
David Horowitz
1983-84
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Phil Donahue
Ed Asner
Red Skelton
Dick Cavett
Jack Anderson
Cary Grant
Pearl Bailey
1984–1989: Clare Booth Luce to Mike Wallace
1984-85
Clare Booth Luce
Jimmy Carter
Mark Russell
John Naisbitt
Tom Peters
Lucille Ball
1985-86
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Rosalynn Carter
Helmut Schmidt
Arkady Shevchenko
Malcolm Forbes, Jr.
Richard Leakey
Alistair Cooke
Abba Eban
1986-87
Bill Moyers
Charleton Heston
Paul Harvey
Zbigniew Brzezinski
William F. Buckley, Jr. vs George McGovern
Tip O'Neill
Jehan Sadat
Sir Harold Wilson
1987-88
Donald Regan
John Tower
David Halberstam
Steve Wozniak
Louis Rukeyser
Erma Bombeck
Beverly Sills
Willy Brandt
Jimmy Carter
1988-89
Caspar Weinberger
Gerald R. Ford
Mark Russell
Henry Kissinger
Sam Donaldson vs
George Will
Larry King
Elie Wiesel
Jane Goodall
Mario Cuomo
1989-90
Norman Cousins
Pierre Salinger
George Shultz
George Will
William Crowe, Jr.
Kevin McCarthy in
Give 'Em Hell, Harry
Nien Cheng
Victor Borge
Mike Wallace
1990–1993: Carl Sagan to Bryant Gumbel
1990-91
Carl Sagan
Tom Wolfe
Richard Leakey
Leo Buscaglia
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Winston & Bette Bao Lord
Oscar Arias
Vladimir Pozner
1991-92
Gen. Thomas Kelly
Benazir Bhutto
Carlos Fuentes
Margaret Thatcher
Ronald Reagan
Edward Heath
C. Everett Koop
Rowland Evans &
Robert Novak
1992-93
Terry Anderson
Peter Ueberroth
Mark Russell
Louis Rukeyser
Robert MacNeil
Margaret Thatcher
David Mc Cullough
Rich Little
1993-94
Jack Kemp
Barbara Bush
Dick Cheney
Bill Moyers
Hugh Sidey
Les Aspin
Shirley MacLaine
Bryant Gumbel
1994–1999: George Bush to Harry Belafonte
1994-95
George H. W. Bush
Terry Waite
Richard Leakey
Hedrick Smith
Maya Angelou
Ken Burns
Jesse Jackson
Colin Powell
1995-96
Thomas S. Foley
Margaret Thatcher
Gregory Peck
Ann Richards
Abba Eban
William Safire
Charles Kuralt
James Carville &
Mary Matalin
1996-97
James Lovell, Jr.
F. W. de Klerk
Gerald R. Ford
Mark Russell
David McCullough &
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Cokie Roberts
Oliver Stone
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
1997-98
Tom Wolfe
Leon Panetta
Joe Montana
Bill Moyers
Leah Rabin
Ray Bradbury
Maya Angelou &
Elie Wiesel
Colin Powell
1998-99
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Bill Bradley
John Major
Benazir Bhutto
Marlin Fitzwater &
Dee Dee Myers
Desmond Tutu
Pat Buchanan vs.
George Stephanopoulos
Molly Ivins
1999-2000
Lauren Bacall
Christopher Reeve
Frank McCourt
Shimon Peres
Mario Cuomo vs. Alan Simpson
Arianna Huffington vs. Bill Press
Bob Ballard &
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Harry Belafonte
2000–2004: Sylvia Earle to Neil Armstrong
2000-01
Sylvia Earle
Benjamin Netanyahu
Mark Russell
George Mitchell
Queen Noor of Jordan
Carl Reiner
Jane Goodall
Beck Weathers
2001-02
Steve Wynn
Richard Holbrooke
Madeleine Albright
Ken Burns
Mark Shields
Janet Reno
Sidney Poitier
2002-03
Anna Quindlen
Jerry Lewis
William J. Clinton
Tom Brokaw
Peggy Noonan
Jane Bryant Quinn
David & Julie Nixon Eisenhower
David McCullough
2003-04
Gen. Hugh Shelton
Salman Rushdie
Rudy Giuliani
Thomas Friedman
Michael Beschloss
Garrison Keillor
Jane Pauley (Amy Tan)
2004-05
Ehud Barak
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mark Russell
Toni Morrison
Robert Reich vs
Alan Simpson
Prince Edward
Neil Armstrong
2005–2010: Tom Wolfe to Benjamin Zander
2005-06
Tom Wolfe
Robert Ballard
Colin Powell
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Bill Moyers
Ken Burns
Tom Friedman
2006-07
Dave Barry
Christiane Amanpour
Bob Dole vs. Tom Daschle
Bill Cosby
David Breashears
Jared Diamond
Gen. Wesley Clark
2007-08
George Pataki
Al Gore
Chris Matthews
Bob Newhart
Mia Farrow
David Gergen
Andrew Weil
Bill Frist
2008-09
Newt Gingrich vs Robert Reich
Mark Russell
Martin Sheen
Carly Fiorina
Charlie Rose
Maureen Dowd
Fareed Zakaria
2009-10
Tom Friedman
David Brooks
Paul Krugman
Bob Ballard
Laura Bush
Jeffrey Toobin
Anna Deavere Smith
2010-11
Sully Sullenberger
Louise Leakey
Greg Mortenson
Reza Aslan
Yo-Yo Ma
Tony Blair
Benjamin Zander
2011–2014: Condeleeza Rice to Alan Alda
2011-1202
Condeleeza Rice
Itzhak Perlman
Neil deGrasse Tyson
David Axelrod
Peter Sagal, P.J. O'Rourke & Mo Rocca
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Frank Abagnale
2012-2013
Sanjay Gupta, MD
Capitol Steps
President Bill Clinton
Mark Russell
President Vicente Fox
Ken Burns
Dave Barry
2013-2014
Mark Kelly & Gabrielle Giffords
David Brooks
Steve Wozniak
Leon Panetta
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Jacques & Claudine Pépin
Lara Logan & Bob Simon
Bill Nye
Robert Gates
Anderson Cooper
Platon
Walter Isaacson
Soledad O'Brien
Alan Alda
2015–2019: Michio Kaku to Dan Buettner
2015-2016
Michio Kaku
Michele Bachmann vs. Donna Brazile
Mark Russell
Malcolm Gladwell
Andrew Fraknoi
Michael Lewis
Bill Maher & Fran Lebowitz
2016-2017
George Takei
Brian Greene
Jay Leno
Fareed Zakaria
Julia Gillard
Mitch Albom
Scott Kelly
2017-2018
Joseph Biden
P.J. O'Rourke & Robert Reich
Jason Alexander
Bob Ballard
Bryan Stevenson
Jill Biden, Ed.D
2018-2019
Rick Steves
John Cleese
Ian Bremmer
Diane Keaton
James Comey
Dan Buettner
