The Robert C. Vance Distinguished Lecture Series

The Robert C. Vance Distinguished Lecture Series at Central Connecticut State University was created in 1983 by the Robert C. Vance Charitable Foundation. The series honors the late Robert C. Vance, a widely respected journalist who was editor and publisher of The Herald in New Britain from 1951 to 1959. The lecture series brought speakers of national and international prominence to the campus and the central Connecticut community. A significant feature of the program involved CCSU students. Each lecturer spent one-hour in an intimate and informal Q & A session with a group of approximately 75 students. Proceeds from the Vance Lecture benefited scholarships and academic programs at CCSU. In December 2015, the Vance Lecture Series was discontinued, concluding a run of 32 years that brought illustrious world and national leaders as well as distinguished journalists to the CCSU campus.Funds supporting the series have been redirected to support expanded programming of this sort and create opportunities for other innovative programs and events that will benefit both the CCSU community and New Britain. 

Past Lecturers

Benjamin Bradlee
Executive Editor, The Washington Post
1983

 

Harold Lord Wilson
Prime Minister, United Kingdom
1984

 

Jimmy Carter
President, United States of America
1985

 

Henry A. Kissinger
U. S. Secretary of State
1987

 

Gerald R. Ford
President, United States of America
1988

 

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Author & Political Commentator
and
George McGovern
U.S. Senator
1990

 

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
1991

 

Francis T. “Fay” Vincent
Commissioner, Major League Baseball
1992

 

Helmut Schmidt
Chancellor, Federal Republic of Germany
1993

 

Brian Mulrooney
Prime Minister of Canada
1994

 

Lech Walesa
President of Poland
1996

 

Frederik Willem de Klerk
Prime Minister, South Africa
1997

 

George H. W. Bush
President, United States of America
1999

 

George J. Mitchell
U.S. Senator
2000

 

Bob Woodward
Investigative Reporter & Author
2001

 

Shimon Peres
Prime Minister, Israel
2003

 

Hugh Downs
Journalist and Television Personality
2005

 

Dan Rather
Anchor & Editor, CBS Evening News
2007

 

Bob Dole
U.S. Senator
2008

 

Anderson Cooper
Journalist & Host of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360º
2009

 

Steve Forbes
Chairman & CEO, Forbes, Inc.
2010

 

Robert M. Gates
U.S. Secretary of Defense
2011

 

Rudolph W. Giuliani
Mayor, New York City
2013