Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder

A Selection of Past Speakers

The Aspen Society brings members together with distinguished leaders, thinkers, authors, artists, and changemakers. Explore a selection of speakers who have joined us for conversations across the country.

Meenakshi Ahamed

Author and journalist

Akhil Amar

Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University

Alex Azar

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Chris Bedford

Helen and Charles Schwab Director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Neal Benezra

Senior Advisor, Art Bridges Foundation

Orlando Bravo

Founder and Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo

Nicholas Burns

Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at Harvard Kennedy School and former U.S. Ambassador to China

Sewell Chan

Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy and former Executive Editor of Columbia Journalism Review

Percival Everett

National Book Award-winning author of James

Andra Ghez

Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist and Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA

Ken Griffin

Founder and CEO of Citadel

Arjun Gupta

CEO of Calient.AI and TeleSoft Partners

Jane Harman

Former member of Congress and chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy

IN-Q

Emmy-nominated poet and multi-platinum songwriter, and author of Inquire Within

Shepard Fairey

Contemporary artist and activist, founder of OBEY Clothing, renowned for his influential art in social movements

Sam Fragoso

Host of podcast Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

Retired Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Judge Michael Luttig

Former Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Senior Fellow at the Kettering Foundation

John McWhorter

Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University

Matthew Murray

Executive Editor of The Washington Post

Melissa Murray

Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU School of Law

Suzanne Nossel

Member of the Meta Oversight Board

Farah Pandith

A leading voice on global engagement and countering extremism

Ambassador Dennis Ross

Counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Susan Schulten

Professor of History at the University of Denver

Donna Shalala

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former President of the University of Miami

Ishaan Tharoor

Columnist on the foreign desk of The Washington Post

Francesca de Quesada Covey

Vice President of Community Impact at the Knight Foundation

Steve Vladeck

Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center