The McBee Lecture Series

The McBee Lecture honors Louise McBee, who held leadership positions for more than 25 years at the University of Georgia before serving for more than a decade as a champion for higher education in the Georgia General Assembly. A video archive of past lectures, all focused on key directions and themes in higher education, can be found on the IHE website: www.ihe.uga.edu

In almost every state across the U.S., state support has dropped by 50 percent or more since the 1970s. “This compromises the mission of universities to move America forward,” she said. “Earlier, our nation rallied around science, education and advanced learning.” Coleman believes these are no longer priorities for most Americans, who she said “confuse the prevalence of modern

An attentive audience packed the UGA Chapel last December to hear Mary Sue Coleman, president emerita of the University of Michigan, deliver the 26th annual Louise McBee Lecture. Her topic was “Public Higher Education in the 21st Century: Can America Continue to Lead?” and the lecture was featured in the February 2015 issue of Vital Speeches of the Day.

Coleman began by affirming the strength of the U.S. higher education system, which leads the world with 15 of the top 20 institutions worldwide. This system, she noted, is responsible for the country’s intellectual security, health and well-being, as well as other areas of our culture.

“But we are threatened by shrinking financial support from federal and state governments, and we are threatened by waning public confidence,” she said. “We face unprecedented challenges.”

In almost every state across the U.S., state support has dropped by 50 percent or more since the 1970s. “This compromises the mission of universities to move America forward,” she said. “Earlier, our nation rallied around science, education and advanced learning.”

Coleman believes these are no longer priorities for most Americans, who she said “confuse the prevalence of modern technology with national strength in science.”

“Recognizing the complexity of the problems we face augers the capacity to solve them as a nation and as global citizens,” she said, noting that these challenges are the reason she accepted her role as co-chair of the Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education. Supported by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Lincoln Project has a three-fold mission: to examine the implications of reduced state investments in public higher education, to assess the role of the federal government in funding public research universities, and to make recommendations to ensure that public universities continue to serve the nation.

Coleman asserted that supporting the future of public higher education is crucial because “the progress of knowledge remains so central to the progress of civilization.”

27th McBee Lecture Earl Lewis

March 24, 2016

Earl Lewis is the sixth president of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Under his guidance, the foundation has reaffirmed its commitment to the humanities, the arts and higher education by emphasizing the importance of continuity and change.

A noted social historian, Lewis has held faculty appointments at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan. He has championed the importance of diversifying the academy, enhancing graduate education, re-visioning the liberal arts, exploring the role of digital tools for learning, and connecting universities to their communities.

Prior to joining the Mellon Foundation, Lewis served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies at Emory University.