NEWS
NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma announced today the lineup for its 2026-2027 Presidential Speakers Series dinners, which will bring two distinguished thought leaders to the Norman campus. OU will welcome Siddhartha Mukherjee, presenting “Research and the Future of Medicine” on Sept. 9, and Daron Acemoglu, delivering an address titled “Power and Progress: How We Can Use AI and Innovation for Everyone’s Good” on April 6.
“The Presidential Speakers Series is about bringing some of the world’s most consequential thinkers to OU and creating opportunities for our community to engage with the ideas shaping our future,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “Few forces are reshaping our world more rapidly than artificial intelligence, and Dr. Mukherjee and Dr. Acemoglu bring extraordinary perspectives on its implications for medicine, innovation, our economy and society. We are incredibly fortunate to welcome them to OU and to learn from their insights.”
Fall 2026 Presidential Speakers Series Dinner
6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026
Oklahoma Memorial Union Ballroom, 900 Asp Ave., Norman
Oncologist, entrepreneur and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee will present “Research and the Future of Medicine”
Mukherjee is the co-founder and CEO of Manas AI, a biotechnology company pioneering the use of advanced AI and machine-learning-driven platforms to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines. He currently serves as an associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. His medical research has helped reshape the understanding of cancer biology and enabled the development of novel biological and cellular therapies. He was among the earliest leaders to apply AI-based algorithms to the discovery of human medicines and to translate these computational insights into clinical development. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Alongside his work as an entrepreneur and scientist, Mukherjee is also an acclaimed author. His book “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and was named among Time magazine’s and The New York Times’ 100 best nonfiction books of the past century. He also authored the bestseller “The Gene: An Intimate History,” which was named one of the most influential books of 2016 by The Washington Post and The New York Times. Both books were adapted into a PBS documentary series by filmmaker Ken Burns.
Spring 2027 Presidential Speakers Series Dinner
6 p.m. Tuesday, April 6, 2027
Oklahoma Memorial Union Ballroom, 900 Asp Ave., Norman
Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu will present “Power and Progress: How We Can Use AI and Innovation for Everyone’s Good”
Acemoglu won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences for his groundbreaking work on AI, innovation and prosperity. He was celebrated for his work detailing the key role strong institutions play in a country’s democracy and wellbeing, a focus of his international bestselling book Why Nations Fail. His real-world stories reveal how institutions can be leveraged to improve communities and the world.
He is the third most cited economist in the world, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute Professor (the highest title awarded to faculty members) and a founding co-director of MIT’s Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work. Acemoglu is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society and the Society of Labor Economists. He has twice been named one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, as well as the 2019 winner of the Kiel Institute’s Global Economy Prize.
Event Reservations
Limited seating for the fall event is available to OU students, faculty, staff and alumni by reservation. Overflow seating will be available to the public. For reservations, more information and accommodations, email universityexperiences@ou.edu or call (405) 325-1701. RSVP information for the Presidential Speakers Series Dinner with Daron Acemoglu will be available in spring 2027.
More information about the events is available at ou.edu/president/speakerseries.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and healthcare needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The University of Oklahoma announced today the lineup for its 2026-2027 Presidential Speakers Series dinners, which will bring two distinguished thought leaders to the Norman campus. OU will welcome Siddhartha Mukherjee, presenting “Research and the Future of Medicine” on Sept. 9, and Daron Acemoglu, delivering an address titled “Power and Progress: How We Can Use AI and Innovation for Everyone’s Good” on April 6.
Three University of Oklahoma students took a class assignment beyond the classroom, developing a large-scale solar energy plan that could help reduce electricity costs at the Sulphur Veterans Home.
Nearly 50 high school students from three states spent four days at the University of Oklahoma exploring one of the fastest-growing fields in technology during the inaugural Artificial Intelligence Summer Camp hosted by the Gallogly College of Engineering.
