2000-01 through 2009-10

2009-10

Kofi Annan - Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997 - 2006), Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
Tony Blair - Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1997 - 2007)
Steve Lopez - Author of the 2009 UB Reads Selection - "The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and The Redemptive Power of Music" and LA Times Columnist
Cornel West* - Scholar, Public Intellectual and Best-Selling Author
Margaret Atwood - Booker Prize-Winning, Best-Selling Author
Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysicist, Host of PBS's "NOVA scienceNOW," F.P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, and Best-Selling Author
Bill Maher - Political Satirist, Host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" and Best-Selling Author

Karl Rove - Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush
Wesley Clark - Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and 2004 Presidential Candidate
Khaled Hosseini - Best-Selling Author of the UB Reads 2008 Book Selection: "The Kite Runner"
Jon Stewart - Host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show"
Donna Brazile* - Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute
Anna Quindlen - Newsweek Columnist, Social Critic and Author
Bill Nye - Scientist, Comedian and Author

Michael Moore - Academy Award-Winning Documentarian
Ishmael Beah - Human Rights Activist, Best-Selling Author of A" Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier"
Steven Levitt - Award-Winning Economist, Best-Selling Author of "Freakonomics"
Harold Ford, Jr.* - Chair, National Democratic Leadership Council, Former U.S. Representative, D-Tenn.
Tina Brown - Best-Selling Author of "The Diana Chronicles," Former Editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker
Stephen Colbert - Host of "The Colbert Report" and Best-Selling Author of "I Am America (And So Can You!)"

The Dalai Lama - The Head of state in exile of Tibet and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people
Anderson Cooper - Journalist and Host of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°"
Wangari Maathai* - 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate and Green Belt Movement founder
Jean-Michel Cousteau - Ocean Explorer and Environmentalist
Al Gore - Former U.S. Vice President, Author and Activist

Alex Kotlowitz - Critically Acclaimed Author
Colin Powell - Former U.S. Secretary of State
Brian Greene - Physicist and Groundbreaking String Theorist
Tavis Smiley* - Host, "The Tavis Smiley Show" on PBS and "The Tavis Smiley Show" from PRI
Laurie Garrett - Pulitzer-Winning Expert on Global Health Care, Disease Prevention & Bioterrorism
Conan O'Brien - Comedian and Host of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"

Donald Trump - Chairman & President of The Trump Organization, Producer & Star of "The Apprentice"
Steven Squyres - Principal Investigator, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Project
Barbara Ehrenreich - Critically Acclaimed Author and Journalist
Bob Woodward - Political Investigative Reporter & Author
Janet Reno - Former U.S. Attorney General
Ann Coulter - Author, Columnist & Political Commentator
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson* - Scholar/Best-Selling Author
Salman Rushdie - Internationally Acclaimed Novelist & Public Intellectual

Antwone Fisher - Hollywood Producer/Screenwriter and Author of "Finding Fish" (the 2003 book selection of the UB Reads Program)
Wolf Blitzer - CNN News Anchor and UB Alumnus
Bill Cosby - Comedian, Actor, Author and Humanitarian
Joyce Carol Oates - Best-Selling and Critically Acclaimed Author, Professor
Kweisi Mfume* - NAACP President and Chief Executive Officer
J.C. Watts* - Former Congressman and Pioneering Republican Visionary
Tim Russert - NBC Senior Vice President, Producer and Moderator of "Meet the Press"

Ken Burns - Celebrated Filmmaker
Stephen L. Carter* - Scholar, Author and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale University
Madeleine Albright - 64th Secretary of State
Jane Goodall - The Great Conservationist

John Glenn - American Legend
Mary Higgins Clark - Best-Selling Author
Dick Vitale - Basketball Guru
Sidney Poitier* - Oscar-Winning Author and Actor
Doris Kearns Goodwin - Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian, Author and TV Commentator

* Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Speaker