YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Youngstown State University on Monday announced its speakers for the Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise, the Centofanti Symposium and the Skeggs Lecture Series.
Each lecture is free and open to the public.
Thomas Colloquium
The Thomas Colloquium will present Daymond John, FUBU CEO and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank.” His presentation, “Building Bold: Risk, Resilience, and the Future of Free Enterprise,” will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at Stambaugh Auditorium. Tickets will be available beginning Aug. 11 on Stambaugh Auditorium’s website and at the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office.
John is the founder of FUBU, a global lifestyle brand, and a pioneer in the fashion industry with over $6 billion in product sales. He is also a bestselling author of five books, including his most recent, “Powershift: Transform Any Situation, Close Any Deal, and Achieve Any Outcome.” His marketing strategies and ability to build successful brands has made him a highly influential consultant and motivational speaker.
Centofanti Symposium
The Centofanti Symposium will present Wil Haygood, an acclaimed biographer, Pulitzer finalist and award-winning author and reporter. His lecture will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Beeghly Center. Tickets are not required, but parking in campus lots without a permit costs $5.
Among Haygood’s books are biographies of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., former U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and prizefighter Sugar Ray Robinson. His book “Tigerland” was honored by the Hurston-Wright Foundation and the Ohioana Book Awards, and his book “The Butler” was adapted into an award-winning film that became one of the highest grossing Civil Rights movies of all time.
Haygood spent 30 years as a national and foreign correspondent for The Washington Post and Boston Globe. In 2022, he was awarded the Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, the only U.S. Literary Award given to a writer whose work is recognized as globally promoting peace.
Skeggs Lecture Series
The Skeggs Lecture Series will present award-winning author Amy Tan for “An Evening with Amy Tan” on Oct. 22 at Stambaugh Auditorium. The lecture will begin at 6:30 p.m., with a book signing to follow. Tickets will be available beginning Sept. 8 on Stambaugh Auditorium’s website and at the DeYor box office.
Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents from China, Tan rejected her mother’s expectations that she become a doctor and chose to write fiction instead. Her novels include “The Joy Luck Club,” “The Kitchen God’s Wife,” “The Hundred Secret Senses” and more, all New York Times bestsellers. Her other works include a memoir, “The Opposite of Fate”; a book about writing, “Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir”; a book she wrote and illustrated, “The Backyard Bird Chronicles”; and two children’s books, “The Moon Lady” and “Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat.”
Tan served as co-producer and co-screenwriter for the film adaptation of “The Joy Luck Club,” which received WGA and BAFTA nominations. Her essays and stories are found in hundreds of anthologies and textbooks and are assigned as required reading in many schools. A documentary about her life and career, “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir,” is available on PBS.
For more information, call 330 941 2136 or email jmleviseur@ysu.edu.