Speaker Series Brings the World to Hopkins

Hopkins School has a longstanding tradition of inviting guest speakers to campus to share their real-world experiences and impart wisdom to the community. During the 2025–2026 school year, Hopkins continued this tradition under the theme of “Citizens of the World,” one of the four pillars of the Hopkins Strategic Plan. This year’s series brought voices from a variety of perspectives, including writers, performers, academics, tech visionaries, politicians, judges, and scientists.

Acclaimed author Jesmyn Ward came to campus as part of the School’s Visiting Writer Series, organized by the English Department. Ward, a two-time National Book Award winner and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, spoke and read excerpts of her work.

During the all-school assembly and in follow-up conversations with students, Ward spoke about her path as both a reader and writer.

“I was a reader before I was a writer. I loved the experience of sinking into another world. Read widely because you never know when a book is going to give you something that you need,” said Ward.

Later in the day, Ward led breakout discussions with students and faculty before concluding her visit with a public evening reading from her most recent novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing, in the Academic & Performing Arts Center.

Psychologist Dr. Laurie Santos shared her research on the science of happiness and offered strategies for students to put into practice in their own lives. Rather than begin her assembly speech discussing positive emotions, Santos spoke to students about how to normalize and how to engage with negative ones.

She then explained how mindfulness practices can help process negative feelings in healthy ways. Based on her research in positive psychology, she explained how the behavioral change of accepting negative emotions can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life.

Santos shared her favorite strategies for navigating negative emotions, which are also meditation practices: recognize the negative emotion, allow it to be felt, investigate the feeling, and nurture it by using self-compassion.

Santos went on to summarize the main insights she teaches in her Yale course, Psychology and the Good Life, which investigates how to make wiser choices for a better life using the science of psychology.

Andy Huszar ’91, co-founder and CEO of Marcella, a global designer fashion brand empowering women and girls through its design philosophy, production approach, sustainability, and social impact, returned to Hopkins as a Fall Fellow. The Fellows program invites alumni of distinction to speak to the current community, continuing the School’s tradition of fostering intellectual curiosity, civic engagement, and critical thinking.

Huszar spoke at assembly and in classrooms throughout the morning about his experience at the Federal Reserve during the 2008 financial crisis and the career pivot he and his wife, Siyana, took in starting their fashion brand. He credited Hopkins with instilling a sense of curiosity and collaboration that helped him take a bold leap in a new direction.

When Ben Rubenstein ’01 returned to Hopkins, he carried with him the unmistakable energy of someone who has lived the full arc of an entrepreneurial life—setbacks, reinventions, and hard-won successes. Rubenstein has built three successful startups in his career so far: Yodle, Opcity, and Setpoint. He has been widely recognized for his leadership, earning worldwide distinctions such as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and INC 30 Under 30, as well as recognition in Austin, Texas, as “Austinite of the Year” and Opportunity Austin’s “C-Suite Executive of the Year.”

With warmth and humor, Rubenstein encouraged students to view their futures through the lens that has guided his career: the belief that resilience fuels possibility.

“Comebacks are real,” he said. “You see them in sports, in business, and in all of life. If you believe comebacks are possible, you may take more risks, make bigger bets, and see higher rewards. You have nothing to lose when you know a comeback is possible.”

Rubenstein’s visit launched the Dr. Michael L. J. Apuzzo ’57 HGS Endowed Lecture, the centerpiece of this expanded speaker series, to bring diverse, influential voices to campus.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker joined Hopkins at the start of his fourth term to speak about his tenure as mayor and the six years of work he has contributed to addressing the major issues facing the city of New Haven. After his speech, Elicker fielded questions moderated by the heads of the Civic Engagement Club, Sam Ridky ’26 and Ryann Holden ’26.

Elicker discussed navigating New Haven through the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, such as the uptick in crime, housing disparities, and homelessness. Elicker fielded questions about the current state of New Haven public schools, the reasoning behind the city’s tax increases, and how New Haven’s trends mirror those in other cities across the nation.

“It’s been a journey, and it’s an incredible job as you can imagine, especially in these recent years,” Elicker said of his tenure as mayor thus far.

In early 2026, Hopkins hosted a special evening presentation, “AI and the Future of Education,” in a sold-out Academic & Performing Arts Center. The highly anticipated event featured two Hopkins alumni now leading institutions at the forefront of higher education and technological innovation: Mark Gorenberg ’72, chair of the MIT Corporation, and Jon Levin ’90, president of Stanford University. The discussion was moderated by Head of School Matt Glendinning.

After the panel discussion, the guests were joined on stage by Hopkins School Counselor Linda Romanchok, student Jacob R. ’27, and Hopkins parent Mamta Agarwal. The discussion explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping teaching and learning, from K–12 classrooms to research universities, while raising essential questions about judgment, integrity, and the enduring human elements of education.

Throughout the evening, the speakers returned repeatedly to the role schools like Hopkins should play in shaping not only how students use AI, but how they think about its impact on society.

In his closing remarks, Glendinning conveyed that the goal should not be to predict the future perfectly, but to prepare students to navigate it with curiosity, integrity, and wisdom.

The speaker series continued in February with a visit from legendary hip-hop artist Chuck D—Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, author, visual artist, producer, and the pioneering voice behind the influential hip-hop group Public Enemy.

Chuck D gave a wide-ranging speech that challenged the community to think critically about culture, technology, education, and what it means to stay grounded in a fast-moving world.

A central thread of Chuck D’s talk focused on the modern challenge of living with omnipresent technology and learning how to use it with purpose. He urged students to think deliberately about the role screens play in their lives and to protect the skill of deep focus.

Chuck D encouraged students to see their sense of self as something worth defending.

“I want you to lead with your own mind,” he told students. “Your mind. Because minds are the real estate of the millennium.”

After Chuck D’s visit on a Monday, multi-hyphenate actress and singer Renée Elise Goldsberry came to campus that Friday, marking an extraordinary week of speakers for the Hopkins community.

In an all-school assembly, Goldsberry shared that she fell in love with performing at eight years old at summer camp. Following a lifelong dedication to her craft that began with that “aha moment,” Goldsberry shot to stardom for originating the role of Angelica Schuyler in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton. Her performance earned her both a Tony Award and a Grammy.

A moderated discussion with current students delved into navigating the entertainment industry as a Black woman, Goldsberry’s early inspirations, and her advice for the next generation of Hopkins students.

“Every single thing about you is what you create with. Who I am as a Black woman, as a mother, as a wife, as a resident of Connecticut—whatever it is, all of that is what I use to inform whatever I’m doing as an artist,” said Goldsberry.

Hip-hop artist and playwright Duval Arillius, known to the world as Masta Ace, visited campus for a day that blended conversation, performance, and reflection.

A Brooklyn-born rapper, Arillius has built a career over three decades defined by narrative-driven songwriting, sharp lyricism, and a commitment to authenticity. Widely respected within the hip-hop community for his influence on generations of artists, he is often credited as a pioneer of the concept album, using music to tell cohesive, character-driven stories that explore identity, memory, and coming of age.

A student-led Q&A during the all-school assembly covered topics including Arillius’ career, influences, and creative process. The community was also introduced to the ensemble cast of his play The Falling Season, a hip-hop musical adapted from Arillius’s 2016 concept album of the same name. Like the album, the stage production follows Avis, a Brooklyn high school senior navigating family pressures, friendships, and life-changing decisions during a pivotal summer.

The visit culminated in an evening cabaret performance of The Falling Season in the Academic & Performing Arts Center.

The final two speakers in this year’s series were 2026 Distinguished Alumna Sarah Merriam ’89 on April 20 and Spring Alumna Fellow Misha Body ’98 on May 1, 2026.