A Pulitzer Prize-winning cancer researcher and a Nobel Prize-winning economist will headline the University of Oklahoma's 2026-27 Presidential Speakers Series, with the first event less than three weeks away and reservations now open.
Oncologist and author Siddhartha Mukherjee will present "Research and the Future of Medicine" on Sept. 9 at the Oklahoma Memorial Union Ballroom. Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu follows on April 6, 2027, with a talk titled "Power and Progress: How We Can Use AI and Innovation for Everyone's Good."
OU announced the lineup on Aug. 19.
Both events begin with a 6 p.m. reception and 6:30 p.m. dinner, according to the university's speakers series page.
Mukherjee: AI and the future of medicine
Mukherjee's 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. His follow-up, "The Gene: An Intimate History," was named one of the most influential books of 2016 by The Washington Post and The New York Times. Both books were adapted into PBS documentary series by filmmaker Ken Burns.
An associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Mukherjee co-founded Manas AI, a biotechnology company that uses machine-learning platforms to accelerate drug discovery. His research has led to a record number of concurrent clinical trials worldwide spanning treatments for ovarian, breast and endometrial cancers, as well as leukemias and lymphomas.
Acemoglu: AI and the economy
Acemoglu, an MIT Institute Professor, won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences alongside Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for their studies of how institutions affect prosperity. He is the third most cited economist in the world and co-authored the international bestseller "Why Nations Fail."
His 2023 book "Power and Progress," co-written with Johnson, examines humanity's thousand-year struggle over technology and prosperity.
How to attend
Limited seating for the Sept. 9 dinner is available to OU students, faculty, staff and alumni by reservation. Overflow seating will be available to the public. Reservations can be made at ou.edu/president/speakerseries.
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. said the series brings leading thinkers to campus to engage the university community on ideas shaping the future. At the most recent speakers series dinner on March 25, which featured Pulitzer-winning historian Anne Applebaum, Harroz told attendees: "All that we have that is based on democracy rests on a foundation that is not ever firm, not ever to be taken for granted and something that we have to work at."
Upcoming community events
- Wednesday, Sept. 9: OU Presidential Speakers Series, Siddhartha Mukherjee, 6 p.m., Oklahoma Memorial Union Ballroom
- Tuesday, April 6, 2027: OU Presidential Speakers Series, Daron Acemoglu, 6 p.m., Oklahoma Memorial Union Ballroom
