Stephen S. Smith Center Events
The mission of the Stephen S. Smith Center in the Williams College of Business at Xavier University is to promote learning, scholarship, and debate about fundamental questions and ideas that impact society. The Center uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine such questions, with a particular emphasis on the study of economics and its relationship to law, political philosophy, and history.
As part of its mission, the Center hosts events each year that foster intellectual engagement and critical dialogue among students, faculty, and the broader community. These annual events are free and open to the public.
Contact wcbevents@xavier.edu with questions or to be added to the event invitation list.Visit this page again in September 2025 to learn about our upcoming events.
PAST EVENTS
Ryan Bourne of the CATO Institute: Lecture and Book Signing
April 15, 2025
This event included a book signing, lecture, and Q&A session on the topics of inflation, fiscal policy, minimum wages, inequality, infrastructure spending, and rent controls.
Education in Crisis Symposium: Panel Discussion and a Fireside Chat
October 16, 2024
Panel 1: Ohio School Challenges and Solutions- Moderator: Erika Eicholz, M.Ed., Deputy Director, Cincinnati Montessori Secondary Teacher Education Program
- Dr. Cate O’Brien, Director School Programs, Catholic Inner City Schools Education Fund
- Tim Reilly, President, St. Xavier High School
- Mary Ronan, Superintendent, Norwood City Schools, Previous Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools
- Dr. Terrez Thomas, Principal, Mt. Healthy South Elementary
- Moderator: Madeline Mitchell, Education Reporter, Cincinnati Enquirer
- Dr. Vladimir Kogan, Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University
- Dan Peters, President, Lovett and Ruth Peters Foundation
- Julie Sellers, President, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers
- Dennis Willard, Communications Director, Vouchers Hurt Ohio
- Moderator: Steve Frankel, Executive Director of the Smith Center
- Dr. Vladimir Kogan, Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University
- Julie Sellers, President, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers
Julie Sellers, President, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers
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Julie Sellers taught elementary school in Cincinnati Public Schools for twenty years before being elected President of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, Local 1520 in 2009. She is currently serving in her 7th elected term as an American Labor Leader for 3000+ Cincinnati Public School teachers and office professionals; she has successfully negotiated five labor contracts with the CPS district. She serves on the national Policies and Program Committee of the AFT, which helps to set national educational policies. She also serves on the Executive Board of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council and serves as a Trustee for the Labor Council. |
Dr. Vladimir Kogan, Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University
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Dr. Vladimir Kogan is a professor of political science and (by courtesy) public affairs at the Ohio State University. His research focuses on the intersection of politics and education — how the decisions voters make on Election Day (e.g., in school board contests) affect student learning in the classroom. Kogan’s new book, No Adult Left Behind, is coming out soon from Cambridge University Press. In it, he argues that adult interests — related to partisan conflicts, identity politics, and employment concerns — regularly hijack education policymaking, leaving students and their learning to ultimately pay the price. |
Neal McCluskey of the CATO Institute: Lecture and Book Signing
April 10, 2024
Mr. McCluskey spoke on School Choice and Social Cohesion. Copies of his book, The Fractured Schoolhouse, were available for purchase and signing.
Kimberley Strassel: Keynote and Luncheon
Yaron Brook, Co Auther Free Market Revolution
Lara Logan: Luncheon Presentation
Yuval Levin: Panel Discussion
On April 5, 2021, the Smith Center co-hosted with Ethics/Religion & Society to receive Dr. Yuvan Levin in a panel discussion with Dr. Steve Frankel (Philosophy), Dr. Anas Malik (Political Science) , Georgia Davis (Political Science major), and Mickey Townsend (SGA President, PPP major) Dr. Levis and the panelist discussed how to restore trust in our institutions.
Dr. Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; editor of National Affairs, and author of "A time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and Campus"; How Recommitting to our institutions Can revive the American Dream.
Michel Loban, InfoTrust: "The Power of Digital Analytics to the Next Generation of Marketers and Analysts"
On October 29, 2020, the Smith Center hosted Michael Loban, who discussed "The Power of Digital Analytics to the Next Generation of Marketers and Analysts"
Michael Loban is the Chief Growth Officer at InfoTrust, a global analytics consulting and data governance company. He is the author of "Crawl, Walk, and Run: Advancing Analytics" and his article appearing in Forbes, AdWeek, and CIO Magazine.
Mary Grabar: "Howard Zinn and The Fight for Truth in History"
On October 22, 2020, the Smith Center hosted Mary Grabar, who discussed her book: Debunking Howard Zinn.
Dr. Grabar was born in Slovenia when it was still part of the Communist Yugoslavia and grew up in Rochester, New York. She earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia and taught at Emory University until 2013. In 2014, Dr. Grabar became a resident fellow at The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. She also founded a nonprofit reform iniciative the "Dissident Prof. Education Project"
Bruce Caldwell: "Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom on its 75th Anniversary"
On September 16, 2020, the Smith Center hosted Dr. Bruce Caldwell who discussed "Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom on its 75th Anniversary".
Dr. Caldwell is a Duke University Research Professor. His research focuses on the history of economic thought, with a specific interest in the life and works of F. A. Hayek. He is the general editor of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, which is published by The University of Chicago Press and Routledge. He is the director of the Center for the History of Political Economy, a center whose purpose is to promote research in, and the teaching of the history of economic thought.
Lawrence H. White "The Importance of F. A. Hayeks "The Road to Serfdom"
On September 7, 2020, the Smith Center hosted Dr. Lawrence White who discussed F.A. Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom".
Dr. White is a George Mason University Professor of economics and a distinguished senior fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at GMU Mercatus Center.
Luncheon Panel: A Business and Ethical Case for Second Chance Hiring
On March 4th of 2020, the Smith Center hosted a panel of experts on second chance hiring. The panelist were: Dan Meyer, CEO of Nehemiah Industries, Rachel Alex Love, CEO of Alex Love Consulting, Marcus Sheanshang, CEO of JBM Packaging, and Jeff Korzenik, Chief Investment Strategist of Fifth Third Bank
Michael Tanner: The Inclusive Economy
On October 23rd of 2019, Michael Tanner discussed with our Smith Scholars how to fight poverty in America.
FMC's Congress to Campus Visit
On September 13th of 2019, the Smith Center hosted former members of congress Peter Smith (R-VT) and Nick Rahall (D-WV) for a bipartisan panel on bridging our political divides.
Smith Scholars Luncheon
On January 19th of 2019, the Smith Center and the Xavier Community welcomed the first cohort of Smith Scholars!
Sam Quinonus: Lecture Series
On February 23rd of 2018, the Smith Center hosted a Distinguished Speaker Luncheon featuring Sam Quinones. He is the author of Dreamland, a New York Times best seller which tells the story of how heroin addiction became an epidemic in America. In addition to Sam sharing the story of his journey and investigation that became the basis of the novel, the event also featured two panels of speakers including Judge Executive Gary Moore, Paul T. Farrell Jr., Esq., Tanya Cornett LPCC, and two family members sharing their own tragic, yet inspiring, story of resilience and finding hope in the wake of the crisis.
J.D. Vance: Speaker Series
J. D. Vance is the author of Hillbilly Elegy. A memoir about the Appalachian values of his upbringing and their relation to the social problems of his hometown. The book was on the New York Times best-sellers list in 2016 and 2017. It attracted significant attention during the 2016 election from national media as a window into the white working class.
J.D. Vance is a graduate of the Ohio State University and Yale Law School, and works as the principal in the Mithril Capital Management venture capital firm. In January 2017, Vance became a CNN Contributor. In April 2017, Ron Howard signed on to direct a movie based on Hillbilly Elegy. The Stephen S. Smith Center hosted J.D. Vance on September 29, 2017.
Matthew McCormick Investment Symposium
On January 26, 2017, the Center co-hosted, with the Fifth Third Trading Center, “The Matthew McCormick Cincinnati Investment Symposium.” The symposium featured a keynote address from Angela McGlowan, Fox News American Political Commentator, along with two panel discussions from financial and economic experts, covering the economic and investment environment: Scott Colbert, SVP, Chief Economist and Director of Fixed Income Management at Commerce Bank; Mike Condon, SVP, Institutional Investments at Fund Evaluation Group; James E. Russell Jr., VP and Principal, Portfolio Manager, Investment Research and Client Service at Bahl & Gaynor; Michael McDonough, Global Director of Economic Research & Chief Economist at Bloomberg Intelligence; R. Stafford Johnson, Director of the Smith Center and Professor of Finance at Xavier University; Nathan Bachrach, CEO at Simply Money.
John Taylor: Speaker Series
On October 16, 2016, Dr. John Taylor, was the Stephen S. Smith Center's first distinguished speaker. Dr. Taylor is the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute. He is a well-respected economist, having served as a senior economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors and as a consultant to a number of central banks. He is perhaps most famous for Taylor's Rule.