Series: Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Lectures

In 1885, the Hitchcock Endowment Fund was established from a bequest made by Dr. Charles M. Hitchcock to institute a professorship at the University of California for free lectures upon scientific and practical subjects. Dr. Hitchcock, whose longstanding interest in education inspired his contribution, was a physician and served as medical director of the Pacific Coast in the United States Army Medical Corps. The Hitchcock Foundation Lectures began in 1909 and were later expanded and retitled the Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Lectures in 1932, thanks to a generous bequest from Dr. Hitchcock’s daughter, Lillie Hitchcock Coit.

Title Lecturer Year
The Constitutional Right to Transition: Reconstruction and the Political History of Transphobia Jules Gill-Peterson 2026
Agency, Urgency, and Hope: Science and Scientists Serving Society The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. 2025
Forging a New Political System, 2024 and Beyond Heather Cox Richardson in Conversation with Dylan Penningroth 2025
Bringing Public Health to Light: Reimagining Impact Through Visibility, Voice, and New Pathways Katelyn Jetelina 2025
The Arc of Energy Justice: A Pursuit to Ensure Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy for All Tony G. Reames 2024
Creating Equality of Opportunity: New Insights from Big Data Raj Chetty 2023
Time, Einstein, and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe William D. Phillips 2022
A New Measure: The Revolutionary, Quantum Reform of the Modern Metric System William D. Phillips 2022
21st Century Global Health Priorities Christopher J.L. Murray 2022
Metrics in Action: Lessons Learned from 30 Years of the Global Burden of Disease Study Christopher J.L. Murray 2022
The Assault on Empathy: The Promise of a Friction-Free Life Sherry Turkle 2019
The Assault on Empathy: The Promise of Artificial Intimacy Sherry Turkle 2019
Evolution and Creationism as Science and Myth Eugenie C. Scott 2018
Why Do People Reject Good Science? Eugenie C. Scott 2018
The Real ‘Skin in the Game’: The History of Naked, Sweaty, and Colorful Skin in the Human Lineage Nina Jablonski 2017
The Cost of Color: The Health and Social Consequences of Skin Color for People Today Nina Jablonski 2017
The Language of Friendship: The Role of Talk in an Understudied Relationship Deborah Tannen 2017
Conversations on the Small Screen: Talking over Social Media Deborah Tannen 2017
Contemporary Climate Change as Seen Through Measurements Ralph J. Cicerone 2016
Why We Have Effective Agreements to Protect the Ozone Layer But Not to Stabilize Climate Ralph J. Cicerone 2016
The Creative City Paul Goldberger 2015
The Generic City Paul Goldberger 2015
Imagine America without Los Angeles: Applying science to understand the vulnerability of modern society to natural disasters Lucy Jones 2015
The Challenges of Science Communication: Lucy Jones 2015
How Can Telomeres Cause Age-Related Disease? Carol Greider 2014
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker 2014
Telomeres and Telomerase: Past, Present and Future Carol Greider 2014
The Elephant in the Room: The Psychology of Innuendo & Euphemism Steven Pinker 2014
Intelligence and the Brain: Recent Advances in Understanding How the Brain Works Jeff Hawkins 2012
Intelligence and Machines: Creating Intellligent Machines by Modeling the Brain Jeff Hawkins 2012
Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet Steven Squyres 2011
The Future of Planetary Exploration Steven Squyres 2011
Mission Blue: Protecting the Blue Heart of the Planet Sylvia Earle 2011
Exploring the Deep Frontier Sylvia Earle 2011
Entering the RNA World Sidney Altman 2010
Ribonuclease P: A Small Step in the RNA World Sidney Altman 2010
Studying Economic Behavior in Unusual Places: From Deal or No Deal to the National Football League Richard H. Thaler 2010
Rethinking Regulation after the Financial Crisis and the Oil Spill: A Behavioral Approach Richard H. Thaler 2010
The Great Transitions in Evolution: Finding Fossils, Studying Genes, and Bridging Gaps Neil Shubin 2009
Wings, Legs, and Fins: How Do New Organs Arise in Evolution Neil Shubin 2009
Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health Lucy Shapiro 2009
The Systems Architecture of a Bacterial Cell Cycle Lucy Shapiro 2009
A Scientist Addresses Science Education Leon Lederman 2009
A Sense of Wonder Leon Lederman 2009
Calcium, Proteins, Energy, and Life Chikashi Toyoshima 2008
A Molecular Machine at Work: The Case of the Calcium Pump Protein Chikashi Toyoshima 2008
Physics and History: Links Between Two Cultures – Forged in the Baroque John Heilbron 2007
Physics and History: Links Between Two Cultures – Fractured in Modernity John Heilbron 2007
Explorations of the Mind-Intuition: The Marvels and the Flaws Daniel Kahneman 2007
Explorations of the Mind-Happiness Daniel Kahneman 2007
What Is Our Universe Like in the Large, and How Did It Get That Way? – Exploring the Large-Scale Nature of the Universe P. James E. Peebles 2006
What Is Our Universe Like in the Large, and How Did It Get That Way? – Triumphs and Challenges for Modern Cosmology P. James E. Peebles 2006
From Egg to Adult and Back Again – How Does an Egg Make an Organism? Some General Principles Sir John Gurdon 2006
From Egg to Adult and Back Again – Cloning, Stem Cells, and Cell Replacement Sir John Gurdon 2006
Intimate Encounters with Molecules – Taming Molecular Wildness Dudley Herschbach 2005
Intimate Encounters with Molecules – Breaking and Making Chemical Bonds Dudley Herschbach 2005
Identity and Violence – The Violence of Illusion Amartya Sen 2005
Identity and Violence – Making Sense of Identity Amartya Sen 2005
Changes in the Process of Aging during the Twentieth Century – Disparities in Chronic Diseases during the Course of the Twentieth Century Robert W. Fogel 2004
Changes in the Process of Aging during the Twentieth Century – Common Analytical Errors in Explanations for Improvements in Health and Longevity Robert W. Fogel 2004
Holding on to Atoms and Molecules with Lasers – Laser Cooling: From Atomic Clocks to Watching Biomolecules Move Steven Chu 2004
Holding on to Atoms and Molecules with Lasers – What Can Physics Say about Life? Steven Chu 2004
Gene, Organism, and Environment: Bad Metaphors and Good Biology Richard C. Lewontin 2003
The Concept of Race – The Confusion of Social and Biological Reality Richard C. Lewontin 2003
Atomic and Molecular Astrophysics – The Synthesis of Molecules in the Universe Alexander Dalgarno 2003
Atomic and Molecular Astrophysics – Comets and the Solar Wind Alexander Dalgarno 2003
The Mathematical Way of Understanding the World – Clocks and Chaos Dr. David Mumford 2002
The Mathematical Way of Understanding the World – Models of Thought Dr. David Mumford 2002
Language and Mind Revisited – The Biolinguistic Turn Noam Chomsky 2002
Language and Mind Revisited – Language and the Rest of the World Noam Chomsky 2002
Sequencing the Human Genome – Prokaryotes J. Craig Venter 2002
Sequencing the Human Genome – Eukaryotes J. Craig Venter 2002
Inequalities in Health – Life and Death on the Social Gradient Sir. Michael Marmot 2001
Inequalities in Health – There is Such a Thing as Society Sir. Michael Marmot 2001
Modern Alchemy: Stars, Chemistry and Cosmology E. Margaret Burbidge 2001
The Riddle of the Redshift: The Universe We Don’t Understand E. Margaret Burbidge 2001
The Gene’s Eye View of Creation – The Genetic Book of the Dead Richard Dawkins 2001
The Gene’s Eye View of Creation: The Selfish Cooperator Richard Dawkins 2001
Deciphering the Maya Script Michael D. Coe 2000
More Than a Drink: Chocolate in the Pre-Columbian World Michael D. Coe 2000
Parallel Civilizations: Ancient Angkor and the Ancient Maya Michael D. Coe 2000
How Many People Can the Earth Support? Joel E. Cohen 2000
Human Carrying Capacity: Concepts, Methods and Models Joel E. Cohen 2000
Special Presentation: Films and Discussion of Population Issues Joel E. Cohen 2000
Cities in Civilization: Culture, Innovation and Urban Order Sir Peter Hall 2000
The End of the City? ‘The report of my death was an exaggeration’ Sir Peter Hall 2000
Perception, Imagination and Science Roger N. Shepard 1999
The Grounds of Science and of Ethics Roger N. Shepard 1999
How the Ears’ Works Work: Auditory Sensory Transduction A. James Hudspeth 1999
Getting in Tune: Auditory Frequency Selectivity A. James Hudspeth 1999
Environment, Population, Consumption, and Sustainable Development – The Great Challenges of Our Time Norman Myers 1998
Tropical Forests: Their Future and Our Future Norman Myers 1998
Science, a Round Peg in a Square World Harold Kroto 1998
C60: Buckminsterfullerene, Not Just a Pretty Molecule Harold Kroto 1998
Failed Visions and Unexpected Adaptations – Reflections on the Interaction of Society and Communications Technology Robert Lucky 1998
How Will We Connect? – Rethinking the World’s Communications in the Age of the Internet Robert Lucky 1998
Archaeology, Genetics and Linguistic Diversity: Towards a New Synthesis Colin Renfrew 1997
The Sapiens Paradox, Or Why Did People Get Smart So Late? Colin Renfrew 1997
Chicken Little Was Right: The Sky Is Falling Eugene Shoemaker 1997
Things That Went Bump in the Night (and Shook the Earth) Eugene Shoemaker 1997