Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Annual Lecture

Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture Series

Since 2012, the Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture has engaged high-profile intellectual leaders whose expertise and scholarship focus on the ideal of freedom in political and economic life. Visiting scholars are invited to UC Berkeley for a visit that includes public lectures, dialogue with a respondent, and discussions with students centered on the theme of liberty.

Established with the support of the Honorable Frank E. Baxter, the Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture is organized by the Berkeley Liberty Initiative, a program of the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

2026 Baxter Lecture

Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture 2026

Eugene Volokh presents on the intersection of AI, Free Speech, and the Law in the 2026 Baxter Lecture. 

BLI woud like to thank this year's co-sponsoring student organizations:
Active Voicez
The Berkeley Forum
BridgeUSA at Berkeley

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Ambassador Baxter with Chancellor Christ
2026 Baxter Lecture speaker and university leadership
2026 Baxter Lecture audience shot
Baxter Lecture attendees at reception
2026 Baxter Lecture speaker and BLI faculty director on stage
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2025: Can the Constitution Unify Americans? (Dr. Yuval Levin)

Can the Constitution Unify Americans?

2025 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Yuval Levin
Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy
Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies
Editor in Chief of National Affairs

Abstract: In a polarized, divided era, many Americans have grown frustrated with a system of government that feels stuck and unresponsive. More and more on both the right and the left have come to blame the Constitution for the resulting discord. But...

2024: Freedom of Thought and the Struggle to End Slavery (Keith Whittington)

Freedom of Thought and the Struggle to End Slavery

2024 Baxter Lecturer: Keith Whittington

Whittington is the founding chair of the Academic Committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance and a Hoover Institution Visiting Fellow. He has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, American Council of Learned Societies Junior Faculty Fellow, National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement Fellow, and a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center. In the fall of 2020, he served as Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown...

2023: What is Conservatism Today? (Matthew Continetti)

What is Conservatism Today?

2023 Baxter Lecturer: Matthew Continetti

Matthew Continetti is a senior fellow and the inaugural Patrick and Charlene Neal Chair in American Prosperity at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where his work is focused on American political thought and history, with a particular focus on the development of the Republican Party and the American conservative movement in the 20th century.

2022: Rethinking Capitalism and Freedom (Dr. Jennifer Burns)

Rethinking Capitalism and Freedom: Milton Friedman in Retrospect

2022 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Jennifer Burns
Associate Professor of History, Stanford University
Research Fellow, Hoover Institution

Moderator: Dr. Gabriel Lenz
Professor of Political Science
University of California, Berkeley

Abstract: Drawing on research from her forthcoming biography of Friedman, Stanford historian Jennifer Burns revisits the iconic debate on the legacy of economist Milton Friedman. How did Friedman understand...

2020: The Tarnishing of the Golden State (Dr. Lee E. Ohanian)

The Tarnishing of the Golden State: How Poorly Designed Policies Killed the California Dream

2020 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Lee E. Ohanian
Professor of Economics
University of California, Los Angeles
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

Abstract: The presentation will discuss changes in the focus of California public policies over time, how those changes have raised the cost of living for Californians and reduced quality of life, and how they disproportionately have affected historically disadvantaged groups.

2019: Politics and the Power of Education Reform (Dr. Terry M. Moe)

Politics and the Power of Education Reform: Learning from Katrina

2019 Baxter Lecturer: Terry M. Moe
William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science
Stanford University
Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution

Respondent: Bruce Fuller
Professor of Education and Public Policy
UC Berkeley

Abstract:

HOW HAS KATRINA REVOLUTIONIZED EDUCATION IN NEW ORLEANS?
Hurricane Katrina physically destroyed New Orleans' school buildings; in the process, it also lifted constraints of power....

2018: The Three Worst Ideas in the World (Dr. Jonathan Haidt)

The Three Worst Ideas in the World, and How They Shape American Education

2018 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Jonathan Haidt
Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership
New York University Stern School of Business

Respondent: Dr. Steven Hayward
Senior Resident Scholar
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Thomas Smith Distinguished Fellow
John M. Ashbrook Center at Ashland University

2016 - Sex, Violence, and Revolution (Greg Lukianoff)

Sex, Violence, and Revolution: Academic Freedom and the Law of Free Speech on Campus

2016 Baxter Lecturer: Greg Lukianoff
Greg Lukianoff is an attorney and the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He is the author of Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate and Freedom from Speech, and is co-author of The Atlantic's September 2015 cover story, "The Coddling of the American Mind." His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington...

2015: Vitalizing Our Meritocracy (Dr. Caroline Hoxby)

Vitalizing Our Meritocracy: Expanding College Opportunities for Low-Income Students

2015 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Caroline Hoxby
Scott and Donya Bommer Professor of Economics
Stanford University

Respondent: Dr. David Romer
Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy
UC Berkeley

2014: Social Reality and Human Freedoms (Dr. John R. Searle)

Social Reality and Human Freedoms

2014 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. John R. Searle
Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Language
University of California, Berkeley

Respondent: Dr. Joshua Cohen
Martha Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society
Professor of Political Science, Philosophy, and Law
Stanford University

2013: The Worldwide Boom in Higher Education (Dr. Gary S. Becker)

The Worldwide Boom in Higher Education:
Increased Gains from College, Rise in Women's Education, and Relative Decline in US Education

2013 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Gary S. Becker
The 1992 Nobel Prize Winner in Economic Sciences
University Professor of Economics and Sociology
Professor at the Graduate School of Business
The University of Chicago

Respondent: Enrico Moretti
Michael Peevey and Donald Vial Professor of Economics
Department of Economics
UC Berkeley

2012: The Moral Case for Economic Liberty (Dr. Arthur C. Brooks)

2012 Baxter Lecturer: Dr. Arthur C. Brooks
President, American Enterprise Institute

Arthur Brooks is the author of 10 books and hundreds of articles on topics ranging trom the economics of the arts to military operations research. His most recent book is the New York Times bestseller The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise.


Respondent: Dr. Kinch Hoekstra
Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

Kinch Hoekstra has written on ancient, renaissance, and early modern political...

2012: Classical Liberalism for the Modern Age (Dr. Richard A. Epstein)

Classical Liberalism for the Modern Age—In Good Times and Bad

Featured Speaker: Richard A. Epstein
Inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law
New York University Law School

Richard Epstein researches and writes on a broad range of constitutional, economic, historical, and philosophical subjects. His most recent book is Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration, and the Rule of Law.

Respondent: Robert Cooter
Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law,
University of California...