Lend Us Your Ears

Legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns kicks off 2010-2011 Maverick Speakers Series

Fall 2010 · Comment · Share

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The third season of UT Arlington’s marquee lectures, the Maverick Speakers Series, begins in September with an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and will include an iconic baseball player, a celebrity chef, a beloved scientist, and a groundbreaking TV journalist.

Ken Burns, whose documentaries include the Oscar-nominated The Brooklyn Bridge, The Civil War, and National Parks, will speak Sept. 24. That’s just three days before the debut of his newest film, Tenth Inning, a two-part continuation of the Baseball series that aired 16 years ago to an audience of 48 million viewers. Burns’ appearance at UT Arlington—the only collegiate stop he’s making in advance of his new film—coincides with the University’s annual Leadership Summit.

Chef Rick Bayless will speak Oct. 14. He is best known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time and for winning the first season of Top Chef Masters on Bravo. He owns two eminent Chicago restaurants, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, and is the man behind the Frontera brand in supermarkets. He has several best-selling cookbooks and is a James Beard Award winner.

Lisa Ling, who hosts Explorer on the National Geographic Channel and is a regular correspondent to The Oprah Winfrey Show, comes to campus Nov. 24. She has gained recognition for her coverage of women’s issues around the world, including the imprisonment of her sister, journalist Laura Ling, in North Korea last year. Lisa Ling also is a former co-host of The View.

The spring 2011 semester will feature lectures by legendary baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. in February and scientist Bill Nye in March. The latter’s Bill Nye the Science Guy TV show has been beloved by children for two generations.

Ripken, the former Baltimore Orioles infielder who holds baseball’s all-time record for consecutive games played (2,632), was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007 by 98.53 percent of voters—the highest percentage ever for a position player and the third-highest total overall.

Nye is an engineer, educator, comedian, author, and inventor who has focused on helping foster a scientifically literate society with Bill Nye the Science Guy, which has won 28 Emmy Awards. His appearance is part of the University’s Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students.

All Maverick Speakers Series lectures are free but require a ticket, which can be obtained at www.utatickets.com. For more information, visit www.uta.edu/maverickspeakers.