Each spring, the Weidenbaum Center hosts an annual reception for our members, faculty, colleagues, students, and friends. The Weidenbaum Center Award for Excellence is also awarded to one or more recipients duing the reception.
Past Annual Dinner Speakers
2022 Olivier Blanchard, C. Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at MIT, and Former Economic Counselor and Director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund, "Fiscal Policy in an Era of Low Interest Rates"
2019 Mark S. Wrigton, former Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, "Financing Higher Education: It's Getting Harder"
2018 Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and EPA Administrator, "Challenges Confronting the Republican Party"
2017 Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum, "Economic Policy Under the New Administration"
2016 Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation, "A New Cold War? Explaining Russia's Confrontation with the West"
2015 Laurence H. Meyer, former member, Federal Reserve Board, "Public Policy Implications of How the Economy Works"
2014 Olympia Snowe, "Fighting for Public Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress"
2013 Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and President Emeritus of NBER, "Agenda for Budget and Tax Reform"
2012 Alice Rivlin, Former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, "Economic Challenges Facing the Nation"
2011 Juan Williams, Fox News, "The Capacity of America to Address Its Most Pressing Domestic Issues"
2010 Paul Volcker, former chair, Federal Reserve Board, "Reforming the Financial System"
2009 Floyd Norris, New York Times, "Who's to Blame for the Mess We're In and How are We Going to Get Out of It?"
2008 Alejandro Wolff, Deputy U.S. Permanent Rep. to United Nations, "The United States and the United Nations: In Pursuit of Effective Multilateralism"
2007 Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico, "More, Not Less, Globalization is the Answer"
2006 William Kristol, Editor, Weekly Standard, "American Politics After 9/11"
2005 Fred Barnes, Executive Editor, Weekly Standard, "The New Political Era in Washington"
2004 Charles Cook, Political Analyst, NBC affiliates, "Forces Shaping the Presidential and Congressional Election Campaigns in 2004"
2003 R. Glenn Hubbard, "Economic Challenges Facing the U.S."
2002 William Schneider, CNN, "How United is America?"
2001 Laurence Meyer, former member, Federal Reserve Board, "The Relationship Between Politics and Economics"