Previous Breakfast with a Scholar Speakers
- 2011 Ruth Purtilo, medical ethicist. A Conversation About Moral Courage.
- 2010 Brian R. Little, psychologist, pioneer of Personal Projects Analysis as an approach to the study of human personality.
- 2009 Jan Epton Seale, poet, author of Airlift: The Nuts-and-Bolts Guide to Writing Your Life Story. Lives in Words: the Poetry of Making Meaning.
- 2008 Suzanne Farrell, ballerina, founder and artistic director of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet company. Amazing Grace.
- 2007 Brenda Smith Myles, authority on behavior, learning, and autism spectrum disorders. Wisdom for Life From a Passionate Educator.
- 2006 Rae Linda Brown, music scholar specializing in the lives and works of African-American women composers. Music as Voice for Occupation.
- 2005 Elizabeth Yerxa, occupational therapist, scientist, Professor Emerita at the University of Southern California. The Infinite Distance Between the "I" and the "It".
- 2004 Uffe Ulle Jensen, scholar in philosophy and medical ethics. Justice for all.
- 2003 Steve Zeitlin, folklorist, Director of City Lore in New York City, studies rituals and symbols in dealing with stressful situations. The Meaning Makers: Folk Art, Storytelling, and the Construction of the Self Through Time.
- 2002 William Least-Heat Moon, professor of English, author of Blue Highways.
- 2001 Juliet Schor, Harvard economist, author of The Overspent American. How a lack of leisure time can affect our occupations.
- 2000 Graham Rowles, social geographer, studies aging in place in Appalachia. How our geographical environment affects our occupations throughout our lifetime.
- 1999 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist, architect of the “flow” theory; examines the importance of joy and happiness in our lives.
- 1998 Mary Catherine Bateson, sociologist, author of Composing a Life; The cultural concepts of what constitutes a successful life.
- 1997 John Hockenberry, Peabody Award winner for journalistic excellence, correspondent for NPR and ABC News. NBC war correspondent. First wheelchair-mobile reporter in network TV history.
- 1996 J. Seward Johnson, bronze sculptor. The Significance of Everyday Activities Through his Life-size Portrayals of People Engaged in Familiar Occupations.
- 1995 Jane Goodall, primatologist. So Like Us: My Life with the Chimpanzees.