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New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath to give a FREE lecture at Lipscomb University on Thursday, Nov. 7

Kim Chaudoin  | 

Dan Heath with books

Lipscomb University’s College of Leadership & Public Service presents Dan Heath, a #1 New York Times bestselling author or co-author of five highly acclaimed business books, including Switch, as the speaker for the 2024 Don R. Elliott Distinguished Presidential Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 7.

A reception begins the evening at 5 p.m. and the lecture begins at 6 p.m. in Lipscomb University’s George Shinn Center. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. Register here by Nov. 6. The Don R. Elliott Distinguished Presidential Lecture is part of the 2024-25 Presidential Signature Series. A student symposium and Q&A with Heath will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Shinn Center and is open to all Lipscomb University students. (Email clpsevents [at] lipscomb.edu (clpsevents[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for information regarding the student event.)

In addition to Switch, Heath has authored or co-authored Made to Stick, Decisive, The Power of Moments and Upstream. His books have been translated into 33 languages and have sold over 4 million copies worldwide. His writing honors include: One of the best nonfiction books of the year, according to Amazon; one of the best audiobooks of the year, according to Apple; and the OWL award for Best Business Book of the Year.

Heath hosts a podcast called What It’s Like to Be. In every episode, he interviews someone from a different profession: a mystery novelist, a rancher, Santa Claus and more. It landed on Apple’s ranking of the Top 50 Society & Culture podcasts. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Texas at Austin.

The Don R. Elliott Distinguished Presidential Lecture Series is designed to expose the Lipscomb University campus and the surrounding community to persons of influence in one or more issues of contemporary debate or discussion, with a preference for issues related to economics or political science. An endowment established at Lipscomb by the Don R. Elliott Foundation provides primary funding for the Elliott Distinguished Presidential Lecture. The lecture series is named in memory of Don R. Elliott, a native of Kerr, Arkansas, who was a professor of economics and political science at Little Rock University, Randolph-Macon College and Vanderbilt University. He founded Don Elliott and Associates, a fundraising consulting firm that directed campaigns for Lipscomb University and a host of other universities, colleges and private schools.

The Elliott Lecture was presented for the first time in 2010, featuring Elaine Kamarck as its inaugural speaker. Kamarck is a lecturer in public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management at Brookings Institute. A second lecture in 2012 was presented by Reagan White House veteran and Fox News commentator, James P. Pinkerton. Other featured Elliott Lecture speakers have included Author Doris Kearns Goodwin, Thomas Friedman, New York Times foreign affairs columnist and author; National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg; Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger, “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot; Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former secretary general of NATO and prime minister of Denmark; David Gergen, advisor to four presidents; and New York Times bestselling author and motivational speaker Daniel Pink.

Register here.