100 Notable alumni of Fordham University

Jane McGonigal is an American author, game designer, and researcher. McGonigal is known for her game Jane the Concussion Slayer and her role as Director of Game Research and Development at Institute for the Future.

Ryan Ruocco is an American television and radio sportscaster. He serves as a play-by-play announcer for the NBA, WNBA, and women's college basketball on ESPN, and the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets on YES Network. He previously hosted the podcast R2C2 with former Yankees all-star pitcher CC Sabathia as well as the Stephen A. Smith & Ryan Ruocco Show...

John Joseph Armstrong is an American sportscaster, working primarily for the Toronto Raptors on TSN and NBA TV Canada. Armstrong is also the college basketball analyst for TSN and a former college basketball coach.

Nemir Amin Kirdar was an Iraqi banker, billionaire, businessman, financier and author. As a founding father of private equity, and an economic and cultural bridge-builder, he was the founder and CEO of Investcorp, a global alternative investment group that operates in Manama, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, and Singapore. He spent much of his life in London, and...

Raymond McGovern is an American political activist and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. McGovern was a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, and in the 1980s chaired National Intelligence Estimates and participated in preparing the President's Daily Brief. He received the Intelligence Commendation Medal at his retirement, returning it in 2006 to protest the CIA's involvement in torture. McGovern's...

Walter Naegle is an American artist and photographer who is the surviving partner of late American Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin, and the executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, which commemorates Rustin's life, values, and legacy. Naegle serves as board member emeritus at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBT "safe space," community activist center, and educational...

Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE RA is an Irish-born contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is known for fostering and adopting the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, An Oak Tree. He is an emeritus Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths. His memoir and advice for the aspiring artist, On Being An Artist, was...

Kevin Devine is an American songwriter and musician from Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York City. He is a contemporary member of the underground indie rock and indie folk musical scenes, and his influences range from older indie artists such as Neutral Milk Hotel, Elliott Smith and Pavement to more mainstream and well known acts such as Nirvana and Bob...

George Stephen Latimer is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 16th congressional district since 2025. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Bud Collyer was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for his work as the first host of the TV game shows Beat the Clock and To Tell the Truth, but he was also famous in the roles of Clark Kent...

Marie-Hélène Naila Stephanie Josina de Rothschild was a French socialite who became a doyenne of Parisian high-society and was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France.

Donald Thomas Valentine was an American venture capitalist who concentrated mainly on technology companies in the United States. Born and educated in New York, Valentine first came to California during a brief period of military service, an experience that ultimately led him to remain in the region where he would later shape the venture capital industry. Valentine was the founder...

William James Pascrell Jr. was an American politician who was a U.S. representative from New Jersey from 1997 until his death in 2024. Pascrell was a member of the Democratic Party and a native of Paterson. Before his election to the House of Representatives, Pascrell served in the New Jersey General Assembly for four terms beginning in 1988 and was...

Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player who plays for Olimpia Milano of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Armenian national team in international competition. Standing at a height of 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), Dunston plays at the center position.

Nicholas Andres Martinez is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Giménez is a Venezuelan billionaire businessman, and CEO of Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest privately held company, with $7 billion in annual sales. The company was founded by his grandfather and is currently owned by his family. Mendoza has been listed as one of the top 10 people believed to rebuild Venezuela.

Peter John Kreeft is an American professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College. A convert to Catholicism, he is the author of over eighty books on Christian philosophy, theology and apologetics. He also formulated, together with Ronald K. Tacelli, Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics.

Lauren Duca is an American former journalist and political columnist. She formerly worked at Teen Vogue, where she had a column from 2017 to 2018 called "Thigh High Politics". Her book How to Start a Revolution (2019) focuses on young people and the future of American politics.

Tom Leykis is an American former talk radio personality best known for hosting The Tom Leykis Show from 1994 to 2009 (nationally syndicated), and April 2012 to 2018 (internet streamcast/podcast). The show follows the hot talk format, which brought Leykis much success, particularly in the Southern California radio market. Due to the provocative nature of the show, Leykis has often...

Antonio Giuseppe Paolo Reali is an American sports personality and television host. He was most recently the host of Around the Horn on ESPN, a sports panel show, from 2004 to the show's end in 2025. He served as the statistician on Pardon the Interruption from the show's debut in 2001 until late 2014. In April 2014, it was announced...

Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman was a senior-ranking American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. From 1932 to 1939, Spellman served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. He was created a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1946.

William Joseph Casey was an American lawyer who was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) throughout much of the Reagan administration.

Paul Joseph Morrissey was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was best known for his long association with Andy Warhol and the Factory scene during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Amanda Randolph Hearst, sometimes called Amanda Hearst Rønning, is an American model, socialite, and heiress of the Hearst family.

Michael Breen is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for NBA games on ABC and ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is also the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen previously called NFL regular season games for both NFL on Fox and NFL on NBC, as well...

Robert Norman Munsch CM is a Canadian children's author. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he moved to Canada in 1975 to work at the University of Guelph. His unique storytelling style comes from interactively developing stories with children, taking events from their lives and experience and greatly exaggerating them into the realm of the ridiculous and sometimes fantastical. He has received...

Thomas Calabro is an American actor and director.

John Irwin McGiver was an American character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975.

Robert Patrick Mulligan was an American director and producer. He is best known for his sensitive dramas, including To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Summer of '42 (1971), The Other (1972), Same Time, Next Year (1978), and The Man in the Moon (1991). He was also known for his extensive collaborations with producer Alan J. Pakula in the 1960s.

William Henry "Smush" Parker III is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the NBA G-League and several leagues overseas. Parker played shooting guard in college but moved to point guard in the NBA.

Michael Kay is an American sports broadcaster who is the television play-by-play broadcaster of the New York Yankees and host of CenterStage on the YES Network, and the host of The Michael Kay Show heard on "ESPN New York 880" WHSQ in New York City and simulcast on ESPN Xtra on XM Satellite Radio. Kay also works on the MLB...

Wellington Timothy Mara was an American professional football executive. He was the co-owner of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from 1959 until his death. He was the younger son of Tim Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925. Wellington was a ball boy that year.

Christopher Taylor Buckley is an American author and political satirist. He also served as chief speechwriter to Vice President George H. W. Bush. He is known for writing God Is My Broker, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, The White House Mess, No Way to Treat a First Lady, Wet Work, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday, Supreme Courtship, Losing Mum...

Peter John Carlesimo is an American former basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster and has worked with ESPN, The NBA on TNT, Westwood One, Fox Sports Southwest, Pac-12 Network, The NBA on NBC, and CSN New England.

Daniel Patrick Harrington Jr. was an American Emmy Award–winning stage and television actor, best known for his role as building superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–1984). His father Pat Harrington Sr. was also an actor.

Charles Osgood Wood III was an American radio and television commentator, writer, and musician. Osgood was best known both for being the host of CBS News Sunday Morning, a role he held for over 22 years from April 10, 1994, until September 25, 2016, and The Osgood File, a series of daily radio commentaries he hosted from 1971 until December...

Pasquale Anthony "Pat" Cipollone is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel under President Donald Trump. While in office he defended Trump in his first impeachment trial. He objected to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and played a key role in the January 6 committee hearings, specifically the committee's sixth hearing.

Eric Luther Paschall is an American professional basketball player for Hubei Wenlv of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Fordham Rams and the Villanova Wildcats. He was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020.

Christopher Larkin is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Monty Green on the CW series The 100.

Kether Donohue is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lindsay on You're the Worst, as a cappella leader Alice in Pitch Perfect, and as the exocomp Peanut Hamper on Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Jason McCabe Calacanis is a podcaster, American Internet entrepreneur, angel investor, and author.

Heather Lind is an American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Anna Strong in the AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies. She is the twin sister of actress Christina Bennett Lind.

Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both Adapted and Original screenplays.

John M. Keane is an American retired general who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1999 to 2003. He is a national security analyst, primarily on Fox News, chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, and chairman of AM General.

Gregory Raymond Kelly is an American conservative television anchor, television host, author, and retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He is the host of Greg Kelly Reports, on Newsmax TV. He was previously the co-host of Good Day New York on Fox 5 NY WNYW, with Rosanna Scotto, from 2008 to 2017.

Theodore Edgar McCarrick was an American Catholic bishop and cardinal who was Archbishop of Newark from 1986 to 2000 and Archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006. In 2019, McCarrick was dismissed and laicized by Pope Francis after being convicted of sexual misconduct in a canonical trial.

Julia B. Cameron is an American teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer, and journalist. She is best known for her book The Artist's Way (1992). She also has written many other non-fiction works, short stories, and essays, as well as novels, plays, musicals, and screenplays.

Harry Lillis Crosby III is an American investment banker and former actor, the fifth son and namesake of entertainer Bing Crosby.

Amirah Charline Vann is an American actress and singer. She began her career on the Off-Broadway stage before starring in the WGN America period drama series, Underground (2016–2017), for which she received NAACP Image Award nomination. She later starred as attorney Tegan Price in the ABC legal thriller series, How to Get Away with Murder (2017–2020). In 2022, Vann starred...

Eamon Joseph O'Brien, known professionally as Edmond O'Brien, was an American actor of stage, screen, and television, and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Kameran "Kamie" Crawford is an American television and podcast host, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model and former beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 2010 on July 24, 2010 at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas. Crawford was the co-host of Catfish: The TV Show until 2024. She also hosted season 9 of Are You the One? on...

Jeffery Deaver is an American mystery and crime writer. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. degree from Fordham University and originally started working as a journalist. He later practiced law before embarking on a career as a novelist. He has been awarded the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the...

Hunter Tylo is an author and a former American actress and model. She portrayed the role of Taylor Hayes (1990–2002, 2004–14, 2018–19) on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Karina Smirnoff is a professional ballroom dancer. She is known as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, where she won the thirteenth season with army veteran and soap opera star J. R. Martinez. She has also won two runner-up titles, a semifinal title, and several quarterfinal titles.

Robert James Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He created and played the title role in the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which ran from 1955 to 1984, the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. He also played the original Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody television program.

Jerrold Lewis Nadler is an American lawyer and politician from the state of New York. A resident of Manhattan's Upper West Side and a member of the Democratic Party, he has served as a U.S. Congressman since 1992. From 1992 until 2022, Nadler's district covered the west side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, being numbered the 17th district, then...

Tommy Dorfman is an American actress, best known for playing Ryan Shaver in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why (2017).

John Newton Mitchell was the 67th attorney general of the United States under President Richard Nixon. He also was chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been a municipal bond lawyer and one of Nixon's associates. Mitchell was tried and convicted as a result of his involvement in the Watergate scandal.

Donald Richard DeLillo is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as consumerism, nuclear war, the complexities of language, art, television, the advent of the Digital Age, mathematics, politics, economics, and sports.

Mary Higgins Clark was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remained in print as of 2015, with her debut suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, in its 75th printing.

Jonathan Daniel Harris was an American character actor whose career included more than 500 television and film appearances, as well as voiceovers. Two of his best-known roles were as the prudent accountant Bradford Webster in the television version of The Third Man and the fussy villain Dr. Zachary Smith of the 1960s science-fiction series Lost in Space. Near the end...

Vincent Edward Scully was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcast work in Major League Baseball. Scully was the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for 67 years, beginning in 1950 and ending in 2016. He is considered by many to be the greatest sports broadcaster of all time.

Anne Marie Cancelmi, known professionally as Annie Parisse, is an American actress. She portrayed Alexandra Borgia on the drama series Law & Order. Parisse has also starred as Julia Snyder on the soap opera As the World Turns, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.

Michaela McManus is an American actress, known for her portrayals of Lindsey Strauss on One Tree Hill, A.D.A. Kim Greylek on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Grace Karn on the NBC drama Aquarius.

Dashiell Raymond Mihok is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in the Showtime series Ray Donovan.

Robert Lawrence Leonard, known as Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Neil Perry in the drama film Dead Poets Society (1989) and Dr. James Wilson in the medical drama series House (2004–2012).

Susan Victoria Lucci is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Erica Kane on the ABC daytime drama All My Children during that show's entire network run from 1970 to 2011. The character is considered an icon, and she was called "Daytime's Leading Lady" by TV Guide, with The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times citing...

James Britt Donovan was an American lawyer and United States Navy officer in the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency), ultimately becoming General Counsel of the OSS, and an international diplomatic negotiator.

Patricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony Award.

Elizabeth "Betty" Gilpin is an American actress. She portrayed Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series GLOW (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also starred as Dr. Carrie Roman in the Showtime comedy-drama series Nurse Jackie (2013–2015). In 2023, she starred in the lead...

Regina Lee Hall is an American actress and comedian. She gained prominence for her portrayal of Brenda Meeks in the comedy-horror Scary Movie film series and has since built a versatile career spanning comedy and drama in both film and television. In 2018, Hall made history as the first African American to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award...

Faith Renée Evans is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as a backing vocalist for R&B singers Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, and by the age of 20, signed with Sean Combs' Bad Boy...

Mark Anthony "Dylan" McDermott is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series The Practice, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor...

David Seth Kotkin, known professionally as David Copperfield, is an American stage magician and illusionist described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history.

Taylor Schilling is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Musical...

Hilarie Ros Burton, also known as Hilarie Burton Morgan, is an American actress. A former host of MTV's Total Request Live, she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/The CW drama One Tree Hill for six seasons (2003–2009). Post One Tree Hill, Burton starred in Our Very Own, Solstice, and The List. She has also had supporting or recurring roles in...

Alan Alda is an American actor and filmmaker. In a career spanning seven decades on both stage and screen, he is best known for portraying Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the CBS wartime sitcom M*A*S*H (1972–1983), where he also wrote and directed numerous episodes of the series. Alda has received numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and six...

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, producer, director, and Pentecostal minister. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, an Actor Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Silver Bears and a Tony Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Emmy Awards. In 2020, The...

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of glamor and romance, with frequent references to pop culture and 1950s–1970s Americana. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, three MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, two Billboard Women in Music...

Amanda Michelle Seyfried is an American actress. Her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. Named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time in 2022, her films as a leading actress have grossed over $2.4 billion worldwide.

Ilyasah Shabazz is an American author, community organizer, social activist, and motivational speaker. She is the third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, and wrote a memoir titled Growing Up X.

Geraldine Anne Ferraro was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 9th congressional district from 1979 to 1985. She was the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in the 1984 presidential election, running alongside presidential candidate and former vice president Walter Mondale; this made her the first female vice-presidential...

Andrew Mark Cuomo is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021 following numerous sexual misconduct allegations. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a son of former governor Mario Cuomo, and ran as an independent for mayor of New York City in the 2025 mayoral...

Spencer Garrett Heckenkamp is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Air Force One (1997), 21 (2008), Public Enemies (2009), All the Way (2016), and The Front Runner (2018).

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

Ilan Mitchell-Smith is an American academic and former actor, best known as a co-star of the film Weird Science (1985) and Andy McCalister in Superboy.

Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao is a Vietnamese-American politician who was the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is the first Vietnamese American and first native of Vietnam to serve in Congress.

Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald is an American former professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings and Boston Celtics. In 1991, he was enshrined into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

Julie K. White is an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in The Little Dog Laughed in 2007. She has also received three other Tony Award nominations for her performances in Airline Highway in 2013, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus in 2019 and POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass...

John Benjamin Hickey is an American actor and director with a career in stage, film and television. He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart.

Peter Gregory Boghossian is an American philosopher and college professor. He was an assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State University for ten years, and his areas of academic focus include atheism, critical thinking, pedagogy, scientific skepticism, and the Socratic method. He is the author of A Manual for Creating Atheists, and (with James A. Lindsay) of How to Have...

Archduchess Charlotte of Austria was a daughter of Emperor Charles I of Austria and his wife Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. She was also known by the name Charlotte de Bar while a welfare worker in the United States from 1943 to 1956.

Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga is a Filipino actress and singer. Known as the "Pride of the Philippines", she has headlined Broadway and West End productions, appeared on international television and film, and released albums of her work.

Adam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by many as the "father of economics" or the "father of capitalism", he is primarily known for two classic works: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes...

Hage Gottfried Geingob was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister from 1990 to 2002, and served again from 2012 to 2015.

Rosa Luisa DeLauro is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in New Haven and includes most of its suburbs. DeLauro has been the dean of Connecticut's congressional delegation since 2013 upon the retirement of Senator Joe Lieberman.

Alexander Leonidovich Dvorkin is a Russian anti-cult activist. From 1999 to 2012 he was professor and head of the department of the study of new religious movements (cults) at Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University. He is currently professor of department of missiology at that university.

Liubomyr Huzar MSU was the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the first elected in independent Ukraine. He was also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. After the transfer of the see of Lviv to Kyiv in 2005, he was the Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia. In February 2011 he became Major Archeparch Emeritus after he...

Sandra Navidi is a German attorney, author, consultant, media contributor and public speaker.