Guilford College Bryan Series

The 2021-22 Guilford College Bryan Series will be presented in person at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts with plans to open the season in January. We appreciate the Tanger Center's implementation of its Patron Health Initiative to help keep all patrons safe. Details about the 2021-22 speaker lineup and the start of subscription and Legacy Society renewals will be announced in June 2021. If you have questions about subscribing or the series, please email thebryanseries@guilford.edu.

Events in the 2020-21 Season were Presented Online.

Our season of virtual events with great speakers has concluded. Following three programs presented in Fall 2020, we continued the season online and enjoyed programs with a global global business and politics expert, a two-time Academy Award-winning actress, a renowned National Geographic photographer, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Two Bryan Series subscribers sit in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Subscribe for the 2020-21 Season

The 2020-21 subscription campaign has passed. If you're a subscriber and are not receiving Bryan Series emails to access 2020-21 events online or have questions about your subscription, please email thebryanseries@guilford.edu.

Legacy Society members take a photo with Leslie Odom Jr.

Legacy Society Membership for 2020-21 Season

The Legacy Society was established in 2011 to provide dedicated benefactors with a premium Bryan Series experience. Members engage with the speakers in a VIP reception and receive special seating and parking privileges. Thank you to our 2020-21 members! If you have not renewed your Legacy Society membership for 2020-21 or wish to receive information about joining the Legacy Society, please email thebryanseries@guilford.edu.

2020-21 Season Speakers

Virtual Programs on Tap in the Fall

The Bryan Series will present three virtual speaker programs to kick off the 2020-21 season. The schedule is as follows:

Harrison Hickman ’75

7:30 p.m., Sept. 17, 2020

Harrison Hickman '75, a Guilford College graduate, was the Presidential campaign pollster for John Edwards, Al Gore, and Bob Kerrey. He also served as the principal election night consultant at the CBS election night anchor desk for two decades. He operates a public opinion research firm.

Dr. Peniel Joseph

7:30 p.m., Oct. 20, 2020

Dr. Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.

Headshots of Margaret Hoover and John Avlon

John Avlon and Margaret Hoover with Mark Updegrove

7:30 p.m., Nov. 12, 2020

John Avlon is senior political analyst and fill-in anchor at CNN, appearing on New Day every morning, while Margaret Hoover, his spouse, is a conservative political commentator, political strategist and great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover. Presidential historian Mark Updegrove leads the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and is a former Guilford student.

2021 Virtual Programs

Ian Bremmer

7:30 p.m., Jan. 14, 2021

President and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm, Ian Bremmer serves as the Foreign Affairs Columnist and Editor at Large for Time magazine. In 2018, he was named the most influential voice globally by LinkedIn. A prolific writer, his latest book, Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism, is a New York Times bestseller

Sally Field

7:30 p.m., Feb. 2, 2021

Two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field is one of our most celebrated and enduring actors who has played notable and memorable TV and film roles such as Gidget, Sybil, Norma Rae, and Mary Todd Lincoln. Her new book, In Pieces, is a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and an intimate memoir about her life and work.

Originally scheduled March 24, 2020.

Paul Nicklen

7:30 p.m., Feb. 16, 2021

Paul Nicklen is a regular contributing photographer for National Geographic magazine and founder of the SeaLegacy society. In addition to being one of the world’s most acclaimed nature photographers, he is a polar specialist, speaker, author, and conservationist. He has more than 30 of the highest awards given to any photographer in his field.

Theresa May

March 18, 2021

Leader of the United Kingdom for three years until July 2019, Theresa May is the second woman in British history to hold the position, following Margaret Thatcher. She served as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019, during an extraordinary time in global affairs. She continues to serve in Parliament.

Colson Whitehead

7:30 p.m., April 12, 2021

Colson Whitehead has established himself as one of the most versatile and innovative writers in contemporary literature. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novels, The Underground Railroad, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award winner, and The Nickel Boys, which became a best-seller after its release in July 2019.

Originally scheduled April 23, 2020.

Portrait of Colson Whitehead standing outside.

Ideas That Move

For more than 20 years, the Guilford College Bryan Series has brought thought-provoking speakers to our campus and the greater Greensboro community — not just thought leaders but paradigm shifters whose ideas spark the next step forward and get us all thinking and talking about exciting possibilities.

Photo showing former First Lady Laura Bush.

Video Archive

Take a look at some of our past speakers, which include Ken Burns, Toni Morrison, Yo-Yo Ma and many more.

Guilford College COVID-19 Hotline — 336.316.2319