The Maverick Speakers Series is a distinguished lecture series at The University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas.
Typically, one person speaks each month during the academic calendar. The Maverick Speakers Series is designed to bring timely issues to light in an engaging and conversational way. Although tickets are required to attend, every lecture is free and open to anyone, whether they're affiliated with The University of Texas at Arlington or not. Many lectures include audience question-and-answer sessions and public meetings or book-signings. Lectures are held either in Texas Hall or the Lone Star Auditorium on the UT Arlington campus.
The Maverick Speakers Series began in August 2008 with New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas L. Friedman. Other speakers in the inaugural season included political author and commentator Juan Williams, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, sociologist Barbara Ehrenreich, and diversity experts Ron Takaki and Lani Guinier.