The Messenger Lectures are a prestigious series of talks given by leading scholars and public figures at Cornell University. They were founded in 1924 by a gift from Hiram Messenger and are regarded as one of the most important of Cornell's extracurricular activities.
There were initially "twelve lectures per year, delivered by the ablest non-resident lecturer or lecturers obtainable" but are now a series of either three or six lectures given by one nominee each semester.
The purpose of the lectures are "to provide a course of lectures on the evolution of civilization, for the special purpose of raising the moral standards of our political, business and social life". The first series was delivered in 1925 by archeologist James Henry Breasted.
They were initially known (or perhaps have a fuller title) as the Messenger Lectures on the Evolution of Civilization.
Dr. Hiram John Messenger Jr (July 6, 1855 - Dec. 15, 1913; B. Litt., Phd,) was from Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from Cornell in 1880. He was a teacher of mathematics Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of the City of New York and an actuary of the Traveler's Insurance Company. The gift he left to Cornell was part of $4,000 mentioned in his will and a portion of his estate goes to Cornell each year. He was himself the youngest son of Hiram J. Messenger, a mercantile businessman and owner of banks.
See the list of Messenger Lectures at Cornell University for a complete listThere have been over 80 talks given since 1924, the most famous of which is probably Richard Feynman's 7 lecture series in 1964, The Character of Physical Law, the videos of which were bought and made available to the public by Bill Gates in 2009.
A partial listing of some of the lecturers over the years is provided in Cornell's Messenger Lectures brochure as:
Leonard Susskind (2014)Nima Arkani-Hamed (2010)Steven Weinberg (2007)Sir Martin Rees (2005)Maynard Solomon (1992)Edward W. Said (1986)Quentin Skinner (1983)Noam Chomsky (1976)Edward O. Wilson (1976)Richard P. Feynman (1964)1960-1961 Frey Hoyle, Astronomy, University of Cambridge1959-1960 Linus Pauling, Chemistry, California Institute of Technology1959-1960 Arthur F. Burns, Economics, Columbia University1958-1959 V. B. Wigglesworth, Zoology, University of Cambridge1957-1958 G. Pontecorvo, Genetics, University of Glasgow1957-1958 Paul Tillich, Religion, Harvard University1956-1957 K.C. Guthrie, Classics, University of Cambridge1956-1957 Alfred L. Kroeber, Anthropology, University of California1955-1956 Edward C. Kirkland, History, Bowdoin College1955-1956 Arthur J. Altmeyer, Louis I. Dublin, Edward J. Stieglitz, Gerontology1954-1955 Phillip H. Kuenan, Submarine Geology, Gronigen, the Netherlands1954-1955 Alpheus T. Mason, Government, Princeton University1953-1954 Luther Gulick, Public Administration, New York1953-1954 C. B. Van Niel, Bacteriology, Stanford University1952-1953 Joseph Wood Krutch, Drama, Columbia University1952-1953 Theodore von Karman, Engineering, California Institute of Technology1951-1952 Otto Struve, Astronomy, Yerkes Observatory1951-1952 Robert Redfield, Anthropology, University of Chicago1950-1951 W. F. Albright, Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University1950-1951 Thomas A. Bailey, Russian-American Relations, Stanford University1950-1951 J. C. Clausen, Botany, Stanford University1949-1950 Otto Neugebauer, History of Mathematics, Brown University1949-1950 Vincent du Vigneaud, Biochemistry, Cornell Medical College1948-1949 Otto Kinkeldey, Musicology, Harvard University1948-1949 Harvey Fletcher, Acoustics, Bell Telephone Laboratories1947-1948 Howard Mumford Jones, American Literature, Harvard University1947-1948 Catherine Bauer, Housing, University of Cambridge1947-1948 Marjorie Nicolson, English Literature, Columbia University1946-1947 Sumner Slichter, Economics, Harvard University1945-1946 Hu Shih, History of Chinese Philosophy, Peking1945-1946 J. Robert Oppenheimer, Atomic Physics, California Inst. Of Technology1945-1946 C. C. Little, L. H. Snyder, H. J. Muller, Gene1944-1945 Douglas Bush, English Literature, Harvard University1944-1945 T. R. McConnell, W. H. Cowley, W. DeVane, Higher Education1944-1945 Charles E. Kellogg, Agronomy, U.S. Department of Agriculture1944-1945 Lydia J. Roberts, Nutrition, University of Chicago1943-1944 Griffith Taylor, Geography, Toronto1942-1943 Carl Becker, Cornell History, Cornell University1942-1943 H. Peyre, French Literature, Yale University1941-1942 H. M. Evans, Endocrinology, University of California1941-1942 T. M. River and others, Virus Diseases, Rockefeller Institute1940-1941 F. A. Pottle, Modern Poetry, Yale University1940-1941 H. E. Sigerist, History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University1939-1940 T. D. Kendrick, Archaeology, British Museum1938-1939 G. P. Adams, Philosophy, University of California1938-1939 G. H. McIlwain, History of Political Theory, Harvard University1937-1938 E. J. Dent, Musicology, University of Cambridge1936-1937 Isiah Bowman, Geography, Johns Hopkins University1936-1937 Robert Hegner, Parasitology, Johns Hopkins University1935-1936 W. M. Calder, History of Christianity, University of Edinburgh1934-1935 W. C. Mitchell, Economics, Columbia University1933-1934 Sir Arthur Eddington, Astronomy, University of Cambridge1932-1933 B. Malinowski, Anthropology, London1931-1932 F. J. Mather, Fine Arts, Princeton University1930-1931 T. H. Morgan, Genetics, California Institute of Technology1929-1930 Roscoe Pound, Law, Harvard University1928-1929 E. L. Thorndike, Psychology, Columbia University1927-1928 T. F. Tout, English History, Manchester1926-1927 H. J. C. Grierson, English Literature, University of Edinburgh1925-1926 R. A. Milliken, Physics, California Institute of Technology1924-1925 J. H. Breasted, Ancient History, Chicago