MESSENGER LECTURES
Eric Liu, Co-founder and CEO of Citizen University
What Does It Mean to
Live Like a Citizen?
Featured Public Lecture
Live Like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Our Country
Monday, November 16, 2026, from 5:30-7:00 PM
Alice Statler Auditorium, Statler Hall
Welcome by Provost Kavita Bala
Open to the public and Cornell Community
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Join Eric Liu, Co-founder and CEO of Citizen University. Author of numerous acclaimed books, including, most recently, Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy—a New York Times New & Notable Book—and Live Like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Our Country, published in October 2026.
Mr. Liu served as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and as the President’s deputy domestic policy adviser. He was later appointed by President Barack Obama to the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, Liu was elected in 2020 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and co-chairs its Our Common Purpose commission. He lives in Seattle, where he has served on the boards of the Seattle Public Library and the Washington State Board of Education.
Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase Eric Liu's new book, Live Like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Our Country, and meet the author during a book signing immediately following the lecture.
Books can also be purchased through Porchlight Books and Barnes & Noble.
Additional Campus Appearances
Guest Lecturer | AEM 1101
Business for a Better World: Lessons from Live Like a Citizen
Monday, November 16 from 1:25-2:40 in B25 Warren Hall
Open to Cornell Community (Registration Required | Limited Seating)
Guest Lecturer | AEM 3389
The Citizen Entrepreneur: Leadership, Community, and the Common Good
Tuesday, November 17 from 2:30-3:20 in Anabel Taylor Hall B21
Open to Cornell Community (Registration Required | Limited Seating)
Co-sponsors, together with the University Lectures Committee and the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, include the Ashley School of Global Development, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, College of Arts & Sciences Department of Government, Cornell CALS, Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, Center for Transformative Action, and Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.