Skip to main content
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Parents & Families
  • Request Info
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Historical photo of Old Main from the Archives.
    History & Traditions

    About Drake

    • About Overview
    • Leadership & Mission
    • History & Traditions
    • Accreditation
    • Drake at a Glance
    • Class Profile
    • Drake & Des Moines
    • Continuous Improvement
    • The Drake Commitment
    • Offices
    • Live Mascot
    • News & Events
  • Learn more

    Admission & Aid

    • Admission & Aid Overview
    • First-Year Students
    • Transfer Students
    • Graduate Students
    • International Students
    • First Generation Students
    • Cost & Financial Aid
    • Visit Drake
    • Veterans & Military
    • Post-Secondary Enrollment
    • Admitted Students
    • Contact Admission
  • Student sitting at a table with a laptop at Starbucks in the Olmsted Center.
    Program Finder

    Academics

    • Academics Overview
    • Browse all Programs
    • Colleges & Schools
    • Drake Online
    • Academic Calendar
    • Academic Services & Support
    • Learn By Doing
    • Faculty Research
    • Libraries
    • Centers & Institutes
    • The Drake Curriculum
  • Street Painting - Two students smiling at the camera while one squirts paint at the other.
    Events & Activities

    Campus Life

    • Campus Life Overview
    • Housing & Dining
    • Student Services & Resources
    • Student Affairs
    • Events & Activities
    • Clubs & Organizations
    • Leadership and Service
    • Recreational Services
    • Health & Safety
    • Des Moines
    • Transportation
  • After Drake
  • Athletics
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Parents & Families
  • Request Info
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give

Popular Searches

  • Financial Aid
  • Undergraduate Admission
  • Academic Calendar
  • Student Housing
  • Degrees & Programs
  • Contact
  • Request Info
  • Visit
  • Apply
The Martin Bucksbaum Lecture Series
Home   >  The Martin Bucksbaum Lecture Series   >  About the Lectureship Series   >  Distinguished Lectureship

The 48th Annual Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship

About the Lectureship Series

  • Distinguished Lectureship
  • Lectureship in Business
More information will be available this fall for the Spring 2027 lecture.

 


Past Lecture

An Evening with John Green - April 2nd, 2026

John Green PortraitDrake University is honored to welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author John Green for the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship. Green is known for his beloved and acclaimed novels, including The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, and Turtles All the Way Down. His latest work, Everything is Tuberculosis, is a deeply human social and scientific history that illuminates the critical healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year. As part of the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship Series, Green will deliver a lecture on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Knapp Center.

Date: April 2, 2026
Location: Knapp Center, Drake University
Time: Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Lecture begins at 7:00 p.m.
Other Details: The event is free and open to the public and will be moderated by Associate Dean, Dr. Lindsay Woodward. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions for John Green here. A clear bag policy will be enforced at the venue.


About the Author

John Green is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose novels include Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, and Everything is Tuberculosis. He also co-authored Will Grayson, Will Grayson with David Levithan. His books have been published in more than 55 languages and have more than 24 million copies in print. Green is the 2006 recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a 2009 Edgar Award winner, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Film and television adaptations of his works include the movies The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and Paper Towns (2015), and the limited series Looking for Alaska (2019) on Hulu.

Browse previous lectures, dates, and topics.


The Martin Bucksbaum Lectureship Series is made possible by a gift from the late Melva and Martin Bucksbaum. The Martin Bucksbaum Lectureship Committee includes Dr. Kelly Bruhn (chair), Dr. Alanah Mitchell, Dr. Neil Hamilton, Mary Scanlan, Pam Bass-Bookey, Janis Ruan, Marcia Wanamaker, Eleanor Zeff, Bob Riley, Julie Stewart, Liz Hatfield, Dr. Richard Deming, Dr. Cassity Gutierrez, Shawna Kasner-Hannam, Paul LeFort, and Allie Koenigsfeld. Thanks to a recent additional gift from the Bucksbaums, the well-established lecture series now includes two lectureship tracks—the Bucksbaum Lectureship in Business, launched in Fall 2023, and the original Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship. 

Questions? For more information, contact Erica Hartschen, at 515-271-4990 or erica.hartschen@drake.edu.

2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311
1-800-44-DRAKE


  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Directory
  • Colleges & Schools
  • Libraries
  • Academic Calendar
  • Accreditation
  • MyDrake
  • Service Desk
  • University News
  • University Calendar
  • Jobs at Drake
  • Give to Drake
  • Media Resources
  • Emergency Preparedness

© 2026 Drake University. All rights reserved.

Consumer Information Nondiscrimination & Accessibility Privacy Title IX Website Feedback