The 4th Annual Bucksbaum Lectureship in Business

Decoding America's Tech Moment featuring award-winning journalists Karen Hao and Nicholas Thompson

AI is rapidly changing everything about how we work, live, and find meaning. How did we get here—and where are we going? In this insightful, far-ranging conversation, two of the world's sharpest thinkers on AI and the future bring their deep expertise to the biggest question of our time.

Date: October 21, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Knapp Center, Drake University
Admission: Free and open to the public
Livestream: Can't make it in person? The event will be live-streamed at live.drake.edu 

Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She co-hosts the BBC podcast The Interface and contributes to publications including More Perfect Union and The Atlantic. She also co-created the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, a program that has trained thousands of journalists around the world on how to cover AI. She was formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American Humanist Media Award, an American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30, and a TIME100 AI honor. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, a position he has held since 2021. He was previously the editor-in-chief of WIRED and the editor of NewYorker.com. Thompson is also a cofounder of The Atavist, a multimedia CMS that was sold to WordPress, and Speakeasy.ai, which was sold to Amplica Labs. He is a board member at ProRata.AI and The National Committee on American Foreign Policy, as well as the author of "The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War.” He films a daily video on tech policy for Linkedin and has roughly two million followers across social media platforms. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race. His second book, “The Running Ground,” will be published by Random House this fall.

About the Bucksbaum Lectureship in Business

The Bucksbaum Lectureship in Business is a signature event of Drake’s Zimpleman College of Business. Made possible by a generous gift from the Bucksbaum family, it brings distinguished leaders in business and economics to Des Moines to engage with students, faculty, and the community. The discussions focus on how business and entrepreneurialism can create both an economic and societal impact.

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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.