Award-winning actor, best-selling author and philanthropist Hill Harper will be the keynote speaker for the 32nd Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium Memorial Keynote Lecture. The event will take place on Monday, Jan. 15, 10:00 a.m. at Hill Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

“We are beyond excited to welcome Hill Harper as the keynote speaker for this year’s MLK Symposium lecture,” said Scott DeRue, Edward J. Frey Dean of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. “Dr. King’s dream of a world free of social, racial, and economic inequality is something we are still striving to achieve. Mr. Harper’s work in social justice activism and youth empowerment is a manifestation of that dream and we look forward to learning from his wisdom and being inspired by his vision.”

A veteran actor and seven-time NAACP Image Award winner, Harper currently stars on TV’s #1 new drama The Good Doctor on ABC.  Harper also headlines HLN’s How It Really Happened with Hill Harper and previously starred on CSI: NY and Showtime's award-winning series Homeland. Theatrically, Harper starred in numerous films including Concussion, He Got Game, For Colored Girls, and last year’s hit All Eyez On Me. Harper is a four-time New York Times best-selling author for his books: Letters to a Young Brother (named “Best Book for Young Adults” by the American Library Association), Letters to a Young Sister, The Conversation, and The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in its Place. Harper’s most recent book is the groundbreaking Letters to an Incarcerated Brother.

Harper is also a philanthropist, creating The Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering underserved youth through mentorship, scholarship and grant programs. An Ivy League graduate, Harper graduated magna cum laude as valedictorian of his department with a Bachelor’s Degree from Brown University and cum laude with a Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard Law School. He also holds a Master’s Degree with honors from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and holds several Honorary Doctoral Degrees.

“It is an honor to deliver the keynote address for the 2018 MLK Symposium lecture, and I am excited to address the University of Michigan community,” said Harper. “By celebrating the life and contributions of Dr. King, we recognize the potential in ourselves and the promise our next generation gives. I hope that my ideas will shed further light on the societal challenges of today and the hope for tomorrow.”

Accompanying Harper is Aisha Fukushima, who will deliver a musical performance. A singer, public speaker and educator, Fukushima is the founder of RAPtivism, a hip-hop centric project that focuses on global efforts for freedom and justice. Her work has been featured in The Oprah Magazine, TEDx, and other publications.

The MLK Symposium Memorial Keynote Lecture is sponsored by Michigan Ross, with support from the William K. McInally Memorial Lecture Fund, and the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, a unit under the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Past speakers include Issa Rae, Amy Goodman, Naomi Tutu, and Marc Lamont Hill. To learn more about the MLK Symposium, visit mlksymposium.umich.edu.  

About Michigan Ross

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is a vibrant and distinctive learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for change in today's society. Michigan Ross is a leading business school, dedicated to building a better world through business. The Ross School of Business’ mission is to develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world.

Ross is consistently ranked among the world's leading business schools. Academic degree programs include the BBA, MBA, Part-time MBA (Evening and Weekend formats), Executive MBA, Global MBA, Master of Accounting, Master of Supply Chain Management, Master of Management, and PhD. In addition, the school delivers open-enrollment and custom executive education programs targeting general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management.