A student committee works directly with the President's Office and the Hanify and Howland families to choose an annual speaker to address the College community on issues of public affairs.
John Kerry served as the United States’ 68th Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017. As America’s top diplomat, he guided the Department’s strategy on nuclear nonproliferation, combating radical extremism, and the threat of climate change. His tenure was marked by the successful negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement. On January 20, 2021, he was sworn in as our nation’s inaugural Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal to sit on the National Security Council entirely dedicated to climate change. President Biden announced Kerry would have a seat at every table around the world as he combats the climate crisis to meet the existential threat that we face.
From 1985 to 2013, he served as a U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts, and was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2009 to 2013. Secretary Kerry served in the U.S. Navy, completing two combat tours of duty in Vietnam for which he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from Boston College Law School.
Secretary Kerry is the best-selling author of A Call to Service, This Moment on Earth with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, and his 2018 memoir, Every Day Is Extra, which The New York Times described as “a bittersweet reminder of what the country once demanded of its leaders.”
Secretary Kerry was the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States in 2004. On May 3rd 2024, Secretary Kerry was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his lifelong commitment to public service.
The Hanify Memorial Lecture honors the memory of Judge Edward F. Hanify, a native of Fall River, Massachusetts, who graduated from Holy Cross in 1904.
Shortly after having completed his studies at Harvard Law School, Mr. Hanify served as city solicitor for his native city. In 1912, he was appointed presiding justice of the Second District Court of Bristol County. At the age of thirty-one, he was one of the youngest justices ever appointed to the bench in Massachusetts. In 1929, he was appointed a justice of the Superior Court and served on that court for a quarter of a century until his death in 1954.
As a young district court judge, he pioneered in the humane treatment of juvenile offenders, insisting that they be treated "not as criminals, but as children in need of aid, encouragement, and guidance.” His juvenile court became an early successful model for constructive use of all available family and community resources, including the probation system, to save youngsters from what he termed "the stigma...and evils of incarceration.” Holy Cross recognizes his constructive work for social betterment when it awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1919.
Judge Hanify's twenty-five years of service on the Superior Court were marked by his assignment to preside as trial judge at many complex and historic cases. His learning, fairness, courtesy, and compassion are remembered as representing in full measure the highest ideals of judicial conduct and public service. He served as President of the Holy Cross Alumni Association and five of his descendants, three sons, a grandson, and one great-grandson have followed his steps to the College.
After the late Weston Howland was graduated from Haverford in 1917, he spent the next several years as a volunteer with the American Friends Service Committee in post-World War I rehabilitation efforts in France, Germany, and Russia. He returned to this country in 1920 and began a most distinguished and successful career of 56 years in the textile industry.
True to the ideals of his Quaker heritage, in the midst of a diversity of business responsibilities, he sustained an unrelenting dedication to the service of the nation and to the foundation and operation of a wide range of humanitarian institutions.
During World War II, he served on the staff of General William Donovan in the office of Strategic Services. A mere listing of some of the institutions to which he gave generously of his resources, talents, and time gives some insight into his energetic concern for others: President of the Sol-E-Mar Hospital for children suffering from bone tuberculosis; a founder and president of the Boys' and Girls' Camp of Boston, which provided for the health and recreation of some 80,000 under-privileged children over a period of 40 years; founder and president of The New England Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation; and trustee of the Rehabilitation Institute, a facility for the rehabilitation of the handicapped that is now part of Tufts New England Medical Center. By appointment of President Eisenhower, he served with the National Advisory Council on Vocational Rehabilitation.
Weston Howland's admiration and respect for Judge Hanify, his warm affection for the Hanify family and his faith in the purposes and objectives of the College of the Holy Cross led him to establish the annual Hanify Memorial Lecture. His presence among us was ever a joy and inspiration, and his is remembered with grateful benediction. At the request of the Hanify family, this lecture is now titled "The Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture."
The Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture Series was founded by the Hanify and Howland families to bring speakers to campus who have found creative, powerful ways to serve our community. It is the hope of the families and the Committee that this lecture will foster student debate and discussion of current issues, as well as inspire members of our community to commit their lives to public service.
2024 - Admiral Michelle Howard
First woman to become a 4-star admiral and the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy
2023 - Nikole Hannah-Jones
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and creator of the 1619 Project
Staff writer at The New York Times Magazine
2019 - Dr. Scott Parazynski
Astronaut, Physician and Founder and CEO of Fluidity Technologies
The Opportunity and the Obligation to Innovate: To Infinity and Beyond
2018 - Jonathan Haidt
Renowned Social Psychologist
Politics and Polarization
2017 - Samantha Power
Former UN Ambassador
Why Human Rights Matter More Than Ever
2016 - Nancy Lublin
Founder and CEO of Crisis Text Line
The Giving Solution: How Philanthropy is Changing the World
2015 - Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Pulitzer Prize winners
Why Students Should Care About the World—& Change It
2014 - Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium
Science as a Way of Knowing
2013 - Jon Huntsman
Former governor, Utah
Challenges Facing America Today
2012 - Soledad O'Brien
CNN journalist
Her Life Stories
2011 - Steven D. Levitt
William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago
The World through the Eyes of a Freakonomist
2010 - Bob Woodward
Journalist and Author
From Nixon to Obama
2009 - Greg Mortenson
Author
Peace Through Education
2008- Retired Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft, USAF
U.S. Diplomacy in a Transforming World
2007 - Ruth Wedgwood
The Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, and Director of the Program in International Law and Organizations, at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D.C.
Fighting Terrorism within the Law
2006 – William Kristol
Editor of “The Weekly Standard”
American Foreign Policy after September 11th
2005 – Leon R. Kass, M.D., Ph.D.
Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought
Science, Politics and the Dilemmas of Bioethics
2004 – Linda Chavez
President, Center for Equal Opportunity
Thinking About Race: The Shifting Civil Rights Agenda
2003 – Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor (Ret.)
United States Marine Corps
War and the Christian Conscience
2002 – Hon. Clarence Thomas
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
Judging and the Court
2001 – Mary Ann Glendon
Learned Hand Professor, Harvard Law School
Perils and Promise of the International Human Rights Project
2000 – Christopher J. Matthews
MSNBC “Hardball” Anchor
Freedom
1999 – Paul D. Wolfowitz
Dean, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University
Quarrels in Far Away Countries: U.S. National Interests and Ethnic Conflicts
1998 – Gertrude Himmelfarb
Professor Emerita of History, The City University of New York
Two Cultures: A Nation Divided
1997 – Prof. James Q. Wilson
Collins Professor of Management, The University of California at Los Angeles
Criminal Trials: Judging vs. Explaining
1996 – Hon. Robert P. Casey
Former Governor, Pennsylvania
Not by Bread Alone: The Culture War and its Impact on the Politics of 1996 and Beyond
1994 – Gen. John R. Galvin (Ret.)
United States Army
The Uses of Military Force in Achieving National Objectives
1993 – Hon. Paul E. Tsongas
Former Senator, Massachusetts
The Future of America
1992 – Hon. Shirley Williams
Professor of Electoral Politics, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
From Communism to Democracy: The Agony of Transition
1991 – Hon. John T. Noonan, Jr.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals
Free Exercise of Religion: Past History and Present Crisis
1990 – Hon. Antonin Scalia
Associate Justice, United States Supreme
Reflections on the Constitution
1989 – Robert M. Hayes
Founder, National Coalition for the Homeless
Fear, Loathing or Compassion? Confronting the Homeless on the Streets of America
1988 – Paul A. Volcker
Former Chairman, Federal Reserve System
Meeting Our Public Responsibilities
1987 – Bernard J. O’Keefe
Chairman, Executive Committee of EG&G
The U.S. Economy and World Peace
1986 – Dr. Constance E. Clayton
Superintendent, Philadelphia Public Schools
Cross-Currents and Conflicts in Educational Reform
1985 – William M. Dyal, Jr.
President, American Field Service International/Intercultural Programs, Inc.
Building Bridges of Understanding in a Divided World
1984 – Hon. R. Sargent Shriver
Founding Director, Peace Corps; Former Ambassador to France
1984: George Orwell versus Holy Cross
1983 – Hon. Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Esq.
Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Carter
Politicizing God and Science: Whatever Happened to the Difference Between Madame Curie and Dr. Frankenstein?
1982 – Dr. Lester C. Thurow
Professor of Management and Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Can the United States Survive in a Competitive World?
1981 – Prof. Doris Kearns Goodwin
Former Aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson
The Presidency: Imperial or Impotent
1980 – Hon. Theodore L. Eliot, Jr.
Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
The United States and the World in the 1980’s
1979 – Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge
Distinguished Public Servant
Needed Reforms in American Government and Foreign Policy
1978 – John Kenneth Galbraith
Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University
Inflation to Unemployment: The Anatomy of Economic Achievement
1977 – Hon. George W. Ball
Under Secretary of State, Ambassador to the United Nations
Diplomacy for a Crowded World
1975 – Prof. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Albert Schweitzer Professor of the Humanities, The City University of New York
The American Government and Economic Crisis
1974 – Prof. Archibald Cox
Harvard Law School
The Judiciary as an Instrument of Reform
1973 – Prof. Gino Germani
Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs, Harvard University
Democracy and Dictatorship in Latin America
1972 – Dr. Allen S. Whiting
Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan
Relations Between the United States and China: Realities and Myths
1971 – Hon. Charles E. Bohlen
U.S. Career Diplomat, Former Ambassador to the Soviet Union
Aspects of American Foreign Policy in a Post-War World
1970 – Dr. Adam B. Ulam
Russian Research Center, Harvard University
The Sources of the Cold War: Soviet Perspectives
1969 – Hon. John P. Collins
Professor of Government, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Dynamics of Urban Change
1968 – Prof. James Vorenberg
Harvard Law School
The Need for Light and Action
1967 – Prof. Edwin O. Reischauer
University Professor of History, Harvard University
Beyond Vietnam
1966 – Dr. Richard Neustadt
Harvard School of Public Administration
Presidential Power: Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
1965 – Hon. Paul C. Reardon
Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court
The Judiciary: State and Federal
If you attended a Hanify Howland lecture, we would appreciate it if you would please fill out this feedback form. Your feedback is helpful to the Committee. Thank you.
Evan Garcia '26, Co-chair
Karen Phan '25, Co-chair
Catherine Backfisch ‘25
Christina DiRuzza ‘26
Benjamin Franzone ‘26
Julianne Hawley '27
Caroline Kramer '26
Erin Kelly ‘26
Kayla Krupa ‘26
Ryan LaPosta ‘25
Theodore Lowicki ‘25
Matthew Marcaccio ‘26
Kylie Mulhearn ‘25
Ann O’Malley ‘26
Katherine Santini ‘27
Claire Wolf ‘25
Committee Advisor: Sandy Burke, Associate Director of Special Events, Office of Advancement