Messenger Lectures

The Messenger Lectures are a prestigious series of talks given by leading scholars and public figures at Cornell University. They were founded in 1924 by a gift from Hiram Messenger and are regarded as one of the most important of Cornell's extracurricular activities.

There were initially "twelve lectures per year, delivered by the ablest non-resident lecturer or lecturers obtainable" but are now a series of either three or six lectures given by one nominee each semester.

The purpose of the lectures are "to provide a course of lectures on the evolution of civilization, for the special purpose of raising the moral standards of our political, business and social life". The first series was delivered in 1925 by archeologist James Henry Breasted.

They were initially known (or perhaps have a fuller title) as the Messenger Lectures on the Evolution of Civilization.

Dr. Hiram John Messenger Jr (July 6, 1855 - Dec. 15, 1913; B. Litt., Phd,) was from Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from Cornell in 1880. He was a teacher of mathematics Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of the City of New York and an actuary of the Traveler's Insurance Company. The gift he left to Cornell was part of $4,000 mentioned in his will and a portion of his estate goes to Cornell each year. He was himself the youngest son of Hiram J. Messenger, a mercantile businessman and owner of banks.

There have been over 80 talks given since 1924, the most famous of which is probably Richard Feynman's 7 lecture series in 1964, The Character of Physical Law, the videos of which were bought and made available to the public by Bill Gates in 2009.

A partial listing of some of the lecturers over the years is provided in Cornell's Messenger Lectures brochure as:

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