Guest Speakers and Scholars


At Thacher, learning doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom.

Thacher's Visiting Scholars Program attracts a wide array of erudite and artistic disciplines as guests to campus throughout the academic year. Celebrated authors, scientists, activists, and intellectuals have accepted invitations to speak to our campus community. Whether it’s a Head’s Invitation after community dinner, a special engagement in the Milligan Center, or even a hands-on experience in GATES, Thacher’s Visiting Scholars Program is a reflection of the active engagement and outside-of-the classroom curriculum at which Thacher excels.
Over the past several years, the School has been fortunate to welcome an impressive list of speakers with a wide range of voices and perspectives, including: 

2022-2024 Visiting Scholars

List of 34 items.

  • Joe Alexander, Holocaust survivor

  • John Muir Laws, naturalist, artist, author

  • Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist

  • Joy Harjo, three-term Poet Laureate of the United States

  • Martha Gregory CdeP 2006, co-winner of 2022 Mongol Derby

  • Deidre Griffith CdeP 2006, documentary filmmaker

  • Dr. Greg Smith, Otto N. Frenzel III Senior Conservation Scientist at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

  • Ron Faris P '26, Vice President and General Manager of Nike Virtual Studios

  • Troy Kemp, educator and motivational speaker

  • Aimee Allison, writer, founder of She the People

  • Dr. David Kyuman Kim, UC Berkeley

  • Suleika Jaouad, author and artist

  • Leah Thomas, author, environmental educator

  • Rhana Hashemi, drug educator

  • Caralena Peterson, author

  • Dr. Julie Alekseyeva, professor of English at University Pennsylvania

  • Dr. Barry Sharpless, two-time Nobel Laureate in chemistry

  • Fredia Lee Mock, filmmaker

  • Dale Johnson, professional polo player

  • Pete Taylor, California-style vaquero

  • Rhea Wong CdeP 1997, non-profit consultant and author

  • Patrick Tumamait, Chumash elder

  • Emma Robbins, Diné artist

  • Jason Collins, former NBA athlete

  • Raul Pacheco CdeP 1986, co-founder of the band Ozomatli

  • Jen Crittenden CdeP 1987, screenwriter and producer

  • Oriana Poindexter, photographer and marine scientist

  • Amikaeyla Gaston, Cultural Arts Ambassador for the U.S. State Department

  • Howard French, author

  • David Sedaris, author, humorist

  • La Shonda Coleman, LCSW, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Title IX Pepperdine University

  • Dr. Jackson Katz, educator, author, social theorist

  • Dawn Porter P '19, '22; documentary filmmaker

  • Brian Bennett CdeP 1994, TIME Magazine National Political Correspondant

Thacher Programs

—Jeffrey

“Adding a visiting scholar to a class challenges the students as well as the teacher to look at things differently. Visiting scholars bring new perspectives, new methods, and additional information that always seem to spark a more interesting student discussion.”

Seattle, Washington

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A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
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Ojai, California, 93023
Tel: 805-646-4377 Fax: 805-646-9490 Email: info@thacher.org 
Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs.