Conversations with the President The University of Oklahoma

The 54th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, joins President Joseph Harroz Jr. for this edition of Conversations with the President. Ryan was on campus for the annual Presidential Speaker Series where he discussed the state of American politics to a crowd of over 700 attendees. In this episode, Ryan dives in his connections to the state of Oklahoma, his decision to leave politics and enter his second career as well as his thoughts on the current state of American politics.
0:00 – 1:33 – Introduction 
1:34 – 5:19 – Ryan's connection to the state of Oklahoma
5:20 – 8:21 – Experience as Speaker of the House of Representatives
8:22 – 11:35 – Walking away from politics
11:36 – 18:00 – The changing state of American politics
18:01 – 21:28 – Foreign threats to democracy
21:29 – 24:00 – The outlook of presidential races
24:01 – 27:25 – Advice to students
27:26 – Ryan's hope for a third career and his advice for the country. 
 

President Joseph Harroz Jr. Is joined by Dr. Amy McGovern, a Lloyd G. and Joyce Austin Presidential Professor of Machine learning/data mining/data science for the physical sciences; Real-world applications with a special interest in high-impact weather. 2023 saw a massive increase in the discussion surrounding artificial intelligence and its impact on the world. Dr. McGovern and President Harroz discuss the implications of A.I. and its influence on severe weather research at the University of Oklahoma.
0:00 – 2:10 – Introduction
2:11 – 5:40 – A.I. hesitations and concerns
5:41 – 7:00 – Amy McGovern’s time at OU 
7:01 – 14:55 – Machine learning and severe weather 
14:56 – 16:30 – The rate of development with A.I.
16:31 – 17:35 – What success looks like
17:36 – 21:00 – Trustworthy A.I. and biases
21:01 – 25:58 – National Institute for Standards and Technology announcement
25:59 – Standards that exist

President Joseph Harroz Jr. Is joined by Regents’ Professor of the Clara Luper Department of African and African American Studies Dr. Karlos Hill and Marilyn Luper Hildreth, the daughter of University of Oklahoma icon Clara Luper. For Black History Month, the guests and President Harroz discuss Clara Luper’s living legacy within the university as well as the state of Oklahoma.
0:00 – 1:30 Introduction
1:31 – 3:40 Guest intros
3:41 – 11:10 Clara Luper’s life
11:30 – 17:30 The Katz Drug Store sit-in
17:31 – 28:45 Luper's legacy of radical love
28:46 – 36:18 What Luper’s legacy teaches us what we must do

University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz Jr. is joined by Student Veteran Association President and former United States Army Green Beret Harrison Anderson and the director of the Aerospace and Defense Program at the Michael F. Price College of Business, Shad Satterthwaite. Both guests served in the United States military and speak to the unique experience on a college campus that a student veteran will go through. 
 
0:00 – Intro
 
4:19 – Why Harrison chose OU as a student following the service
 
5:55 – OU as a friendly environment to current and former servicemen and women
 
9:13 – Some of the challenges a student veteran faces transitioning from the military into college life
 
13:18 – What OU and the SVA is doing to make OU better for student veterans and the importance of the new Veteran Zone
 
17:02 – The growth at OU for student veterans
 
19:22 – The ROTC relationship
 
20:54 – Recent gift to renovate the Armory
 
23:18 – Aerospace and Defense at OU
 
30:00 – Signing off
 
 

President Joseph Harroz Jr. Is joined by Nadine Strossen, the John Marshall II Harlan Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and past president of the American Civil Liberties Union. Strossen’s appearance on Conversations with the President was a part of the University of Oklahoma’s annual celebration of Free Speech Week. Harroz and Strossen discuss the importance of reinforcing and encouraging freedom of speech, thought and discourse on college campuses and everywhere.
0:00 – 2:52 – Introduction
2:53 – Strossen's introduction
5:38 -  Strossen’s Elevator Pitch on Free Speech
11:52 – Hate Speech
13:00 – The need for a civics education on the First Amendment
17:39 – Disagreeing with someone
21:57 – Strossen's book, Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know
27:03 – Discussing “the other”
33:40 – Wrapping up

President Joe Harroz is joined by the Senior Vice President and Provost of the University of Oklahoma André Denis-Wright. The two discuss OU’s trajectory over the next five years, the changing nature of incoming students as well as the importance of OU’s strategic plan.
1:07 – Denis-Wright intro
3:37 – Provost duties on the Norman campus
11:09 – Success over the next four/five years
13:46 – Changing nature of incoming students
18:16 – Polytechnic Institute
20:01 – Strategic Plan importance
23:30 – OU as a research enterprise