The Godbey Lecture Series is celebrating its 25th anniversary at SMU. Sponsored by Dedman College, it is an outreach program that provides the Dallas community with the opportunity to experience first-hand the caliber of the faculty at SMU through a series of lectures given on campus and in the Park Cities area.
Founded by Jo Fay Godbey in 1978 as the University Lecture Series, the program was renamed in her honor upon her retirement in 1994. Since its first year, it has offered more than 1,300 lectures and tours by over 300 SMU faculty members.
The members have the opportunity to attend four to six lecture series that the program offers each semester. Each is comprised of three to four sessions, covering topics ranging from the humanities and sciences to the arts, theology and law. Past lecturers have included Dr. Rita Whillock, chairwoman of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Professor James Hopkins, chairman of the Department of History, as well as many other experienced SMU faculty.
“We want to introduce the Dallas community to some of the outstanding professors at SMU and at the same time have our participants feel they, too, have a connection to the university,” Dorothy Friedlander, director of the series said.
All proceeds from the membership fee are tax deductible and go directly toward the Fund for Faculty Excellence as well as towards scholarships for prospective Dedman College students. The organization has raised over $1.5 million that has allowed faculty to conduct research and students to attend SMU.
Some faculty members, like Professor Hopkins, have been involved since its inception 25 years ago.
“I think it is one of the most exceptional outreach programs that the university has developed. It brings together faculty and members of the Dallas community in a shared intellectual experience that has enlarged the lives of all participants,” Hopkins said. “Speaking for myself, I feel that my years at SMU have been immeasurably enriched by my participation in the 25 years of the series. Not enough can be said about the leadership of Jo Fay Godbey and now Dorothy Friedlander, who have tirelessly given their energy and their imagination to make this program a success.”
The lecture series also provides members with the opportunity to travel overseas. In the past, the series has sponsored trips abroad to France and Great Britain and day trips to places around Dallas such as the New Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. This past January members traveled to Thailand, Cambodia and Burma. This coming September they will also have the opportunity to visit Italy.
“From the perspective of Dedman College, it endows our faculty to travel all over the world, making the professors so much better because of it,” said longtime member and Dean of Dedman College, Jasper Neel. “It’s also a venue for ongoing friendships. It allows members to go places that are more challenging than your typical lunchtime gatherings.”
Faculty members agree that the program has brought faculty and members closer together.
“This is a great program. It has done so much to establish new relationships between faculty and leading men and women in the greater Dallas community,” Hopkins said. “The friendships that have developed have increased an understanding of what SMU means to Dallas and what Dallas means to SMU.”
