Presidential Lectures 2026

A weekly series of free colloquia spotlighting groundbreaking research.

Presidential Lectures span four themes: neuroscience and autism science, physics, biology, and mathematics and computer science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are designed to foster discussion and drive discovery within the New York City research community.

Math & Computer Science

Randomness

Past Events

Hidden Order: The Geometry of Complex Patterns

Lecture

September 23, 2026

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Salvatore Torquato

A middle-aged man with short dark hair, wearing a blue sweater, smiles at the camera while standing in front of a blurred glass building background.

Randomized Methods for Very Large-Scale Linear Algebra

Lecture

May 6, 2026

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Per-Gunnar Martinsson

A man with short gray hair wearing a navy blue suit and light blue shirt smiles in an office setting with large windows in the background.

Randomized Algorithms and Representative Democracy

Lecture

April 8, 2026

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Moon Duchin

A person stands confidently in front of a chalkboard covered with mathematical equations, diagrams, and graphs. They wear a purple sweater and green shirt, with short hair, and hands on hips, looking at the camera.

Random Geometry and Yang-Mills Gauge Theory

Lecture

February 18, 2026

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Scott Sheffield

A smiling man with short light hair wearing a blue and white plaid button-up shirt, posed against a solid dark background.

Randomness in Number Theory

Lecture

February 4, 2026

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Peter Sarnak

Peter Sarnak sitting by a window