Penn State announced its lineup for the 2014-15 Forum Speaker Series, and some names on it should draw significant interest. Among them: NFL Hall of Fame linebacker and concussion awareness advocate Harry Carson on being a “Captain for Life,” former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik on the need for criminal justice reform, and PBS President Paula Kerger on the future of educational media.

Here’s the lineup in full, from Penn State News:

Sept. 3: Charles Brock, founder/director of the Institute on the American Dream at Penn State Erie; emeritus fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford, on “Holy Warrior Presidents,” in the President’s Hall, The Penn Stater.

Sept. 23: Harry Carson, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker, on “Captain for Life,” in the Ballroom, The Nittany Lion Inn.

Oct. 21: Bernard Kerik, former commissioner of the New York City Police Department, on “The Urgent Need for Criminal Justice and Prison Reform in America,” in the President’s Hall, The Penn Stater.

Nov. 6: Robert D. Braun, David and Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, on “Our Generation’s Space Race,” in the Ballroom, in The Nittany Lion Inn.

Nov. 13: Margaret Atwood, award-winning writer and environmental activist, on “Genre and Gender,” in the Ballroom, The Nittany Lion Inn.

Dec. 4: C. Robert Kehler, general, USAF (retired); former commander, U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, on “National Security in the 21st Century,” in the Ballroom, The Nittany Lion Inn.

Dec. 9: George Packer, staff writer for “The New Yorker ,” on “The Unwinding – America Today: A Collapsing, Changing Nation,” in the President’s Hall, The Penn Stater.

Jan. 13, 2015: Cathy Willis Spraetz, president and CEO of Chimp Haven, on “Chimpanzees in Captivity: From Research to Retirement,” in the President’s Hall, The Penn Stater.

Jan. 23, 2015: Sarah Collins Rudolph, Fifth Girl and survivor of the 16thStreet Baptist Church bombings, and Tracy Snipe, associate professor of political science at Wright State University, on “Forgotten Girl, Forerunners to the Civil Rights Act & Voting Rights Act,” in the Ballroom, The Nittany Lion Inn.

Feb. 11, 2015: Susan Russell, associate professor of theatre at Penn State; 2014-15 Penn State Laureate, on “Making Change Make Sense,” in the President’s Hall, The Penn Stater.

March 24, 2015: Nicholas DeIuliis, president and CEO of CONSOL Energy Inc. on “Shale Development and Environmental Protection: Finding the Right Balance While Capitalizing on Pennsylvania’s Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity,” in the Dean’s Hall, The Penn Stater.

April 22, 2015: Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, on “America’s Largest Classroom: PBS and the Future of Educational Media,” in the Ballroom, Nittany Lion Inn.

The Forum Speaker Series began in 1996 with the goal of introducing members of the university community to notable leaders, according to its website. Full descriptions and backgrounds for all of the speakers can be found here.

The series is open to the general public and tickets include a buffet lunch for the price of $19. All of the above luncheons are held from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Penn Stater or Nittany Lion Inn. Tickets can be purchased at the HUB, by calling 814-865-7590 or e-mailing [email protected].