The 44th season of bringing influencers from the world stage to our stage in Sarasota returns in January 2025.  

TOWN HALL will welcome Ron Howard, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and prolific filmmakers. From the critically acclaimed Oscar-winning dramas A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 to the hit comedies Parenthood and Splash, he has created some of Hollywood’s most memorable films and series. Howard’s critically acclaimed film A Beautiful Mind earned him an Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture, and the film also won for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. Howard has also been honored by numerous organizations and in March 2013, Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. In 2015, Howard was honored with a second star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making him one of the select few to have been recognized with two stars. In 2023, Apollo 13 was chosen for the Library of Congress National Film Registry, a prestigious collection of films that are selected for cultural, historic or aesthetic importance.

Athlete Rob Gronkowski who will be joining the series in February. After a final two seasons as a tight end with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL in 2022. Rob is a four-time Super Bowl champion, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and a four-time First Team All-Pro selection. He previously played nine seasons for the New England Patriots. ‘Gronk,’ as he’s known to his legion of fans, is widely admired for his fun-loving spirit and ability to triumph over significant injuries in his player career, earning him the 2014 Comeback Player of the Year award at the 2015 ESPY Awards. Having been selected for the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, it is clear by both sports analysts, peers and players alike that he is one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game.

Dr. Moiya McTier will take the stage in mid-March. Dr. McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator based in New York City, but her origins are a bit more modest and surprising. Moiya grew up in a log cabin in rural Pennsylvania without running water or TV, which meant she had plenty of time to focus on her studies. Hard work and a lot of luck took Moiya to Harvard, where she was the first person in the school's long history to double major in both astrophysics and folklore. After graduating, Moiya moved to New York to earn her PhD in astrophysics at Columbia University. There, she was named a National Science Foundation Research Fellow for her work studying planets outside of our solar system and the motion of stars around the galaxy. Moiya officially became a doctor of the universe in 2021 as the first Black woman to graduate from Columbia's astronomy PhD program and started pursuing science communication full-time.

In late March, Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster will join us. H. R. McMaster was the 25^th Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. He served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. H.R. is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Distinguished University Fellow at Arizona State University, and lecturer at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. McMaster has extensive experience leading soldiers and organizations in wartime in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also served overseas as advisor to the most senior commanders in the Middle East.

In mid-April 2024, Dr. Anthony Fauci closes out our TOWN HALL season. Dr. Fauci is perhaps the most recognized and influential figure in public health and policy in modern time. With a career bookended by the HIV/AIDs and COVID-19 pandemics, Dr. Fauci’s impact spanned 7 presidents, covered 50 years of public service, and touched billions of lives. Serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for 38 years and being a public servant for more than 50 years, Dr. Fauci oversaw an extensive research portfolio devoted to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious and immune-mediated diseases. As the key advisor to 7 Presidents and their administrations, Dr. Fauci led medical and public health preparedness and treatments against emerging infectious disease threats, including HIV/AIDS, pandemic influenza, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19.

Since its beginning in 1981 TOWN HALL has been bringing influencers from the world stage to our stage in Sarasota, with a goal to expand horizons, stimulate conversation and inspire the community. Past TOWN HALL speakers include two U.S. Presidents: George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton; actor Stanley Tucci; ambassador Caroline Kennedy; travel personality, Rick Steves; former Congresswoman Liz Cheney; activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Prime Minister Tony Blair; and historians, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham. 

All five lectures will be presented at Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, 777 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Morning lectures begin at 10:30 a.m. and evening talks begin at 7:30 p.m.  The series is sold by subscription.   To learn more about subscribing to the series, please visit www.rclassociation.org.