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Acton University’s Featured Speakers Announced
Acton University’s Featured Speakers Announced
Oct 13, 2026 6:38 AM

Acton University is just two months away and we’ve just confirmed our featured lecturers for the big event. Check out their bios below.

The four featured speakers are:

Rev. Robert Sirico

He is president and co-founder of the Acton Institute. Fr. Sirico serves on the staff of Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His writings on religious, political, economic, and social matters are published in a variety of journals, including: theNew York Times, theWall Street Journal,Forbes, theLondon Financial Times, theWashington Times, and more.

Marina Nemat

She was born in 1965 in Tehran, Iran. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, she was arrested at the age of sixteen and spent more than two years in Evin, a political prison in Tehran, where she was tortured and came very close to execution. She came to Canada in 1991 and has called it home ever since. Her memoir of her life in Iran, Prisoner of Tehran, was published in Canada by Penguin Canada in 2007, has been published in 28 other countries, and has been an international bestseller. In 2007, Marina received the inaugural Human Dignity Award

William McGurn

He is editorial page editor of The New York Post. Previously he was a Vice President for News Corporation, where he wrote speeches for the CEO and the weekly “Main Street” column for The Wall Street Journal. From 2005 to 2008, he served as chief speechwriter for President Bush in the West Wing of the White House. Prior to the White House, most of Bill’s career was in journalism. He was the chief editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, and spent more than 10 years overseas – in Europe and in Asia – for Dow Jones. He has also written for a wide variety of publications, from Esquire, the Washington Post, and the New York Post to the Spectator of London and the National Catholic Register.

William B. Allen

Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Political Science and Emeritus Dean, James Madison College, at Michigan State University. He served previously on the United States National Council for the Humanities and as Chairman and Member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Currently he serves as Visiting Senior Professor in the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good at Villanova University, at Villanova University and as Visiting Professor, Ashland University, Ashbrook Center, Master’s in History and American Government.

To learn more about Acton University and the lecturers, please visit the AU website or check out this AU brochure.

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