Winter Speaker Series: Robert Quinn
January 31, 2026 2:00 pm In person at the Museum and virtually on Vimeo
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Because life is not a yes/no question: Why academic freedom matters to everyone.
Robert Quinn, Founder and Executive Director of Scholars at Risk
Academic freedom is an often misunderstood and contested concept. At its essence, it’s the freedom of research professionals and educators, to seek the truth, to follow their research, their teaching, their ideas, and to share them in accordance with professional and ethical standards. Dr. Quinn will discuss the role of Scholars at Risk, which works to defend the research of academics nationally and internationally, and to clarify and explain academic freedom alongside freedom of expression.
About the Speaker:
Robert Quinn is the founding Executive Director of the Scholars at Risk Network, an independent not-for-profit corporation based at New York University, and host of the Free to Think podcast.
Mr. Quinn formerly served as a member of the Council of the Magna Charta Observatory, based in Bologna, Italy; Executive Director of the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund; on the Steering Committee of the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR), based in London, UK; a member of the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a member of the Scientific Committee of Pax Academica, an online journal on academic freedom in Africa published by CODESRIA from Dakar, Senegal; a fellow with the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program in Washington, DC. He received an A.B. cum laude from Princeton in 1988, a J.D. cum laude from Fordham in 1994, and honorary doctorates from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2010 and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2023. In 2012, Mr. Quinn and Scholars at Risk received the University of Oslo’s human rights award, the Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize, for “relentless work to protect the human rights of academics and for having inspired and engaged others to stress the importance of academic freedom.”
About Winter Speaker Series:
The Winter Speaker Series has been a cornerstone of the Newport Art Museum’s annual programming since 1928. Each year, the Winter Speaker Series Committee and Museum staff curate this series to reflect the ideas of our times and to educate, illuminate, delight, and inspire.
Join us for these in-person and live-streamed thought-provoking talks, accessible to you wherever you happen to be! All Lectures will be recorded for later viewing by in-person and virtual subscribers and ticket holders.
Each lecture will be followed by audience Q&A, and continued conversation in the galleries over hot tea, coffee, light fare, and desserts.
Together, we can positively impact our creative community. We sincerely thank the following sponsors for their partnership and support.
WINTER SPEAKER SERIES CORPORATE SPONSORS
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Bronze Sponsor
WINTER SPEAKER SERIES INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS
The Lockett Ford Ballard, Jr. Family
Johanna Becker
Angela Fischer
Mary M. Jennings Fund
Kathleen & Joseph Gallichio
Santiago & Maureen Neville
Edwina Sebest
Cynthia Sinclair
In-Kind Sponsors
Winter Speaker Series Committee
Johanna Becker, Chair
Eleanor Doumato
Joseph Gallichio
Susan Kieronski
Santiago Neville
Susan Pasquarelli
Thomas Palmer
Emilia Sywolski
Contact Susan Hanley, Director of Advancement, at 631-599-1950 (shanley@newportartmuseum.org) for more information on sponsoring the Winter Speaker Series.
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