Public Affairs Lecture Series (PALS) 2025
Who: 10 compelling speakers on foreign and domestic public affairs
When: 10 Monday afternoons in Fall 2025, 2PM to 3:30PM, (no lecture on September 22, 2025)
Where: Bickford Theatre, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
The Mission of PALS is to sponsor exceptional public speakers who are excellently credentialed to discourse on current and important topics of public affairs. For over three decades, PALS, the Public Affairs Lecture Series has presented distinguished professors from prominent universities, scholars from prominent think tanks, dignitaries and other governmental leaders. The subscription price for the 10 sessions is $120. See below for payment details.
The programs are held at the Bickford Theatre, in the Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, each fall on Monday afternoons from 2:00 to 3:30 PM. Note 15 minutes earlier than last season.
PALS Topics and Speakers, Fall 2025
We are delighted to announce the return of our most popular speakers based on our 2024 Subscriber Survey. We have great speakers lined up for all ten weeks and are finalizing the schedule which will be announced on this website shortly.
September 8
The Future of China and the U.S.: War or Peace?
Gordon G Chang, American lawyer, political analyst and columnist
September 15
Managing Risk in the Age of the Agentic Economy — Blockchain/Crypto, AI, Quantum and much more…
(What is Agentic Economy? Read this article to explain.)
Dr. Merav Ozair, Leading Global Emerging Technologies Expert
September 29
An Uncertain European Future: War, Economic Competitiveness, and the Future of Alliances
Heather Conley, Sr. Advisor, Evenflow Macro LLC; former Pres., German Marshall Fund and Dep. Asst. Sec. of State for European Affairs
October 6
Powershift, the Gulf Countries, the United States, and the New Middle Eastern Order
Dr. Steven Cook, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
October 13
What Does Criminal Justice Reform Now Mean for the US Supreme Court and America in the Fall of 2025?
Prof. Douglas Berman: Moritz School of Law, Ohio State University
October 20
A World Without Rising Powers: How Population Decline and Economic Stagnation are Ending an Era of Global Upheaval—and Bringing New Threats
Dr. Michael Beckley, Director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Associate Professor of Political Science, Tufts University
October 27
Can the Public Rely on Polling to Accurately Predict the Outcomes of the U.S. Elections?
Dr. Daniel Cassino, Prof. and Director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll
November 3
Death with Dignity: The Status of Medically-Assisted Dying in NJ and Other States
Hon. Paul Armstrong, Retired Judge of the N.J. Superior Court, and Rutgers University Professor
November 10
Issues and Challenges Facing NJ’s next Governor
Dr. Benjamin Dworkin, Director, Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship
November 17
Advances in Cancer Research: Innovative Cancer Immunotherapies
Dr. Andrea Schietinger, Professor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Feel free to review our PALS Topics and Speakers, Fall 2024
PALS 2025 Subscriptions
Time change and Location
The programs are held at the Bickford Theatre, in the Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, each fall on Monday afternoons from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. Note that this time is a change from past schedules.
General admission and mask section option
As we did last year, we have reserved a section of the theater for those who prefer to be seated in a “mask only” section. Otherwise, the remainder of the theater will be “masks optional.”
At each lecture, please claim your seat at least 15 minutes before each lecture begins. After that the available seats will be offered to qualified standbys, as well as to members. Please sit in the “Mask Required” section only if you are wearing a mask.
Your subscription payment
You can submit your application and $120 subscription payment electronically or by mail. Your receipt will be forwarded to you via your email.
Submit Electronic Payment Online
Secure online payment is available via Touchnet.
Once you have placed your order, you will immediately receive an email order receipt from misecommhelp@fdu.edu (check your spam file) that is your confirmation letter to the Lecture Series. Simply print out that confirmation page or take a photo of it on your smartphone and bring it with you to exchange at the door for your PALS lecture series ticket.
OR
Send Subscription Payment by Mail
If you prefer, you can print out the subscription application form and mail it with your $120 check payable to FDU to:
Donna L. Sadowski, MAS
School of Public and Global Affairs
Fairleigh Dickinson University
1000 River Road, H-DH2-13
Teaneck, NJ 07666
201-692-7171
Once your check and application is received we will email you a confirmation receipt. Simply print out the emailed confirmation receipt or take a photo of it on your smartphone and bring it with you to exchange at the door for your PALS lecture series ticket.
If you have not received your confirmation email (and have checked your email spam files) or if you have any questions please contact us at palsboard2025@gmail.com.
PALS Board of Directors
Director, FDU School of Public and Global Affairs
FDU Facility Liaison, PALS Board
PALS Volunteer Board Members 2025
Seated, from left: Helen Saffer, Wally Saffer, Dorrie Susser, Lynn Gold
Standing, from left: Fred Lavinthal, Jack Lynch, Marcia Geltman, Nancy Moore, Robert Martin, Joan Sturm, Sandy Goodman
- Marcia Geltman, Randolph
- Sandy Goodman, Livingston
- Lynn Gold, Berkeley Heights
- Fred Lavinthal, Florham Park
- Jack Lynch, Morristown
- Nancy Moore, Basking Ridge
- Helen Saffer, Morristown
- Wally Saffer, Morristown
- Joan Sturm, Morristown
- Dorrie Susser, Morristown
PALS Volunteer Board as of December 2024
Standing, from left: Robert Martin, Joan Sturm, Lynn Gold, Deborah D’Urso, Marcia Geltman, Tina Johnson.
Contact Us
Please use the PALS Reply Form to request to be added to our mailing list, or to send comments and questions about the PALS Lecture Series.
PALS 2025 Speaker Bios
Gordon G. Chang – September 8, 2025 Speaker
Gordon G. Chang is the author of Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America and The Coming Collapse of China. His other works include The Great U.S.-China Tech War and China Is Going to War. He is a columnist at Newsweek and writes regularly for The Hill and other publications. Mr. Chang has given briefings at the National Intelligence Council, Central Intelligence Agency, State Department, and the Pentagon. Chang has appeared before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He frequently appears on Fox News, Fox Business, Newsmax TV, and CNN. He lived and worked in China for almost two decades as a lawyer, in Shanghai as Counsel to the American law firm Paul Weiss and earlier in Hong Kong as Partner in the international law firm Baker & McKenzie. He served two terms as a trustee of Cornell University.