The Daniel L. Goodwin Distinguished Lecture Series

Doris Kearns Goodwin is the author of nine books, including the critically acclaimed and New York Times bestseller “Leadership: In Turbulent Times,” which incorporates her five decades of scholarship studying U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson. Her first book for young readers, “The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President,” will be published in September and examines the childhoods of Lincoln, both Roosevelts and Johnson, to show how essential leadership traits can be developed.

In 2020, Doris executive produced her first documentary miniseries, “Washington,” for the History Channel, through her independent production company, Pastimes Productions Inc. Other miniseries for the History Channel include “Abraham Lincoln, “Theodore Roosevelt” and “FDR.” Pastimes is currently executive producing an eight-part documentary miniseries, Kevin Costner’s “The West” for the History Channel, and has a number of other projects in various stages of development.

Doris earned the Pulitzer Prize in History for “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.” Her “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”was awarded the Lincoln Prize and was, in part, the basis for Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed film “Lincoln.”

Photo by: Annie Leibovitz

Ponce is a longtime Chicago journalist who began at WTTW Channel 11 in 1992 as a correspondent for “Chicago Tonight” and substitute for longtime host John Callaway. In 1997, Ponce joined the Washington, D.C.-based “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” as an anchor. Two years later and until 2021, Ponce returned to Chicago to host “Chicago Tonight.” He holds the title of the Alexandra and John Nichols Chief Correspondent.