Kent State University seeks proposals for the prestigious annual Jerry M. Lewis May 4 Lecture, part of a series that aims to advance scholarship on the events of May 4, 1970, and the Vietnam War era. Now in its fifth year, the lecture series provides a significant platform for researchers to share their work with the Kent State community and beyond during the university's annual May 4 Commemoration.
  
About Jerry M. Lewis

Lewis taught sociology at Kent State from 1966 until 2013, becoming a professor emeritus in 1996. Serving as a faculty marshal in 1970, he witnessed the May 4 shootings firsthand and devoted decades to researching, memorializing and lecturing on the events of that tragic day. Lewis was one of four co-authors of the application to add the May 4 site to the National Register of Historic Places, which was approved in February 2010.
A defining accomplishment of his career was "Kent State and May 4: A Social Science Perspective," a volume edited with Thomas Hensley, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, at Kent State. The book stresses the importance of social science theory and methods in the study of May 4. Lewis and Raymond Adamek co-authored several articles in the edited volume, which is now in its third edition.

Eligibility and Selection

Proposals may come from full-time, part-time or emeritus faculty members from Kent State or other institutions of higher education located in Ohio. A committee of Kent State faculty and administrators will review submitted proposals and select a lecturer based on scholarly merit, relevance and presentation quality.
An important component of the chosen presentation is research involving the May 4 Visitors Center and Kent State University Libraries' Special Collections & Archives. The selected lecturer will receive an honorarium and the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about May 4's lasting significance in American history.

About the Lecture Series

The lecture series is possible through a generous donation from alumnus and former Kent State Board of Trustees member Michael Solomon ('74).
"I chose to endow this speaker series in honor of the decades of contributions that Dr. Jerry Lewis has made to the community of Kent State University," Solomon said. "Dr. Lewis played a critical role in saving lives on May 4, 1970, as a faculty marshal. Since that tragic day in American history, Dr. Lewis has been a key proponent of learning lessons of human value from this event. Getting to know him for these last many years inspired me to preserve his legacy at Kent State over time."

How to Apply

Proposal criteria and submission guidelines can be found on the May 4 Lecture webpage, where you can also learn more about Lewis and the lecture series. View previous lectures from the series.

Application Deadline: 5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026 
Lecture Date: Tentatively scheduled for May 1, 2026, during the May 4 Commemoration on the Kent Campus

For questions about the proposal process, contact Kent State’s Dean of University Libraries Ken Burhanna at kburhann [at] kent.edu.