Caltech Public Lecture – Credibility in an Era of Chaos: Rebuilding Trust Between Universities and Society,

Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/26/2026
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Location
Cal Tech - Baxter Hall

Category(ies)

• Technology & Science

Visiting Professor Arthur Lupia speaks at Caltech about university-societal trust on May 26 (Photo – University of Michigan)

What the world needs now is…well, a lot of things. But many would probably agree that trust belongs near the top of the list. This month’s Banks-McKelvey Memorial Lecture, taking place at Caltech’s Baxter Hall on May 26 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm, will explore the challenge of rebuilding trust between universities and society. The lecture is free and open to the public.

By Melanie Hooks

The lecture, titled Credibility in an Era of Chaos: Rebuilding Trust Between Universities and Society, will be delivered by Arthur Lupia. Lupia (MS ’88, PhD ’91, Social Science) is vice president for research and innovation and the Gerald R. Ford University Professor at the University of Michigan.

His research examines how people make decisions and build—or break—coalitions in complex political environments.

Lupia has held a wide range of leadership roles in science-focused institutions, including assistant director of the National Science Foundation and co-chair of the Subcommittee on Open Science for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He is an elected fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Banks-McKelvey Memorial Lecture Series

This event is part of the Banks-McKelvey Memorial Lecture Series, which honors two Caltech political scientists whose research and teaching made lasting contributions to political economy and game theory. Jeffrey S. Banks, a 1986 Caltech PhD, returned to Caltech in 1997 after a distinguished career at the University of Rochester. Richard D. McKelvey, Banks’s advisor, was a pioneering scholar whose work shaped modern political science, voting theory, and game theory. Both were also celebrated teachers and mentors. The lecture series brings leading social scientists to campus to engage the Caltech community with emerging questions in the field and is supported by an endowed gift from Howard E. Jessen (BS ’46).

Banks-McKelvey Memorial Lecture
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location
Caltech's Donald E. Baxter M.D. Hall of the Humanities and Social Sciences
1200 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91125
Free. No reservation required.