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o Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry from Cornell University, presented a lecture for VEG in Wirtz Auditorium on Saturday, February 5^th 2005 at 7pm, titled “Challenging the Statue Quo: The Misunderstood Role of Nutrition in Health, Medicine, and Society”.  Dr. Campbell discussed the findings of his work, especially as project director and principal researcher in the China Health Project, a collaborative effort between Cornell University, the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Oxford University.  It has tracked the diets, lifestyles, and disease patterns of Chinese families for over 20 years.

o Dr. Tom Regan, Professor Emeritus from North Carolina State University, presented a lecture for VEG in Wirtz Auditorium on Sunday, April 4, 2004 at 6pm, titled “Animal Rights, an Introduction,” which gave a new light to those who call themselves animal rights advocates and gave the background of his famous theory of animal rights.  He was touring his recent and acclaimed book “Empty Cages”, which is by far the clearest and most accessible book on the topic of animal rights.

o Brenda Davis, R.D. spoke on Sunday, April 13, 2003 at 6pm in the Wirtz Auditorium.  Davis presented her system on construction the optimal diet.  She is co-author on the best-selling books “Becoming Vegetarian” and “Becoming Vegan,” and is on the forefront of vegan diet research.  Registered Dietitians were able to earn Continuing Education (CEU) credits for attending the lecture.

o Dr. Susanne Hobbs from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill spoke at NIU on Saturday, April 21, 2002 at 6pm in Cole 100, whose title was “The Vegetarian Alternative.”  She was the principle author of the American Dietetics Association Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets and is a world-renowned expert in plant-based diets.

o Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, M.D. and Dr. Antonia Demas, Ph.D. spoke on "Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease" on March 3, 2001. Dr. Esselstyn presented the results of his 12-year study and practice as the Chief of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Esselstyn's proposed diet successfully reversed coronary heart disease in his trials. Dr. Demas spoke on her work to retool unhealthy school lunch programs. Demas has shown that her educational program, which teaches about diet and nutrition along with food preparation and the foods' cultural origins, was successful in having significant changes on the eating habits of school age children when paired with a school lunch program that offers and promotes healthy foods. A vegan reception catered by The House of DeKalb was provided by VEG free to students followed the presentation.

o Robert Cohen, renowned animal rights expert, spoke on April 7, 2001, entitled "Milk: Debunking the Myth of the Perfect Food" April 7, 2001.  Cohen is the author of "Milk the Deadly Poison" and has fought against FDA approval of the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, rBGH, which elevates rates of certain cancers in humans.

o Howard Lyman, President of the International Vegetarian Union and EarthSave International spoke on November 13, 1999.  Lyman is the author of the book "Mad Cowboy" and was once an extremely profitable cattle rancher.  Lyman spoke from his first hand knowledge of what goes on behind closed doors and behind the cattleman's fence.  Lyman's talk focused on the environmental and health related reasons to eat consciously.

o Dr. Kendall Thu of Northern Illinois University's anthropology department gave a presentation on November 3, 1999 at the first VEG lecture where hog farmers out-numbered vegetarians.  Dr. Thu's talk, titled "Going Hog Wild: the environmental and economic consequences of corporate factory pork production", focused on alarming trends towards industrialization in animal agriculture.

o Dr. Michael Klaper, M.D., author and practicing physician, gave a lecture entitled "Nutrition for Optimum Health: Vegetarian Diets for Health and Healing" on October 3, 1999.  He is a world-renowned expert in vegan diets and is the author of two books on the subject, which give specific dietary systems for adults, pregnant women, children, and infants.

o Gail Eisnitz, of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and author of the book "Slaughterhouse", spoke on April 24, 1999.  Eisnitz recounted experiences in her undercover investigations of violations of the Humane Slaughter Act, health standards, and worker safety conditions at slaughterhouses in the US.

o Kathy Stelford of Oaken Acres Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and president of TAILS talked about her experiences as a rehabilitator on April 15, 1999.  Stelford brought several animals for the crowd to see including a turkey vulture.  VEG has also volunteered time at Oaken Acres Wildlife Center.

o Dr. T. Colin Campbell presented his findings from the China Health Project on March 21, 1998.  Dr. Campbell is a Professor of biochemistry from Cornell University.  Campbell talked about the benefits of a vegan diet as indicated by his extensive groundbreaking epidemiological research.

o Professor Tom Regan spoke at NIU about "Animal Rights, Human Wrong," on November 15, 1999.  Regan has written the book "The Case for Animal Rights" and 20 other books, and is one of the founders of the modern animal rights movement.  Regan spoke about his rights based approach to animal ethics. 

o Rebecca Smith of NIU's dinning service test kitchen has given several nutritional lectures to VEG including "Vegetarian Nutrition", "Planning a vegetarian diet", and "Vegetarianism and Weight Loss."

o Professor Mylan Engel of NIU's Philosophy Department has spoken to VEG, free of charge, about the philosophy of animal rights.