Gasser Lecture Series
Upcoming Speaker
Check back soon for 2025 updates!
About the Gasser Lecture Series
William D. Gasser Lecture Series is an annual speaker series aimed at providing thought-provoking and engaging content for students. Consistent with RIT’s specialty of delivering uniquely powerful experiential opportunities, Gasser attendees can meet keynote speakers at post-event autograph receptions. In previous years, the series has been hosted during RIT's Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend. Starting in 2019, the Gasser speaker is the featured keynote speaker for the RIT Entrepreneurs Conference. The Gasser Lecture Series invites disruptive entrepreneurs and industry-leading businessmen and women to share their insights on business trends and opportunities.
Testimonials of Previous Gasser Attendees
"I loved it! The presentation reaffirmed everything I felt about entrepreneurship, and what it meant to build a passionate audience. Completely riveting."
Jeremy Lavalley, RIT Student
"The talk raised some interesting points about what it takes to make a successful business and brand. I thought that Johnny Cupcakes was an interesting case study into how the products that a company sells are only a fraction of what makes them successful. I hadn't planned on going until the last minute, but I am glad I did."
Jonathan Cohen, RIT Student
"He [Johnny Cupcakes] was so interesting and fun, and those are two traits that make businesses flourish. As a marketing major and someone who loves theme parks, his concept of a "fakery" is so fun because you feel like you're experiencing something that can't be real, but it is. I'm going to take the time and look at his website to learn more about him."
Grace Boesel, RIT Student
"I loved the presentation by Johnny Cupcakes. I think that his innovation in marketing is something I strive to do within my own marketing so being able to see his success in using out of the box and design thinking was really amazing, eye opening, and encouraging."
Hunter Hodge, RIT Student
"From a student that said he was inspired to do his homework after attending! He told me that he “poured his heart and soul” into the assignment. That alone is reason enough to go to these events! The student emailed me and said, "The presentation reaffirmed everything I felt about entrepreneurship, and what it meant to build a passionate audience. Completely riveting.""
Matthew Vollmer, RIT Saunders Professor
Past Events
Saunders College of Business is proud to host the 11th annual Gasser Lecture Series, featuring Erika Ayers Badan, American businesswoman and former CEO of the digital media company Barstool Sports.
Exclusively featured as the Entrepreneurs Conference keynote speaker, Saunders College of Business is proud to host the tenth annual Gasser Lecture Series, featuring Johnny Cupcakes, founder of the world-renowned tee-shirt brand Johnny Cupcakes, Johnny is known for helping people create blueprints for building brand loyalty, creating memorable experiences, and inspiring innovation!
Exclusively featured as the Entrepreneurs Conference keynote speaker, Saunders College of Business is proud to host the ninth annual Gasser Lecture Series, featuring Duncan Wardle, former Vice President of Innovation and Creativity for The Walt Disney Company! Join us on November 18, 2022, at 12 p.m. in the Ingle Auditorium on the RIT Campus. Admission is free and registration is recommended for the keynote speech Delivering Customer Experience Magic.
Come see and meet bestselling author and entrepreneur Suneel Gupta, the 2021 Gasser Lecture Series speaker featured as the RIT Entrepreneurship Conference keynote. Saunders College of Business is proud to be hosting our eighth annual Gasser Lecture Series, on November 11, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. in Ingle Auditorium. Tickets are free and are required to attend the keynote speech "Thinking Like an Entrepreneur: What Entrepreneurs Can Teach Intrapreneurs", with a book and poster signing reception that follows in Fireside Lounge.
On November 7, Saunders College welcomes Meena Harris, Head of Strategy and Leadership of Uber and Founder and CEO of Phenomenal, for the seventh annual Gasser Lecture Series, keynote speaker for RIT's 2019 Entrepreneurs Conference. Meena is also a Commissioner on the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, and at Uber, she oversees transformation initiatives across business units to positively impact brand, customer loyalty, and employee engagement. Previously she was a data privacy and cybersecurity attorney at a major global law firm. Last year, Meena launched the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, which is a women-powered civic engagement platform.
On October 19, Saunders College welcomed Jenny Fleiss, CEO and Co-Founder of Jetblack and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway for the sixth annual Gasser Lecture Series, as part of RIT's Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend. Jetblack is the first portfolio company within Walmart's startup incubator. As CEO and Co-Founder of Jetblack, Jenny leads a team focused on developing highly-personalized, one-to-one shopping experiences. In addition, Jenny co-founded Rent the Runway, a business that has transformed the retail industry by making designer clothing rentals a convenient and accessible luxury experience for millions of women. Jenny has been honored with numerous recognitions including: Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30”; Fortune Magazine’s “40 Under 40” and “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs”; and Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology”.
Saunders College of Business proudly hosted the fifth annual Gasser Lecture Series, featuring Dawn Hudson, Chief Marketing Officer at the National Football League (NFL), on October 13. Dawn helped revolutionize marketing and tie-ins with sports organizations. During her 11 years there, Pepsi's sponsorships included NFL and Major League Baseball deals, along with Mountain Dew's support of action sports. From the Joy of Cola to the return of the Pepsi Challenge, her impact on advertising and communications within the beverage industry is legendary. Under her leadership, Pepsi also maintained its status among the most purchased brands in the country. She has had an enormous impact on our lives as consumers, television viewers, and beverage drinkers.
Saunders College of Business welcomed Alexis Ohanian, best-recognized as the co-founder of reddit.com, on October 14, 2016. During his talk in Ingle Auditorium, Alexis encouraged students, faculty, staff and family members to "Think Like a Startup" and to not let your first round of failure bring you down. His talk was followed by a book signing of his bestselling book, Without Their Permission, at Saunders College of Business. Alexis graciously answered student's questions about their own startup business and posed for photos with attendees.
Alexis Ohanian is the 33-year-old co-founder of the website Reddit, the travel search engine Hipmunk, and the online geek-boutique Breadpig.
Reddit co-founder to speak at RIT
Reddit Inc. website co-founder Alexis Ohanian is slated to be the keynote speaker for the Saunders College of Business Gasser Lecture series at Rochester Institute of Technology. The 33-year-old entrepreneur has more than 80 tech startups in his portfolio. His talk, “Think like a startup: Insights from a digital entrepreneur and startup investor,” is open to the public.
Reddit co-founder sees amazing tech opportunity
Rochester Institute of Technology is bringing to campus a major tech entrepreneur who started three successful companies, all by the age of 33. Alexis Ohanian is the keynote speaker for RIT’s Saunders College William D. Gasser lecture series—a series held annually that aims to advance interaction and dialogue between business and academic communities.
Reddit co-founder Ohanian offers encouragement at RIT
Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded Reddit, a platform for online discussions, has written how the "Internet helps people help themselves."
Reddit started as the project of two college kids with a $12,000 check from an investor. Now, it's ranked as the eighth-largest website in the United States, co-founder Alexis Ohanian told a crowd at RIT's Ingle Auditorium last week.
Saunders College of Business hosted the third annual, Gasser Lecture Series featuring Randi Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO of Zuckerberg Media. Following her position as Director of Marketing at Facebook, Randi started her own media company and has authored two books. As an entrepreneur who has been on the front lines of social media, she understands the impact of technology has made in our lives and every sector of the business world.
The tech-savvy marketer provided some unexpected advice during her presentation: Zuckerberg makes it her mission to help others balance the use of digital media and devices in our technology-driven lives.
Randi Zuckerberg headlines Saunders College of Business Gasser lecture series
Randi Zuckerberg is a businesswoman who has explored every creative social medium imaginable during her skyrocketing career.
She is founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, two New York Times bestselling author of Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives and children's book DOT, host of 'Dot Complicated' on SiriusXM, editor in chief of digital lifestyle destination DotComplicated.co and recently guest-starred as Regina Koontz in "Rock of Ages" on Broadway. Formerly, Randi served as Director of Marketing at Facebook.
Randi Zuckerberg to speak at RIT Saunders College series
A powerhouse in the media world headlines a popular lecture series next week at Rochester Institute of Technology. Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media Inc. and former director of marketing at Facebook Inc., is the keynote speaker at the Saunders College of Business Gasser Lecture Series on Oct. 16. Zuckerberg is delivering her address, titled “Entrepreneurship: Ten Exciting Trends Impacting Your Business Right Now.”
Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend features hockey, speakers and reunions
Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, a The New York Times bestselling author, host of 'Dot Complicated' on SiriusXM and editor-in-chief of digital lifestyle destination DotComplicated.co. The sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, she previously served as director of marketing at Facebook.
The second annual Gasser Lecture Series featured Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. His visit emphasized the importance of entrepreneurial spirit, social responsibility and a radical business philosophy.
Here's the scoop: Ben and Jerry's co-founder headlines Saunders College event Oct. 17
Jerry Greenfield's favorite ice cream is Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream-"a cold, bold, caramel-swirled, fudge covered waffle cone"-heralded as Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream!
Brick City Homecoming 2014: Speakers, sports highlight weekend events
Tickets are available to the general public and RIT community for many of the highlights of Rochester Institute of Technology's Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend. Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, will discuss his business philosophy.
Saunders College of Business proudly hosted Daymond John, founder of FUBU and a Shark on ABC's Shark Tank, as the first Gasser Lecture Series speaker.
Daymond John is the personification of the entrepreneurial American Dream as the founder of apparel brand FUBU ("For Us By Us") and one of the savvy investors on ABC's reality television series Shark Tank.
It's a very modern American rags-to-riches story: Boy raised by single mother in Queens, has drive to succeed in business, founds a clothing company, works at it long into the night while also holding a full-time job at Red Lobster, becomes an international success, and ends up a reality show celebrity.
Saunders College graduates strike a deal during 'Shark Tank's' $1 million-mark episode
Nathan Coleman '09 (marketing) from Ossining, N.Y., and James Brooks '09 (international business) from Schenectady, N.Y., gave up 17.5 percent of The Elephant Pants to fashion mogul shark Daymond John for $500,000.