Weiguo (Patrick) Fan, Henry B. Tippie Excellence Chair in Business Analytics and professor in the Tippie College of Business and faculty director of the Tippie Analytics Cooperative, and Eric J. Hunter, department executive officer and professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Harriet B. and Harold S. Brady Chair in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will deliver the University of Iowa’s 42nd Presidential Lecture. 

The lecture, “Understanding Our Multiple Voices in 21st-Century Communication,” will take place at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the International Ballroom at the Iowa Memorial Union. The lecturers will explain how an individual’s voice is a powerful communication tool with major effects on classroom teaching, health care, consumer behavior, online platforms, and more.

“The Presidential Lecture is an excellent way for the university to highlight the great work done on this campus every day,” says Barbara Wilson, UI president. “I look forward to hearing Professor Fan and Professor Hunter discuss the importance of bringing our voices together to positively impact the greater community, from our campus to the state of Iowa and beyond.”

Weiguo Fan

Fan’s research focuses on the design and development of new computer technologies and techniques to support better business decision-making, services, and innovation. He pioneered using the technique called genetic programming — which mimics natural evolution — to improve the way search engines decide which results to show first, as well as using textual analysis applications to determine areas in which businesses can improve.

Fan has published and presented more than 300 journal articles and conference papers, and his work has appeared in many premier business and information technology and information science journals. Fan also frequently consults for Fortune 500 companies and serves as an expert panel reviewer for many government and funding agencies. 

Fan received a PhD in business administration in 2002 from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He came to Iowa in 2018 as an endowed chair. 

Eric Hunter

Hunter’s research delves into voice problems experienced by occupational voice users, or people who use their voices as a primary tool in their jobs, with a focus on schoolteachers. He investigates the causes and effects of these disorders, partnering with clinicians and educators to improve their methods. Additionally, Hunter’s work explores speech signal processing, which involves analyzing and interpreting the sounds of speech. 

Hunter has published more than 110 peer-reviewed papers and has been part of more than 500 presentations. This extensive body of work, including his development of innovation biomedical models and advancements in understanding occupational voice challenges and vocal recovery, has significantly improved the field of voice health and disorders. He also is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America.

Hunter received a PhD in speech and hearing science from Iowa in 2001. He returned to Iowa as a faculty member in fall 2023. 

The Presidential Lecture series provides an opportunity for distinguished faculty members to present significant aspects of their work to the greater university community and general public. The university established the annual series to encourage intellectual communication among the many disciplines that constitute the UI, as well as to provide a public forum for scholarship, research, and creative achievement. The series is made possible by the generosity of donors of unrestricted gifts to the UI Center for Advancement.