Roger W. Heyns Lecture

Established at Memorial Church in 1994, the Roger W. Heyns Lecture in Religion and Society, is an annual event that features a major speaker focusing on problems and challenges of religion and community. Heyns, who was a resident of Atherton, was a member of the Memorial Church congregation from 1977 until his death in 1995.

Heyns served as chancellor at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965 to 1971. The lectureship honors Heyns on his retirement after 16 years as a board member of the James Irvine Foundation.

2023 Roger W. Heyns Lecture featuring Madame Gandhi

Kiran Gandhi MST ’22, an activist on climate and gender-empowerment whose stage name is Madame Gandhi, returned to Stanford to share her compelling message of empowerment and action.

On January 30, Madame Gandhi, who holds a masters in music science and technology from Stanford, delivered the 2023 Roger W. Heyns Lecture in Religion and Society. Her presentation included a talk and question-and-answer session moderated by Dean Tiffany Steinwert followed by a powerful musical performance that had the audience on their feet.

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, she led 30-minute guided meditation for the campus community in the morning light of Memorial Church. Later that day, she participated in a d.school discussion, “Climate Futures: Another Run Around the Sun."