The Randolph-Macon College Arthur McKinley Reynolds Lecture Series hosted An Evening with Ben Stein on September 29, 2016 in Blackwell Auditorium, RMC Center for the Performing Arts.

RMC President Robert R. Lindgren welcomed the capacity crowd, and Kelcie Grice ’17 introduced Stein, who shared highlights about his diverse career as well as his thoughts about past and current political climates and issues facing our society. A Q&A, moderated by Steven Lang, the Edward W. Seese Professor in Business and Economics, followed Stein’s talk.

Before the lecture, Stein met with members from local media and the RMC Yellow Jacket student newspaper. He then sat down with RMC students for an informal conversation in the Dollar Tree Community Room in RMC’s student center, Brock Commons. Communication Studies Joan Conners facilitated the discussion, which centered on the presidential candidates and the issues affecting the upcoming election.

Photos: Ben Stein

Ben Stein
Stein has worked as an economist at the Department of Commerce; a poverty lawyer in New Haven and Washington, D.C.; a trial lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.; and an adjunct professor at American University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Pepperdine University. At American University he taught about the political and social content of mass culture. He taught the same subject at UCSC, as well as about political and civil rights under the Constitution. At Pepperdine, he has taught about libel law and about securities law and ethical issues since 1986.

Stein, who was a speech writer and lawyer for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has been a columnist and editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and King Features Syndicate, and a frequent contributor to Barrons, where his articles about the ethics of management buyouts and issues of fraud in the Milken Drexel junk-bond scheme drew major national attention. He has been a regular columnist for Los Angeles Magazine, New York Magazine, E! Online, and he has written a lengthy diary for 20 years for the American Spectator. He currently writes a column for the New York Times Sunday Business Section and is a commentator for CBS Sunday Morning and FOX News.

Arthur McKinley Reynolds Jr. ’47
Ben Stein’s visit was made possible through the generosity of the Arthur McKinley Reynolds Lecture Series.

Arthur McKinley Reynolds Jr. is a retired ophthalmologist who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from RMC in 1947 and a degree in medicine from VCU School of Medicine. He is a member of the Randolph-Macon Presidents and Heritage Societies, serves on the Boydton Society Executive Committee and previously served on the Society of Alumni Board of Directors. He is also a former president of the Boydton Society.