The Wayne State University Alumni Association commemorated the 15th anniversary of its award-winning Arthur L. Johnson Urban Perspectives Lecture Series with an anniversary event featuring nine past speakers.

Click here to view the entire presentation online.

The speakers included Graham Beal, director and CEO of the Detroit Institute of Arts; Connie Calloway, superintendent for the Detroit Public Schools; David DiChiera, director general for the Michigan Opera Theatre; Saul Green, Detroit deputy mayor; Paul Hillegonds, senior vice president for corporate affairs at DTE Energy; Denise Ilitch, president of Olympia Development Inc.; the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Samuel Logan, publisher of the Michigan Chronicle; and Cynthia Pasky, president of Strategic Staffing Solutions.

The panel was moderated by Craig Fahle of WDET-FM.

The 15th anniversary event celebrated the theme "Detroit: City Upon a Hill," a reference to Puritan John Winthrop, who in 1630 predicted his Massachusetts Bay Colony would become a city upon a hill and admired by all. From a variety of perspectives, the speakers discussed the issues and opportunities facing Detroit and how it, too, can ascend to become that type of city.

The Arthur L. Johnson Urban Perspectives Lecture Series was named in honor of Dr. Johnson, lifelong educator and civil rights leader, upon his retirement from the university. The series features distinguished corporate and civic leaders who speak on a range of topical issues, including politics, business, law and the arts.