Matt Ridley
“How Prosperity Evolves”
7 p.m. Monday, November 14, 2016
Jordan Ballroom, Student Union Building
Ridley is an award-winning author whose books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 30 languages and won numerous awards.
Ridley’s most recent book is “The Evolution of Everything: How New ideas Emerge.” His TED talk titled “When Ideas Have Sex” has been viewed more than 2 million times. He writes a weekly column in The Times and writes regularly for the Wall Street Journal.
The Brandt Foundation Lectures are made possible by the generosity of the John H. and Orah I. Brandt Foundation. The purpose of the Brandt Foundation Lectures is to bring noted speakers to campus who have made important contributions to public understanding of individual liberty, free markets, limited government and the Constitution. Beginning with the 2004 inaugural lecture by Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan, the Brandt Foundation Lectures have attracted large audiences and contributed significantly to Boise State and the community at large.
The annual lectures are free and open to the public and no tickets are required. Free parking will be provided in the Lincoln Avenue Parking Garage next to the Student Union Building on the night of the event.
“More about Matt Ridley”]Matt Ridley’s books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 30 languages and won several awards. His TED talks “When Ideas Have Sex” has been viewed more than two million times.
His books have been short-listed or won several prizes. His book The Agile Gene: How Nature Turns on Nurture won the 2004 National Academies of Sciences Best Book Award. Other notable works are Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, and The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation. His 2010 book, The Rational Optimist, won the Hayek Prize in 2011.
Ridley’s most recent book is The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge, published by HarperCollins.
He won the Julian Simon award in 2012 and the Free Enterprise Award from the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2014.
As Viscount Ridley, he was elected to the House of Lords in February 2013. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is honorary president of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle.
He is married to the neuroscientist Professor Anya Hurlbert. They have two children and live at Blagdon in Northumberland in the north of England.
Website: mattridley.co.uk.