Josh Luber is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of StockX, the world’s first “Stock Market of Things.” As an avid “sneakerhead,” Josh initially came up with the idea for StockX as a way to bring transparency and efficiency to the burgeoning resale sneaker market. In over four years as CEO, Josh transformed his nascent concept into a thriving marketplace for shoes, luxury items, streetwear, and much more.

After StockX, Josh co-founded and served as the chief vision officer of trading card and collectibles company Fanatics Collectibles, and founded zerocool, the company’s pop culture, art, and entertainment brand. Most recently, he founded the collectible toy brand ghostwrite, which is rolling out its distinctive vision for the designer toy market.

In this episode, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Josh about what it takes to transform hobbies into successful businesses and how his experiences at Emory—where he earned three degrees—shaped his career.

Mikaila Ulmer is an entrepreneur and the founder of Me & The Bees Lemonade, which sells its distinctive beverages across the nation. Mikaila started the thriving company when she was four years old in Austin, Texas, donating a portion of the profits from her lemonade sales to organizations dedicated to saving bees.

At nine years old, Mikaila appeared on the TV show Shark Tank, securing a coveted investment deal and propelling her brand into the spotlight. She is a renowned public speaker, the author of the book “Bee Fearless, Dream Like a Kid,” and the founder of the bee-saving nonprofit the Healthy Hive Foundation. She is also a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar in her third year at Emory University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international studies and economics.

In this episode, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Mikaila about her experiences as a young entrepreneur and the art of balancing a growing business with her college studies.

Related Links

Related Articles

Dr. Christina Gavegnano is an Assistant Professor in the Emory School of Medicine and a Visiting Associate Professor in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences. As an Emory graduate student, Dr. Gavegnano made a discovery that is now contributing to a potential cure for HIV-1.

During the pandemic, Dr. Gavegnano developed a first-line COVID-19 treatment. When the royalty money came in, she decided to use it, along with her own savings, to fund the Gavegnano Drug Discovery Program (GDDP), a lab at Emory just for undergraduate students. The GDDP gives students hands-on research experience and a chance to participate in laboratory discovery, human trial design, and real-time collaborations with the FDA and pharmaceutical companies. 

In this episode, recorded in fall 2024, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Dr. Gavegnano about her life-saving research and how she is supporting a new generation of drug discoverers

Kevin Young has authored 12 books of poetry and is the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

He is an acclaimed poet, who produces era-defining work that is moving, lyrical, and often deeply innovative, with bold juxtapositions and unexpected deconstructions of form and style. He is poetry editor of The New Yorker, where he hosts the Poetry Podcast. 

From 2005 to 2016, Young was curator of Emory's Raymond Danowski Poetry Library. He also served as Emory's curator of literary collections, making tremendous contributions in growing the collections at Emory's Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. 

In this episode, Emory President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Young about his multifaceted career and the life-changing power of museums. 

Related Media 

• "Poet Kevin Young Transforms Memories, Grief into Beauty" (Atlanta Journal Constitution, 9/27/21) 

Related Resources 

• Kevin Young Bio 

Ada Limón is United States Poet Laureate and the author of six books of poetry, which have earned her many prestigious awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Her poetry vividly explores the majesty of the natural world, the frailty of human memory and relationships, the destruction wrought by modern society, love, joy, humor, pain, awe, and numerous ethereal qualities with startling lyrical strength. As poet laureate, she has engaged in many projects and events to support poetic expression including a collaboration with NASA and the Library of Congress that will send a new poem 1.8 billion miles to the Jupiter system via the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

In this episode, Emory President  Gregory L. Fenves  talks with Limón about the mystery and majesty of poetry, her experiences as poet laureate, and the importance of human artistic expression in the age of AI.

Related links:

• "U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón reading at Emory University" (YouTube, 2/28/23)

Carol Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. With scholarly precision as well as an undeniable urgency, she has authored acclaimed and bestselling books that have transformed perceptions by focusing boldly on systemic racism and its influence on voter suppression, gun rights, and much more.

As a historian, she has shed light on episodes of injustice that had been hidden in darkness; amplified voices that had long been silenced; and rewritten chapters on discrimination, disenfranchisement, and destruction that had been torn out of the historical record.

In this episode, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Dr. Anderson about history—who writes it, how we understand it, and the ways in which it shapes our society today.

Related Articles

• "Anderson explores country's racial past, present in 'White Rage'" (5/31/16)

• Carol Anderson Official Web Site

Rick Rieder 83B is the chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock and one of the nation's leading minds in finance and economics. He received his BBA from Emory's Goizueta Business School and is a current member of the university's Board of Trustees. For his accomplishments in investment management, Rieder has received numerous accolades, including being named the 2023 Outstanding Portfolio Manager by Morningstar.

Aside from his immense responsibilities at BlackRock, leadership roles on investment advisory boards, and many philanthropic engagements, Rieder is also an in-demand commentator for financial media networks, shows, podcasts, and publications including CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, and Barron's.

In this episode, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Rick about recent economic events such as volatility in the banking sector as well as his views on the importance of financial literacy and education.

• “Fed Might Not Need to Hike Rates in May as Economy Slows, Says BlackRock” (US News & World Report, 4/10/23)

• BlackRock: Rick Rieder

Emory alumnus Christopher Mims is a technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal whose column, "Keywords," is an absolute must read. With swift and exacting prose, Christopher unpacks the complexities of the technology sector—explaining everything from Ultra-wideband and EV batteries to NFTs and much more. He's also written a book, Arriving Today: From Factory To Front Door, Why Everything Has Changed About How And What We Buy on one of the biggest issues facing our world today, the global supply chain. 

In this episode, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves talks with Christopher about the supply chain issues that are disrupting the global economy; automation and the complexity of international shipping; the effects of the pandemic on business; and his time as an Emory student studying neuroscience and behavioral biology. 

Related Articles

• "How Our Online Shopping Obsession Choked the Supply Chain" (GQ, 11/11/21)

Related Resources

• Christopher Mims on LinkedIn

Tayari Jones is a best-selling author, whose acclaimed novels explore the human condition with depth and compassion. Her works ask fundamental questions about identity, family, and America, and they have riveted readers around the world. Tayari is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University, where since 2018, she has taught and mentored undergraduate students of all skill levels. 

Related Articles

• "Atlanta native, author Tayari Jones joins faculty of Emory University" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/15/2018)

Related Resources

• Creative Writing Program at Emory University

Laurel Bristow is an infectious disease researcher at Emory University, and since the pandemic started, she's become a social media phenomenon. She's been posting videos on Instagram and answering questions about COVID-19 and the connections she's built with her audience are truly one of a kind. At last check, she's amassed close to 450,000 followers. 

• "An Atlanta Researcher Looks For a COVID-19 Treatment" (MTV Impact, 6/27/20)

Related Resources

• Hope Clinic of Emory Vaccine Center: Lauren Bristow