RICHMOND — Carly Fiorina, national honorary chair of the Virginia 250 Commission and CEO of Colonial Williamsburg, will deliver the 2026 Commonwealth Lecture in the Humanities on Oct. 15, Virginia Humanities announced.
The lecture is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Dominion Energy Theater in Richmond and will be followed by a moderated conversation and audience question-and-answer session led by Barbara Hamm Lee, an award-winning journalist and host of “Another View.”
Fiorina became the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 company as chair and CEO of Hewlett-Packard. She has advised government and private-sector leaders, written books on leadership and worked on initiatives focused on civic engagement. She was named CEO of Colonial Williamsburg in 2026.
“The Commonwealth Lecture was created to celebrate the humanities and invite deeper reflection about how the past informs the present so that we might shape a promising future together,” said Matthew Gibson, executive director of Virginia Humanities. “Carly is perfect to help us do that, especially as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding and what the ideas behind that founding mean to us today.”
Before the lecture, Virginia Humanities will present the second annual Commonwealth Humanities Awards, recognizing contributions to the humanities through service, leadership and philanthropy.
Ticketsare $32.60 through the Dominion Energy Center. More information is available at Virginia Humanities.
