The Sidney Topol Distinguished Lecturer Series was established through the generosity of Sidney Topol, Class of 1947, for whom the lecture series is named. Topol is widely regarded as a telecommunications pioneer who helped forge the cable-satellite connection that triggered the growth of cable television in the U.S.

Topol served as president of Scientific Atlanta, a manufacturer of broadband communications systems, satellite-based networks, and instrumentation for industrial communications and government applications, from 1971-83, CEO from 1975-87, and chairman of the board from 1978-90. During his tenure, the company grew in sales from $16 million to more than $600 million.

Topol worked with Raytheon Co., in Massachusetts for 22 years before taking on several assignments in Europe and becoming general manager of Selenia telecommunications division, a joint venture in Italy. He returned to the U.S. in 1965 to head Raytheon's communications division until 1971, when he moved to Scientific Atlanta.

Presently a director of Alpha Industries Inc., Primestar Partners, the Public Broadcasting System, and Wandel and Golterman Technologies Inc., Topol has also served as chairman of the Massachusetts Telecommunications Council. He is also president of The Topol Group, a consulting and investment firm, a position he has held for more than five years. Topol was recently inducted into the Georgia Technology Hall of Fame.

	Richard R. Green  President and Chief Executive Officer Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs)  Monday, Nov. 3, 1997  "The Near Future of Telecommunications in a Universe of Convergence"
	Guy T. Almes Chief Engineer for the Internet2 Project  University Corporation. for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1998  "Internet2: Technology Innovation and Distributed Infrastructure"
	Andrew J. Viterbi  Co-Founder and Vice-Chair, QUALCOMM, Inc.   Wednesday, Nov. 3, 1999  "The Shifting Sands of Silicon: Wireless Technology and Industry at the Turn of the Century"
	David Farber Chief Technologist Federal Communications Commission  Wednesday, October 11, 2000  "Predicting the Unpredictable: The Impact of Technological Innovation, Government Regulation and Individual Rights on the Future Networking World"
	Stephen Kent Chief Scientist - Information Security  BBN Technologies, a Verizon Company Wednesday, October 24, 2001
	Pierre DeVries  Chief of Incubation, Microsoft, Inc.   Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003  "Of Pennies And Packets: Politics And Business In A World Of Seamless Communications"
	Vint Cerf  Sr. Vice President Technology Strategy, MCI   Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004  "Convergence and Control in an Internet world"
	Peter Freeman  Assistant Director, National Science Foundation, for Computer and Information Science and Engineering   Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006  "The Future Internet: Can we get there from here?"
	Tim Wu Professor of Law, Columbia University Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 "Network Neutrality: Competition, Innovation, and Nondiscriminatory Access"
	Richard Clarke Chairman, Good Harbor Consulting Thursday, April 2, 2009 "Thee missing pieces of the three 21st century wars: Iraq, Afghanistan, and cyberspace" Here's a link to the Small video or download the Large version (will take a long time – 250MB)