Jan. 22 update: This event has reached capacity. To be added to the waitlist please email the Fine Arts Box Office at fasttickets@wichita.edu  by 5 p.m. Thursday, March 6. Patrons on the waitlist will be notified by email if tickets become available.

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Members of the community can now reserve their free ticket to hear Ben Stein speak at Wichita State University's 2025 Barton Speaker Series.

Stein — an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian and commentator on political and economic issues — is the featured speaker at the event, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, in Miller Concert Hall, Duerksen Fine Arts Center.  

In 1985, Stein portrayed the iconic monotone teacher in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." He has since appeared in hundreds of movies and TV shows. For six seasons, he hosted a game show called "Win Ben Stein's Money," one of the first shows on Comedy Central. Together with his colleague, Jimmy Kimmel, he created almost 1,000 episodes of the game show, which earned three Emmy Awards. 

Stein was a columnist on economics for The New York Times and has been a regular columnist and commentator for Fox and CNN. He has written dozens of books, most of them about finance, and he became one of the leading critics of the junk bond super scandal.  

Over the past 25 years, Stein has been a prolific speaker on politics and economics, addressing audiences at major universities such as Harvard Law School and Yale University.  

The Craig W. Barton Speaker Series, established in 2021, revives WSU's tradition of the Forum Board Lecture Series. This annual event is designed to expose people to diverse perspectives, fostering critical thinking and meaningful conversation. 

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Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and WSU Tech, including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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