Clay Jenkinson

Clay Jenkinson is a humanities scholar, author, and social commentator who has devoted most of his professional career to public humanities programs. Considered one of the most entertaining public speakers in the U.S., Clay's performances are always humorous, educational, thought-provoking, and enlightening, while maintaining a steady focus on ideas. Clay is widely regarded as one of the most articulate public speakers in the country and brings a humanities perspective – partly learned as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University – to everything he does.

Clay is one of the nation's leading interpreters of Thomas Jefferson. He has lectured about and portrayed Jefferson in 49 states over a 15-year period. Clay also portrays Meriwether Lewis, John Wesley Powell, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Theodore Roosevelt. He is also the host of the nationally syndicated radio program The Thomas Jefferson Hour and the author of such books as Becoming Jefferson's People: Re-Inventing the American Republic in the Twenty-First Century and Theodore Roosevelt in the Dakota Badlands: An Historical Guide.

Clay is the director of Dakota Sky Education, a distinguished scholar of the humanities at Bismarck State College, chief consultant for the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University, and a consultant for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation.