Trust AAE Speakers Bureau for Booking Top Professional Speakers. Find a Keynote Speaker Today.
Trust AAE Speakers Bureau for Booking Top Professional Speakers. Find a Keynote Speaker Today.
Debora Spar

Debora Spar

Keynote Speaker: NYT Bestselling Author & Senior Associate Dean of Business & Global Society, Harvard Business School

Debora Spar Biography

Debora L. Spar is a leading expert on how technology shapes business, political and societal structures, gender roles, and society. She currently serves as the Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Business School. Prior to this position, she was the Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration and had served as senior associate dean for faculty research and development at Harvard Business School. She taught courses on the politics of international business, comparative capitalism, and economic development.

Prior to Harvard, Spar served as the seventh president of Barnard College from 2008 to 2017. During her tenure, Spar was a vocal proponent of women's education and leadership, spearheading initiatives that include the Athena Center for Leadership Studies, an interdisciplinary center devoted to the theory and practice of women's leadership, and Barnard's Global Symposium series, an annual gathering of high-profile and accomplished female leaders held each year in a different region of the world.

Apart from her role at Barnard College, Spar took on the role of an academic dean at Columbia University. She was also the 10th president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts from 2017 to 2018. Her leadership positions extend to the corporate world, where she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs from 2011 to 2017.

Spar's scholarly research focuses on issues of international political economy, examining how rules are established in new or emerging markets and how firms and governments together shape the evolving global economy. She has penned several insightful books on these topics, including "Ruling the Waves: Cycles of Invention, Chaos, and Wealth from the Compass to the Internet" (2001), "The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception" (2006) and "Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection" (2013). Her work has been recognized in various mediums, and she has appeared on shows such as "60 Minutes," "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," and "ABC World News Tonight."

Spar is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and received her doctorate in government from Harvard. She is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served as a trustee of the Nightingale-Bamford School. She is married to Miltos Catomeris, an architect whose specialty is academic, institutional, and corporate campuses, and they are the parents of three children.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Debora Spar and other top speakers and celebrities.

Debora Spar Speaking Topics

Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection

As one of the youngest female professors to be tenured at Harvard Business School and a mother of three, Debora Spar swore to young women that they could have it all. “We thought we could just glide into the new era of equality, with babies, board seats, and husbands in tow,” she says. “We were wrong.” In this highly entertaining and inspiring talk, Spar explores how American women’s lives have—and have not—changed over the past fifty years. Armed with reams of new research, she details how women struggled for power and instead got stuck in an endless quest for perfection. The challenges confronting women are more complex than ever, she says, and they are challenges that come inherently and inevitably from being female. Both deeply personal and statistically rich, Spar shares her story and the story of our culture, and provides a road map for the future.

Debora Spar Videos

Leadership Assembly 2016 - In Conversation with Debora L. Spar
Commencement 2015: Debora Spar
Debora Spar on Women's (Impossible) Quest for Perfection -

How do I book Debora Spar to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Debora Spar for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Debora Spar, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Debora Spar or any other speaker of your choice.

How much does it cost to book Debora Spar for a speaking engagement?

Speaking fees for Debora Spar, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fee for a live event is $30,000 - $50,000. For the most current speaking fee to hire Debora Spar, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

What topics does Debora Spar speak about?

Debora Spar is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Professors, Political, Economy, Women, Empowerment, Women in Business, Influential Women, Female Leadership, Leadership and Finance.

Where does Debora Spar travel from?

Debora Spar generally travels from Boston, MA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.

Who is the agent for Debora Spar?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like Debora Spar for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Debora Spar for your next private or corporate function.

What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Debora Spar or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.


Debora Spar is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Professors, Political and Economy. The estimated speaking fee range to book Debora Spar for live events is $30,000 - $50,000. Please contact us for virtual event fees. Debora Spar generally travels from Boston, MA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Carly Fiorina, Rebecca Walker and Shiza Shahid. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Debora Spar for an upcoming event.

Debora Spar Speaking Topics

  • Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection

    As one of the youngest female professors to be tenured at Harvard Business School and a mother of three, Debora Spar swore to young women that they could have it all. “We thought we could just glide into the new era of equality, with babies, board seats, and husbands in tow,” she says. “We were wrong.” In this highly entertaining and inspiring talk, Spar explores how American women’s lives have—and have not—changed over the past fifty years. Armed with reams of new research, she details how women struggled for power and instead got stuck in an endless quest for perfection. The challenges confronting women are more complex than ever, she says, and they are challenges that come inherently and inevitably from being female. Both deeply personal and statistically rich, Spar shares her story and the story of our culture, and provides a road map for the future.

Debora Spar Videos

Leadership Assembly 2016 - In Conversation with Debora L. Spar
Commencement 2015: Debora Spar
Debora Spar on Women's (Impossible) Quest for Perfection -
Rethinking failure | Debora Spar | TEDxBarnardCollege
Debora L. Spar at Stanford 1
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DEBORA SPAR

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