Hale Speaker Series
17th Annual Hale Speaker Series
The popular Hale Speaker Series has announced a 2026 lineup that will feature four interesting individuals with ties to Westfield. All talks are open to the public. Pre-registration required at Westfield Memorial Library or 908-789-4090 x. 0.
The series will kick off on May 13 when Warren Rorden Westfield Resident, WHS 1954, Navy 2nd Class, President/Sales Manager of Rorden Realty, President, Westfield Board of Realtors, YMCA Board of Directors, founding member of the Westfield Symphony, Rotary Club, will discuss “Westfield…The Old Days”
June 3, Rebecca Morse, Westfield Native, Providence College 2014, MBA 2016, former professional hockey player, coach and leader in girls’ and women’s hockey, will discuss “Leaving Home to Chase the Game and Coming Back to Change It”
October 14, Shridar Ganesen Westfield Resident, MD from Yale U. (1993), Residency, Internal Medicine, Fellowship, Hematology & Oncology Brigham and Women’s Hospital, American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology), 2000, Professor, Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Director, Center for Molecular Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center, will talk about “Why is There No Cure for Cancer? (And is That Even the Right Question?)”
November 18, the final speaker of season will be Caroline Tell. A Westfield Native, WHS 1998, B.A. in English, University of Michigan, M.A. in Journalism, NYU, contributor to The New York Times, Forbes, and Travel & Leisure, Founder, Tell&Co., an award winning content marketing agency will share “Headlines to Feeds: How We Tell Stories in the Digital Age”
Committee members include Barbara Hale, Mary Orlando, Sherry Cronin, Marcy Lechner, Ellen Albertson and Tina Lesher.
The series, now in its 17th year, is named in honor of its founder, the late Lee Hale, and his late wife, Anne. The talks, open for free to the public, extend for approximately 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questions from the audience. Funding for the series comes from The Anne and Lee Hale Fund and The Glasser Foundation. The Friends of Westfield Memorial Library hosts the talks in the library’s meeting room.
About the Hale Speaker Series
The Anne M. Hale Speaker Series was established in 2007 with a grant from The Thomas Glasser Foundation to the Friends of the Westfield Memorial Library. The grant came with a request that the Friends establish an ongoing program in memory of Anne M. Hale. Anne was an active member of the Westfield community and a lifelong patron of the library. Lee Hale worked with the Friends to establish a speaker series in his wife’s name. Additional grants from The Thomas Glasser Foundation and from The Anne and Lee Hale Fund have enabled the series to grow from one speaker in 2008 to four speakers in 2010 through the present. The focus of the series has also evolved to feature “the Westfield connection” presenting topics relevant to our town and/or speakers who are or have been Westfield residents. Over the years, the speakers have included individuals from varied backgrounds in sports, politics, the arts, local history, etc. with most having strong ties to Westfield.
In 2013 the series was renamed The Anne and Lee Hale Speaker Series to honor the passing of its creator and guiding force, Lee Hale. The name of the series was shortened to the Hale Speaker Series in 2015. The popularity of the series, hosted by the Friends, has grown over the years as the community looks forward to its prestigious speakers and their high quality, thought-provoking presentations.