John T. Vucurevich Foundation hosts an annual Speaker Series that highlights national and international speakers who all have a vision for the future, promote understanding and awareness in the world, and who may be an inspiration to the people of Rapid City and the surrounding area.

The idea for our Speaker Series came from John T. Vucurevich himself. He hoped that by hosting world-renowned speakers, we could offer the broader Rapid City community a chance to better connect to and understand our world. He wanted Speakers who made significant contributions in their respective fields to come to Rapid City to share their ideas. He also wanted this event to be accessible to all in the community. Tickets are $7 (or $3 for students) and have been since we started this event in 1993. Ticket sales cover only a small portion of the cost of these events. The balance is paid for by the John T. Vucurevich Foundation as a gift to the people of this community.

2024 Speaker

We were thrilled to welcome that Adam Cheyer, co-founder of Siri and a pioneering figure in artificial intelligence, as 2024’s guest speaker for the John T. Vucurevich Foundation Speaker Series. Adam Cheyer was the 31st guest speaker hosted by the Foundation.

Renowned for his groundbreaking work with Siri, the revolutionary AI assistant, Adam Cheyer has significantly transformed how people interact with technology. His career spans decades of innovation in artificial intelligence, voice recognition, and machine learning.

Adam Cheyer shared insights into the early days of Siri’s development, the challenges faced, and the breakthrough moments that led to its creation. He also discussed the continuous and accelerating improvements in AI, new ways of thinking about AI, and its future effects.

The John T. Vucurevich Foundation hosted “An Evening with Adam Cheyer” at The Monument Fine Arts Theatre on Monday, October 14th, 2024, at 7:30 P.M. 

Stay tuned for our 2025 Speaker!