In recent years, Columbia has seen its fair share of influential leaders. From Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran to Nicolas Sarkozy of France, heads of state draw large audiences. But how does Columbia manage to get such influential speakers and where do the invitation ideas come from?

"We develop a list of leaders that we want to issue a formal invitation to, and we send those out over the course of the summer. Usually we invite between 20 and 25, and those come from ideas that have been generated by the campus community," said Carrie Walker, Executive Director of University Programs and Events.

Forum organizers take recommendations from the community and try to come up with a lineup for the year featuring speakers that will interest and inspire Columbians.

"Perhaps we have a big initiative that one of the schools is working on in a country and we think it would be interesting to bring that leader here to speak."

In order to further direct dialogue between World Leaders and the University community, half of each speaker's program is devoted to a question-and-answer period.

"I think it really gives students, for some of them, a once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with someone who plays a direct role in global public policy."

As this year's round of forums comes to a close, we look forward to what the next year might bring.