UCSB Arts & Lectures has announced the creation of the Roman Baratiak Endowed Lecture Fund in support of an annual mainstage lecture honoring the legacy of Roman Baratiak.
Baratiak’s 44 years of service helped bridge the university and the Santa Barbara community through the arts and intellectual discourse.
The lecture will debut as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures season in 2025-26 with columnist, CNN host and author Fareed Zakaria presenting a talk called “What It Takes,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16 at the Arlington Theatre.
Baratiak played a transformative role as associate director, presenting hundreds of the world’s most distinguished voices, including Nobel Prize laureates, heads of state, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award winners, Olympians, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award recipients and inspirational humanitarians.
Notable figures Baratiak helped bring to Santa Barbara include Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and economist Muhammad Yunus; world leaders such as President Joe Biden; writers Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis; and Olympians Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.
Baratiak’s vision helped to elevate UCSB Arts & Lectures into one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions.
Baratiak also co-founded UCSB Arts & Lectures’ Free Summer Cinema series at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden, a tradition that has brought free outdoor films to the community for more than a decade.
Baratiak is currently a Santa Barbara County Arts commissioner.
The Roman Baratia Fund was announced at a private ceremony on Jan. 27, featuring author Pico Iyer who acknowledged Baratiak as more than a mentor, calling him a “really, really close friend” from whom he learned “more than from any professor I’ve ever studied with.”
He praised Baratiak’s dedication to students and the community, saying he showed him “always to put the students first.”
Reflecting on Baratiak’s impact, Iyer described him as the “tall, lean, large and quiet soul” at the Arts & Lectures podium and at the heart of Santa Barbara’s cultural life, a person who spent decades “exhorting students to open their doors and windows to a greater understanding of the world.”
“I am humbled by this extraordinary honor and extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Arts & Lectures Executive Director Celesta Billeci for establishing the annual endowed lecture and to the many donors and friends who have so generously contributed to make it possible,” Baratiak said.
“Encouraging intellectual curiosity and life-long learning was always central to my work at A&L.” he said.
The Endowed Lecture Fund will ensure Baratiak’s commitment to bringing thought-provoking discussions and influential figures to Santa Barbara continues.
Created at $1 million in January 2025, the endowment has already grown to more than $1.1 million.
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal read an official proclamation commending Baratiak for his service at Arts & Lectures, for his great talent as an organizer of events and for his commitment to being a wise and thoughtful citizen.
Other speakers who testified to Baratiak’s contributions included Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps; Dilling Yang, wife of UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang; and Bruce Tiffney, UCSB professor emeritus and former dean of the College of Creative Studies.
“We are thrilled to establish this endowed lecture series in honor of Roman, whose tireless efforts energized our community and university for over four decades,” said Billeci.
“His impact on Santa Barbara’s cultural life is immeasurable, and this lecture series will continue his work of inspiring and engaging audiences. I encourage all those who share our admiration for Roman and his work at Arts & Lectures to consider contributing to the fund,” she said.
Contributions to the Roman Baratiak Endowed Lecture Fund for A&L can be made to Arts & Lectures.
For more, call or email Elise Erb, interim senior director of development, 805-893-5679 elise.erb@artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.