KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Political commentator and New York Times best-selling author Van Jones will speak at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville on Tuesday as part of an annual distinguished speaker series.

Jones’ ‘Rebuild the Dream’ lecture will take place Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Building Cox Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

It will be the seventh installment of the annual Mossman Distinguished Lecture Series. Past speakers at the annual event include scientist and TV presenter Bill Nye, actress and gameshow host Mayim Bialik and Mythbusters’ co-host Adam Savage.

Jones has been a criminal justice reform advocate for over 25 years. He has founded and led organizations such as the REFORM Alliance, Color of Change, Rebuild the Dream, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Dream Corps.

He has stewarded bipartisan legislation under four U.S. Presidents including the Green Jobs Act in 2007 and the FIRST STEP Act, a criminal justice bill signed by President Donald Trump in 2018.

A native of Jackson, Tennessee, Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from UT Martin in 1986 before attending Yale Law School.

The lecture series is made possible by an estate gift from Ken and Blaire Mossman, who met in 1968 in Knoxville while pursuing degrees at UT. The university dedicated the Ken and Blaire Mossman Building for collaborative research in their honor in 2018.