Meet Robert
A dynamic and experienced public speaker who has inspired audiences of all ages in the United States and Europe
"Huge success." "Outstanding speaker."
While he is best known for his pioneering work on the Monuments Men, Robert Edsel draws on his past experiences as a competitive tennis player and later the founder of Gemini Exploration, an oil and gas company that pioneered the use of horizontal drilling technology, to speak to audiences on a variety of lecture topics. He has spoken before more than 65,000 people these past twenty years. Presentations are customized to suit the needs and interests of each audience. Lively Q&A sessions are a hallmark of his engagements.
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
The New York Times #1 Bestseller that served as the inspiration for Academy Award® recipient George Clooney’s acclaimed film of the same name. Ten men and one woman, the most unlikely of spies, in a race against time to save some of the world’s most valuable works of art and cultural objects from the destruction of war and theft by the Nazis.
Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis
During the last year of World War II, the fate of Italy and its priceless art treasures hang in the balance. One man, the second highest-ranking Nazi SS General, controls the art, using it as a bargaining chip in a life or death game of poker to avoid war crimes trials and the hangman’s noose. The other, an American college professor and artist, serving as a Monuments Man, risks his life to find the art and return it to Italy.
From Success
to Significance: Living a Life of Greater Meaning
Robert shares his journey, from aspiring tennis professional to his successful career building an independent oil and gas exploration company, and the yearning for something greater than just more success. He candidly shares the challenges of breaking free of the gravitational pull of life to study new areas of interest and the personal discoveries that he made in the course of building a new life as an author, public speaker, and philanthropist.
An Evening with Robert Edsel
Prepare to laugh and shed tears of joy as Robert recounts through stories and film clips some of the remarkable moments of his work these past twenty years, from places he has visited to some of the remarkable people he has met. Standing ovation guaranteed!
Lecture Topics
Upcoming Events
Past Events Gallery
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Some Past Events
Lecture Series
Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach
SMU Tate Lecture Series, Dallas
State Department – Ralph J. Bunche Library Series, Washington D.C.
Military
The Citadel, Charleston
Pritzker Military Library, Chicago
The Army and Navy Club, Washington D.C.
VFW Convention, Reno
Colleges
Yale University, New Haven
Colgate University, Hamilton
Kent State University, North Canton
University of Texas-Dallas, Dallas
University of South Florida, Tampa
Women’s Organizations
Tuckahoe Woman’s Club, Richmond
Mississippi University for Women, Columbus
Women’s Institute, Houston
Theta Charity Antiques Show, Houston
Brewster Ladies Library, Brewster
Town Halls / Rotary Clubs
Kansas City Rotary Club
Omaha Town Hall
Town Halls South, Pittsburgh
San Joaquin Valley Town Hall
Denver Town Hall
Tulsa Town Hall
Schools
Seven Hills School, Cincinnati
Mountain Brook High School, Birmingham
The Kinkaid School, Houston
Keith Country Day School, Rockford
Cristo Rey, Dallas College Preparatory School, Dallas
Other Organizations
Alliance of American Museums (AAM), Washington, D.C.
Barbara Bush Foundation Celebration of Reading
American History Teachers, Independence
U.S. Embassy, Moscow
Virginal Historical Society, Richmond
Bohemian Club, San Francisco
Jewish Organizations
Jewish Public Library, Montreal (Canada)
Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo
Temple Israel, Minneapolis
Dallas Holocaust Museum
The Jewish Federations of Sarasota-Manatee
Museums
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
National World War II Museum, New Orleans
Art Institute of Chicago
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Special Mention
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene
Vatican Museums (Vatican City)
Brera Picture Gallery, Milan (Italy)
Church of Santa Croce, Florence (Italy)
National Museum of Warsaw (Poland)