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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

[The] event attracted the largest crowd we have seen to date for a presentation by an author or filmmaker. Robert is a polished speaker who can expound on an intriguing topic that is appealing to many audiences. 

Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller, PhD, President & CEO,

The National WWII Museum, New Orleans

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)

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