In the world of academia, a visiting scholar or visiting academic is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university, where he or she is projected to teach (visiting professor), lecture (visiting lecturer), or perform research (visiting researcher or visiting research associate) on a topic the visitor is valued for. The position is often not salaried and typically for one year, though it can be extended.

The purpose of the visiting scholars programs is generally to bring to the school or educational institution in question an exceptional senior scholar who can contribute to and enrich the community's intellectual and research endeavors and international projection. Hence, in addition to conducting their own research, visitors are often expected to actively participate in a number of productive institutional activities, such as:

Bernard Avishai, Adjunct Professor of Business, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, splits his time between Jerusalem and Wilmot, New Hampshire. He has taught at Duke, MIT, and was director of the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. From 1998 to 2001 he was International Director of Intellectual Capital at KPMG LLP. Before this he headed product development at Monitor Group, with which he is still associated. From 1986 to 1991 he was technology editor of Harvard Business Review. A Guggenheim Fellow, Avishai holds a doctorate in political economy from the University of Toronto. Before turning to management, he covered the Middle East as a journalist. He's written dozens of articles and commentaries for The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Harvard Business Review, Harper’s and many other publications. He is the author of three books on Israel, including the widely read The Tragedy of Zionism, and the recently published The Hebrew Republic.

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue" which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue".

Both of Hughes' paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African-American, his maternal great-grandfather was white and of Scottish descent. A paternal great-grandfather was of European Jewish descent. Hughes's maternal grandmother Mary Patterson was of African-American, French, English and Native American descent. One of the first women to attend Oberlin College, she first married Lewis Sheridan Leary, also of mixed race. Lewis Sheridan Leary subsequently joined John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 and died from his wounds.

In 1869 the widow Mary Patterson Leary married again, into the elite, politically active Langston family. Her second husband was Charles Henry Langston, of African American, Native American, and Euro-American ancestry. He and his younger brother John Mercer Langston worked for the abolitionist cause and helped lead the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society in 1858. Charles Langston later moved to Kansas, where he was active as an educator and activist for voting and rights for African Americans. Charles and Mary's daughter Caroline was the mother of Langston Hughes.

Alan Dix is an expert in the field of human-computer interaction. He is co-author of a widely-used university level textbook, entitled Human-Computer Interaction. He is currently a professor at Lancaster University.

Shirley Clarke Franklin (born May 10, 1945) is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and served as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 2002 to 2010. She currently serves as a member on the board of directors for Delta Air Lines.

The 58th mayor of Atlanta, she was the first female to hold the post and became the first black woman to be elected mayor of any major Southern city. Franklin was Atlanta's fourth black mayor. In July 2009, Mayor Franklin (along with Frances Townsend and Judge William H. Webster) was appointed to an ad hoc Department of Homeland Security special task force for 60-day review of the Homeland Security Advisory System.

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls. Franklin received her B.A. in sociology from Howard University and her M.A., also in sociology, from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Franklin served as the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs under Mayor Maynard Jackson. Subsequently, she was named Chief Administrative Officer and City Manager under Mayor Andrew Young.