Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Israeli Legislator Natan Sharansky will be coming to campus Tuesday and Wednesday for the annual IMPACT Symposium.

Incoming chair of the Vanderbilt Speakers Committee sophomore Theo Samets said students will likely be struck by the two big names, but the committee is also excited about the insight the two individuals bring to the events' theme, "Diplomacy in the New Millennium."

"We chose the theme because with the new administration, it is a topic on a lot of students' minds. These two speakers were natural choices for the topic, too," Samets said.

Albright, who will speak Tuesday, was U.S. Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. She will likely speak about geopolitics and the current implications of global commerce. She was also the former president for the Center for National Policy and teaches at Georgetown University's School for Foreign Service.

"I think its great that Vanderbilt provides undergraduates the opportunity to hear from people who have shaped the world so significantly," said first-year student Matthew Taylor. "Madeleine Albright was a leader in the Clinton administration during a time of economic prosperity. Maybe she can help lead us through this hard time."

Samets admits most students probably do not know the other headlining speaker, Sharansky, who will speak Wednesday, but said he hopes students will come to the symposium both night anyway.

"Sharansky will provide a good balance as a major figure in the neo-conservative movement, but what is also interesting about him is the fact that he spent 13 years as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union, unwilling to renounce his Jewish faith. He is the Soviet dissident," Samets said.

Sharansky was also former member for Israeli legislature, the Knesset, and the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Freedom. Sharansky graduated from the Physical Technical Institute in Moscow with a degree in computer science. He later became the spokesperson for the Helsinki Movement, the oldest functioning human rights organization in Russia, according to a recent press release.

He immigrated to Israel after nine years of imprisonment for allegedly collaborating with the CIA. He has written a memoir titled "Fear No Evil." He will be speaking about the spread of democracy and struggles for human rights.

Tickets are on sale now and are free to Vanderbilt students with ID, but $5 for other area students and $10 for the general public. According to Sarratt Ticket Office, half of the tickets have already been sold. Albright will speak Tuesday and Sharansky on Wednesday, both beginning at 7 p.m. Both talks will be held in Langford Auditorium and a book signing will precede each event from 6 to 6:45 p.m.

IMPACT, which began in 1964, is one of the oldest university lectures series of its kind. Former speakers have included former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Robert Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Sydney Wilmer contributed reporting to this article.