Cobb County Symposium, Inc.

The Cobb County Symposium, Inc. is a non-profit organization that presents a series of speakers on law, religion, medicine, education, communications, and government. It was formed in 1965 as the Cobb County Committee on Medicine and Religion and consisted of representatives from the Cobb County Medical Society, the Kennestone Hospital Chaplains Association, and the Cobb County Bar Association. The committee was formed in response to an initiative of the American Medical Association to facilitate communication between physicians and members of the clergy. It was decided to include members of the legal profession, as well.

After the success of the first symposium with Father Noel Mailloux, Jesuit priest and Professor of Psychology at the University of Montreal, it was decided to make it an annual event. Kennesaw State University became a symposia sponsor in 1968 and the primary location was moved to the campus. Dr. Horace W. Sturgis, the President of Kennesaw State University from 1966 to 1981, served as chairman of the Symposium Committee in 1978. Prominent speakers of the series include Margaret Mead, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, William F. Buckley, Jr., Richard E. Leakey, Dean Rusk, and Jonas Salk.