UNIVERSITY PARK – Madeleine K. Albright, the 64th Secretary of State of the United States during President Bill Clinton’s second administration, is the next lecturer in the 2008-09 Student Programming Association Distinguished Speaker Series. She will make her appearance at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5, in Eisenhower Auditorium on the University Park campus.
The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required for admittance. Tickets will be available to students — one issued per Penn State ID — this Thursday (Jan. 22) and available to faculty, staff and the general public on Jan. 29, based on availability.
Albright is a principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm, where she uses her extensive experience in global affairs and renowned diplomatic skills to help domestic and international businesses and nongovernmental organizations foster strategic partnerships.
Appointed in 1997 as the first female Secretary of State, Albright was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government at that time. During her tenure she extended and modernized NATO and inspired NATO’s successful campaign to reverse ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; promoted peace in the Balkans; reduced the nuclear threat from Russia; strengthened democracy in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America; skillfully managed the multifaceted relationship with China and successfully concluded hundreds of other agreements that facilitated American business overseas.
Prior to her service as Secretary of State Albright served as the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations as a member of the President’s Cabinet, was the director of Women in Foreign Service Programs and a research professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, concentrating on the role of the media. She served as president of the Center for National Policy, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., and was a member of President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council and White House staff. Albright also served as chief legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Edmund S. Muskie.
Tickets to the event are available at the following locations and times:
Eisenhower Auditorium, corner of Shortlidge and Eisenhower roads, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; HUB-Robeson Center, on Pollock Road, weekdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Bryce Jordan Center, corner of University Drive and Curtin Road, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., all on the University Park campus; and Penn State Tickets Downtown, in the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 146 S. Allen St., State College, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information on the Distinguished Speaker Series and the Student Programming Association, visit here.
