Lecture free, open to public; sponsorship opportunities available to meet Powell
Former Secretary of State General Colin L. Powell is the keynote speaker for Missouri State University’s Spring Public Affairs Convocation, which will be held at 8 p.m. March 20 at JQH Arena. Powell will be speaking on the topic of Global Perspective: Why it Matters, the university’s public affairs theme for 2013-2014.
The Powell event is made possible by the Missouri State University Foundation, the David D. Glass Lecture Series in the Missouri State College of Business and presenting sponsor Trailiner Corporation – H.E. “Spook” and Liz Whitener.
For more than 50 years, Powell has devoted his life to public service. He has held senior military and diplomatic positions across four presidential administrations.
Powell served in the United States Army for 35 years, rising to the rank of four-star general. As Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, Powell led the State Department in major efforts to address and solve regional and civil conflicts around the world.
“The Missouri State Foundation and the Foundation Board of Trustees are very supportive of the public affairs mission of the university and wanted to begin a speakers series which will include national and internationally known speakers that can speak to the annual theme of the conference,” said Brent Dunn, executive director of the Missouri State Foundation.
“We are looking forward to having Colin Powell on campus this spring and have already started to look at potential speakers for the 2015 Public Affairs Conference. We want to make sure and include not only the university community but the entire public to attend and hear well-known speakers.”
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POWELL’S INVOLVEMENT IN CIVIC LIFE
Powell served as President Ronald Reagan’s national security advisor and as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. He was the youngest officer, the first ROTC graduate and the first African-American to ever serve as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Powell remains active in civic life through involvement in America’s Promise Alliance, the Eisenhower Fellowships, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Currently, Powell is a strategic limited partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, is on the board of Bloom Energy, and is the chairman of the advisory board of Leeds Equity Partners.
ATTENDING THE LECTURE
The Public Affairs Convocation lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are required to attend. Tickets can be picked up at Hammons Hall, JQH Arena or Plaster Student Union ticket offices beginning Jan. 13. Tickets may be ordered through the ticket office by calling (417) 836-7678 or (toll-free) 1-888-476-7849; but a $5 shipping and handling fee will apply.
The Missouri State Foundation is sponsoring a dinner with Powell for $5,000 a couple and a VIP meet and greet reception for $2,500 a couple. A limited number of spots are available. For more information, contact Dunn at (417) 836-6666.
For more information about the convocation lecture, contact Mary Ann Wood, director of public affairs support, at (417) 836-5073 or MaryAnnWood@MissouriState.edu.
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