POSTPONED: Donald McHenry’s Stevenson Lecture has been postponed until fall 2020 in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Former Ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Donald McHenry will be the speaker for the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series. The 1957 Illinois State University graduate will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 16, at the Illinois State University Center for the Performing Arts on School Street in Normal.
The talk is free and open to the public. Free event parking is available in the School Street Parking Deck at 400 W. Beaufort St. in Normal. McHenry served as a member of President Jimmy Carter’s Cabinet from September 1979 to January 1981. He was the principal negotiator for the United States when a Soviet airliner carrying Russian ballerina Lyudmila Vlasova was prevented from taking off by Port Authority Police.
McHenry holds a number of board and trustee positions in nongovernmental organizations, including chairman of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Fund; and director of the Institute for International Education, the American Ditchley Foundation, the American Assembly, and the Coca Cola Africa Foundation. He is trustee emeritus of Columbia University and the Mayo Foundation, and is chairman emeritus of Africare.
Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University co-host the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series, which was established by a group of local civic leaders to honor the legacy of Bloomington native Adlai E. Stevenson II, former Illinois governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, after his passing in 1965.
The event is part of the Illinois State University Speaker Series. It seeks to bring innovative and enlightening speakers to the campus with the aim of providing the community with a platform to foster dialogue, cultivate enriching ideas, and continue an appreciation of learning as an active and lifelong process.
Those who need special accommodation to fully participate in this event can contact Julie Barnhill, director of Presidential and Trustee Events, at (309) 438-8790. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.
