Former Ambassador Donald McHenry will present an address as part of the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 17, in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall on the campus of Illinois State University. 

His talk, which is part of the Presidential Speaker Series, is free and open to the public. There will be a master class for the University communities at 3 p.m. that same day on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Beckman Auditorium, Ames Library.

A 1957 graduate of Illinois State University, McHenry went on to serve as ambassador and United States permanent representative to the United Nations and 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 several board and trustee positions in nongovernmental organizations, including chairman of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Fund; 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.

The Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series 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 events are co-hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University.

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.