MSU Presidential Lecture to feature Robert Kennedy, Jr.
MSU News Bureau
Murray State University's successful Presidential Lecture Series will be welcoming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the featured speaker for the 2008 installment on Thursday, Feb. 28. The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium. Admission is free and surrounding community members are invited to attend along with MSU students, faculty and staff.
Kennedy is no stranger to the public eye. Instantly recognizable as a member of the United States' most famous modern political dynasty, he is the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, nephew of Sen. Edward (Ted) M. Kennedy and the late President John F. Kennedy, and cousin and sibling to a number of other family members who have held or are currently holding political office.
Himself a resolute environmental defender, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was named one of Time magazine's “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. That group's achievement helped spawn more than 125 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe.
Kennedy has taken his educational background and put it to good use for the environment. A graduate of Harvard, the London School of Economics, the University of Virginia Law School and the recipient of a master's degree in environmental law from Pace University School of Law, he now serves as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and chief prosecuting attorney for Hudson Riverkeeper.
He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace's Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio.
Kennedy is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and city water consumers, is considered an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiation and sustainable development.
In addition to his work on water quality, Kennedy has also been involved in environmental issues across the Americas by assisting several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties to protect traditional homelands.
A noted writer, Kennedy's latest book is The New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature. He also authored The Riverkeepers and has had numerous articles published.
Kennedy's political involvement includes work on the presidential campaigns of Ted Kennedy in 1980, Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Hillary Clinton in 2008.
The Presidential Lecture Series at Murray State University is sponsored by the Student Government Association, the MSU Foundation and MSU President Randy J. Dunn. Conceived in 2005 as a lecture series to bring some of the world's most influential people to campus, the event has hosted F.W. de Klerk, former president of South Africa who helped pave the way for the end of apartheid in that country; Lech Walesa, pivotal leader in the Solidarity movement and former president of Poland; and in 2007, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last December after returning to her native Pakistan as the leader of the Pakistan People's Party. She had been prime minister of Pakistan on two separate occasions.
For more information on the lecture, call the Student Government Association office at 809-6951.
Story created Feb 14, 2008 - 11:24:01 EST.
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