Last modified: Monday, September 16, 2002
Nobel Peace Prize winner to discuss peace, moral leadership in IU's Patten Lectures
Former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Central America, will deliver two Patten Lectures at Indiana University next week.
Arias, known worldwide as a spokesperson for the Third World, will discuss "Peace with Justice for Latin America and the World" on Monday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Woodburn Hall 100. He will speak on "Moral Leadership for the New Century" on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Ballantine Hall 013. Both presentations will be open to the public free of charge.
Arias was president of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990. During this time he was instrumental in establishing a peace plan for Central America that resulted in his selection for the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize. He used the funding from this award to create the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. The foundation's goals include promoting equal opportunities for women throughout Central America, fostering change-oriented philanthropy in Latin America, and working for demilitarization and conflict resolution in the developing world.
The Central American statesman is a champion for issues such as human development, democracy and demilitarization. He has traveled throughout the world in support of peace and is a popular keynote speaker at international conferences. Arias is active with several international groups, including the International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development, the International Crisis Group, the Society for International Development, and Economists Allied for Arms Reduction.
William T. Patten, a 1893 IU graduate, envisioned the Patten Lectures as a way to enrich the intellectual life of the IU campus. Since its inception in 1937, the Patten Foundation has brought more than 130 world-renowned speakers to IU.
For more details on the upcoming event, contact Mary Tilton, executive director of the Patten Foundation, at 812-855-6398 or mtilton@indiana.edu.
The Web site for the Patten Lectures is https://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/patten.
