GW PRESIDENT STEPHEN JOEL TRACHTENBERG TO DELIVER WATSON CHAIR LECTURE AT SULGRAVE MANOR IN ENGLAND - THE ANCESTRAL HOME OF GEORGE WASHINGTON NOV. 10
WASHINGTON - The George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg will deliver the Watson Chair Lecture at Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington, in Sulgrave, England, on Nov. 10, 2006. Drawing on his nearly 30 years as a university president, Trachtenberg's remarks, "Rights and Culture in the Market of Ideas: Thoughts on Freedom of Expression," will focus on free speech in academia.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Trachtenberg Will Discuss Free Speech in Academia and Present Sulgrave Manor with Bust of George Washington
WASHINGTON - The George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg will deliver the Watson Chair Lecture at Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington, in Sulgrave, England, on Nov. 10, 2006. Drawing on his nearly 30 years as a university president, Trachtenberg's remarks, "Rights and Culture in the Market of Ideas: Thoughts on Freedom of Expression," will focus on free speech in academia.
"I am grateful to Sulgrave Manor for this opportunity to share thoughts on the importance of free speech and its role in shaping the minds of our students," said Trachtenberg. "Our University's namesake would be proud of the legacy and tradition Sulgrave Manor embodies today with its efforts to promote British and American relations by hosting events such as the Watson Chair Lecture."
The Watson Chair lecture is organized by the Sulgrave Manor Board of Directors. The purpose of the lecture is the promotion of better knowledge and understanding of Anglo-American relations, past, present, and future. Established in 1921, the lectures are given by distinguished Americans and Britons including politicians, university presidents, and professors. In 2005, the Board of Directors reinstated the Watson Chair Lecture, which had been held annually between World War I and World War II, but only periodically afterward. Some notable lecturers have included former Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, former Yale University President Arthur Hadley, architect Frank Lloyd Wright and acclaimed journalist Walter Lippman. The first lecture in the new series was held in November 2005 at Sulgrave Manor with eminent economist, journalist, and historian Peter Jay speaking on the United States, United Kingdom and Europe today.
Professor Robert Stevens, chairman of Sulgrave Manor Board commented on how pleased he will be to welcome President Trachtenberg to give the 2006 Watson Chair lecture. Stevens, who has known Trachtenberg for nearly 50 years, is the former president of Haverford College, former chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz; and former provost of Tulane University.
"President Trachtenberg is the fourth president of an American university to give the Watson Chair lecture, the most recent being Robert Maynard Hutchins, the then former president of the University of Chicago in 1954," said Stevens. "Given Sulgrave Manor's connection with George Washington himself, and its mission of furthering Anglo-American relations, it is doubly fitting that President Trachtenberg should honor the Sulgrave Manor Board and its guests."
In addition to the lecture, President Trachtenberg, who also serves on the Sulgrave Advisory Committee, will present a bronze bust of George Washington by sculptor Avard T. Fairbanks. Fairbanks began modeling his bust of George Washington in clay in 1975 in preparation for the nation's bicentennial. Fairbanks' son and daughter-in-law, David N. F. Fairbanks and Sylvia West Fairbanks, gave the sculpture to The George Washington University as a gift in 1980. In addition to Sulgrave Manor and the five busts located at the University, GW has presented sculptures to George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate in Alexandria, Va.; to Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah; to Lyon College in Batesville, Ark.; to the Masonic Temple in Washington, D.C.; to the city of Peoria, Ill.; to Richmond University in London; to Pembroke College in Oxford, England; and to the USS George Washington.
Sulgrave Manor, the more than 460-year-old ancestral home of George Washington in Great Britain, has the largest collection in the UK of George Washington memorabilia demonstrating the British contribution to the origins of the United States. The manor also has a separate exhibition on Washington's life and career in the United States. Sulgrave is an hour and a half north west of London and half an hour from Oxford, en route from Blenheim Palace to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Located four blocks from the White House, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the nation's capital. The University offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business, and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 120 countries.
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