As part of Georgia College’s commitment to foster an intellectual environment for teaching and scholarly excellence and intellectual engagement, the Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Series expands student learning beyond the classroom by bring leading public policy figures to Georgia College and providing students the opportunity to interact both formally and informally with them.

Archive:

Fifteenth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“A Chinese Garden in America’s Backyard: China Latin America, and the Future World Order” 

 

H.E. Ambassador Jorge Heine is currently Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is former Ambassador of the Republic of Chile to the People’s Republic of China, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, a former cabinet minister in the Chilean Government, and former Professor of Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.

March 12, 2018

From 2014 to 2017, Dr. Heine was the Ambassador of Chile to China. During his tenure in China, Chile became the first country to sign an enhanced version of a free trade agreement with China; a bilateral treaty to avoid double taxation was negotiated and ratified; Chile joined the Asian Investment and Infrastructure Bank (AIIB); and Chile became the world´s largest exporter of fruit to China. Heine was previously the CIGI Professor of Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs (2007-2017) and a Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. He was also a non-resident Wilson Center Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC (2013-2015).

Dr. Heine was previously Ambassador of Chile to India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (2003-2007). During his tenure, the first presidential visit from Chile to India took place, a bilateral trade agreement was signed, and Chilean exports grew tenfold, to US$ 2.2 billion. Heine also served as the Minister of National Assets of Chile (1999).  Prior to that he served as Ambassador of Chile to South Africa (1994-1999), cross-accredited to Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. He was the first Ambassador to present credentials to President Nelson Mandela and collaborated with him and with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the establishment of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. During his tenure, South African mining company Anglo American launched the US$ 1.7 billion mining project Doña Inés de Collahuasi in Northern Chile, at the time Chile’s largest FDI project ever. In 1997 and 1998 he was listed among the 100 most influential personalities in South Africa by Johannesburg’s leading newspaper, The Star.

Heine served as Deputy Minister of Defense of the Chilean Air Force between 1993 and 1994. He has taught at the War Academy of the Chilean Army as well as at Chile’s Diplomatic Academy, and has lectured repeatedly at India’s National Defense College in New Delhi and at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute in Washington, DC. Other positions include: Associate Director of the EU-funded Institute for European-Latin American Relations in Madrid (1989); Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (1986-1991); Director of the Caribbean Institute and Study Centre for Latin America at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico (1982-1986); and Research Associate (deputy director) of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC (1980-1982).

Heine has lectured at universities throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. He has been a Visiting Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford (1984) and a Guggenheim Fellow (1990). He was a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 2011, a Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz in Germany in 2012, and the Pablo Neruda Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Paris in 2012-2013. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Sichuan (2016-2021), and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization (2017-2020). Heine has been a consultant to the United Nations, the Ford Foundation, the Canadian Foreign Ministry, the Trinidad & Tobago MEA, Oxford Analytica, and Frost & Sullivan.

Heine is the author, co-author, or editor of fifteen books, including Reaching Across the Pacific: Latin America and Asia in the New Century ( with Cynthia Arnson,The Wilson Center, 2014, Spanish edition, 2015); 21^st century Democracy Promotion in the Americas (with Britta Weiffen, Routledge, 2014); The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy (with A. Cooper and R. Thakur,  Oxford University Press, 2013, pb, 2015); La Nueva India (El Mercurio/Aguilar, 2012); Fixing Haiti: MINUSTAH and Beyond (with A. Thompson, UN University Press, 2011); The Dark Side of Globalization (with R. Thakur, UN University Press, 2011); and Which Way Latin America? Hemispheric Politics Meets Globalization (with A. Cooper, UN University Press, 2009) He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The International Herald Tribune, and he is the author of some one hundred academic articles in books and in journals. He was among the top ten most active ambassadors on Twitter worldwide from March 2016 to March 2017, according to @Twiplomacy.

Heine was born in Santiago, Chile in 1948.   He graduated from the University of Chile Law School in 1972 and did graduate studies in Political Science at York University in England, where he received a B.Phil. in Modern Political Analysis, and at Stanford University in California, where he received his MA and PhD.

 

Fourteenth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“U.S. Security, China, and the North Korean Nuclear Threat.” 

Dr. Peter Brookes is a Senior Fellow for National Security in The Allison Center at The Heritage Foundation.

November 15, 2017

Dr. Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow for national security affairs. He has served five two year terms as a congressionally-appointed member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is an author and has published more than 500 articles for various newspapers, journals and magazines. Aside from print media, Dr. Brookes has also appeared more than 3,000 times as a foreign policy and national security commentator on TV and radio news networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, and MSNBC. Dr. Brookes is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs. He has also been a professional staff member with the House International Relations Committee, CIA officer, State Department officer, and naval officer. Now a retired Navy commander, Dr. Brookes served as a reservist with the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Naval Intelligence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Office of the Vice President, working as an intelligence analyst, strategic debriefer, Russian language interpreter, defense attaché, policy adviser and associate professor at the Joint Military Intelligence College. In the private sector, he worked in the defense and intelligence industries.

Dr. Brookes has visited nearly 60 countries on five continents and was an international election observer in Indonesia and Cambodia. He served in political positions at the local, state and national level, including helping draft the foreign policy platform for the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. He advised the 2000 and 2004 Bush-Cheney campaigns on foreign policy and briefed 2008 and 2012 presidential candidates. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.); the Defense Language Institute (Russian); the Naval War College; the Johns Hopkins University (M.A.) and Georgetown University (Doctorate). He also has taught at the National Defense University and studied German and Polish. Among Dr. Brookes’ awards and honors are the Navy League of New York’s Frank Knox Media Award; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Navy Commendation Medal (three awards); Navy Achievement Medal; Defense Language Institute’s Kellogg Award; the Joint Chiefs of Staff service badge; and Naval Aviation Observer wings.

 

Thirteenth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Peacebuilding in a Turbulent World: Challenges for the New United Nations Secretary-General” 

 

Dr. Abiodun Williams is former Director of Strategic Planning in the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General; Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, and former President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice.

April 11, 2017

Dr. Abiodun Williams is Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. From 2001 to 2007, Dr. Williams served as Director of Strategic Planning in the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General.  In that capacity, he advised Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon on a full range of strategic issues including U.N. reform, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and international migration.  He held senior political and humanitarian affairs positions in U.N. peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, and Macedonia from 1994 to 2000. Just prior to his appointment at Georgetown, he served as the first President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice from 2013 to 2016.  He spearheaded its development into a vibrant think and do tank working on issues at the critical intersection of peace, security and justice. Under his guidance, The Hague Institute, in partnership with the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., initiated and directed The Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance, co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister and UN Under-Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari. From 2011 to 2012 he served as Senior Vice President of the Center for Conflict Management at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC. He led USIP’s work in major conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Libya. He served as Vice President of USIP’s Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention from 2008 to 2011 and had primary responsibility for the Institute’s work on conflict prevention, Iran, and Northeast Asia. He also served as the Associate Dean of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Dr. Williams began his career as an academic and taught international relations at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, University of Rochester, and Tufts University. He has published widely on conflict prevention, international peacekeeping, and multilateral negotiations, including The Brilliant Art of Peace: Lectures from the Kofi Annan Series, Preventing War: The United Nations and Macedonia, and Many Voices: Multilateral Negotiations in the World Arena, as well as dozens of articles and book chapters. He has served as Chair of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), Board Member of the U.S.-Netherlands Fulbright Commission, Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Justice, Member of the Group of Senior Experts of the UN’s Human Rights Up Front Initiative, Trustee of the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada, and Member of the International Board of Directors of the United World Colleges. Dr. Williams is the recipient of several awards including the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award from Tufts University and the Constantine E. Maguire Medal from Georgetown University. He holds an M.A. (Hons) from Edinburgh University and Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy and Ph.D. degrees from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Twelfth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Three Minutes to Midnight: Is the World Sleepwalking into a Nuclear Disaster?”

 

Dr. Ramesh Thakur, Director of the Centre for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament at Australian National University and former Senior Vice Rector of the United Nations University and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations.

March 14, 2016

Dr. Ramesh Thakur is Director of the Centre for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (CNND) in the Crawford School, Australian National University and Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Ethics, Governance and Law at Griffith University. From 1998–2007, he was Vice Rector and Senior Vice Rector of the United Nations University and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Educated in India and Canada, he was a Professor of International Relations at the University of Otago in New Zealand and Professor and Head of the Peace Research Centre at the Australian National University, during which time he was also a consultant/adviser to the Australian and New Zealand governments on arms control, disarmament and international security issues. He was a Commissioner and one of the principal authors of The Responsibility to Protect (2001), and Senior Adviser on Reforms and Principal Writer of the United Nations Secretary-General’s second reform report (2002). He was a Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo (2007–2011), Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (2007–2010) and Foundation Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario. The author or editor of over thirty books and 300 articles and book chapters, he also writes regularly for quality national and international newspapers around the world. He serves on the international advisory boards of institutes in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. His most recent books include The United Nations, Peace and Security: From Collective Security to the Responsibility to Protect (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey, co-written with Thomas G. Weiss (Indiana University Press, 2010); The Responsibility to Protect: Norms, Laws and the Use of Force in International Politics (London: Routledge, 2011); and The People vs. the State: Reflections on UN Authority, US Power and the Responsibility to Protect (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2011). His next major project is The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy co-edited with Andrew F. Cooper and Jorge Heine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

 

 

Eleventh Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“A Middle East Nuclear Free Zone: Making It Happen” 

Ambassador Mahmoud Karem Mahmoud, Secretary General (Minister without portfolio), of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights, presidential advisor, and Professor at the British University in Cairo. 

Dr. Karem is a diplomat, scholar, and statesman. He successfully managed the presidential campaign of the current President of Egypt, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Dr. Mahmoud Karem served as Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Japan and to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. He has served as Head of Mission of Egypt to the European Communities, and Permanent Representative of Egypt to NATO. He was an active contributor to the Mediterranean NAC +7 Dialogue in NATO since 2005. Member of the Advisory Board of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Disarmament Matters for six years ending in 2009, as well as member of the International Commission formed by the Director General of the IAEA on Nuclear Fuel Cycle and numerous Secretary General appointed Group of Experts in the United Nations on various peace and security issues. Dr. Karem served in the Egyptian missions to the United Nations in New York, was elected rapporteur of the UNDC in 1981, was Deputy Head of Mission to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and headed important negotiations on several items including the resolution on the Application of Agency Safeguards in the Middle East on the agenda of several General Conferences of the IAEA in Vienna. Ambassador Karem was elected in Belgium as “Best Ambassador in Belgium and the EU in 2006.” Since April 2008, Ambassador Karem has become a member of the Board of Advisors to the International Workshop on Global Security of the Centre for Strategic Decision Research, California. In May 2009 he was appointed a member of the NATO regional cooperation course (NRCC), Academic advisory Board (AAB), in NATO Defense College in Rome. In June 2009 he was decorated by HRH the King of Belgium King Albert II in a special audience the decoration of the “Order of the Crown”, the highest decoration awarded to non-Belgian citizens, in recognition of his meritorious services. Ambassador Karem also received an Egyptian Presidential decoration of the Third Order in 1979 from President Sadat for his role in negotiating and building peace in the Middle East (the Egyptian Israeli Peace Treaty). In 1999 he also received the highest medal of excellence and recognition from the Egyptian Ministry of Defense (core of Engineers), for listing the problem of Landmines in the western desert on the national agenda and for importing direly needed detection and landmine clearing equipment. In March 2010 he was elected by acclamation as Secretary General (Minister without portfolio), of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights. He was re-elected to the same position in April 2011 after the revolution in Egypt. In September 2012 he was re-elected for the third time by the newly formed Human Rights Council. He resigned his position December 2012.

Dr Karem has published extensively and appeared before numerous conferences, symposiums, and international meetings. He is a widely acknowledged and highly respected expert on security, disarmament and nonproliferation matters. His Book, Establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East: Problems and Prospects, was selected in 1988 as best book in the field of International Relations in the United States by “CHOICE” international. Dr. Karem obtained his PhD from the University of South Carolina in 1984. He has served as Visiting Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the American University in Cairo (AUC ), Visiting Professor of International Relation at Takushoku University, Visiting Professor of International Relation, Misr International University (MIU), and Visiting Professor of International Relation, Institute for Diplomatic Studies of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Egypt.

 

Tenth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Obama’s East Asia Security and Energy Game”

Jean Garrison, director of the Center for Global Studies and professor of political science and international studies at the University of Wyoming.

November 16th 5:30-7:00 Location Museum Education Room

Jean Garrison is director of the Center for Global Studies and professor of political science and international studies at the University of Wyoming.  Garrison is the past recipient of a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship and has worked in the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in the U.S. State Department. She also was a visiting fellow with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in Washington, DC. Her research interests focus on U.S. foreign policy with an emphasis on U.S.-China relations, leadership, small group dynamics, and energy security. She holds a PhD from the University of South Carolina.

Ninth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“When Being Second Class Kills: Human rights and Women’s Rights in the
HIV/AIDS Pandemic”

Dr. Robert L. Ostergard, Jr., Associate Professor of Political Science and
Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Thursday October 8th. 5:30-7:00 P.M., Museum Education Room, Georgia College Campus

Dr. Robert L. Ostergard, Jr. is currently Associate Professor of Political Science and
Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. He received his B.A.
in Political Science and Economics in 1992 from the University of Massachusetts and
his M.A. (1996) and PhD (1999) in Political Science from the State University of New
York, Binghamton. He served as the Associate Director of the Institute of Global
Cultural Studies and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the State University of
New York, Binghamton from 2000-2006. His research is in the areas of the political
economy of intellectual property rights (patents and medicine) and human and
international security issues, particularly of sub-Saharan Africa and he has been
published in various journals ranging from the Journal of Modern African Studies,
the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of World Intellectual
Property, onto Third World Quarterly and Human Rights Quarterly. His current
research projects include projects on the global health and human rights, the impact
of women’s rights on the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and state responses to global
health crises. He previously served as series co-editor of the Ashgate book series
Global Health and has previously served as a consultant for the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Commission on HIV/AIDS and
Governance in Africa (CHGA), the Council on Foreign Relations, UNAIDS, as well as
various academic institutions.

Eighth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“The Contested Nature of the ‘Afterlives’ of Former Leaders.”

Dr. Andrew Cooper, Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and an Associate Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation Research;

April 20, 5:30-7:00 p.m., Library Education Room #211, Georgia College Campus

Dr. Cooper is a leading world expert on conventional and unconventional forms of international diplomacy; national perspectives on global governance and rising powers, middle powers, and small states; Canadian and comparative foreign policy; and international political economy. He received his D.Phil from Oxford University and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, the Australian National University and Stellenbosch University in South Africa. A former Canada-US Fulbright Research Chair at the University of Southern California, he is the author or editor of 30 books, including notably: Diplomatic Afterlives; Africa’s Health challenges: Sovereignty, Mobility of People, and Healthcare Governance; Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy; Internet Gambling Offshore: Caribbean Struggles over Casino Capitalism; Inter-American Cooperation at the Crossroads; Rising States, Rising Institutions: Challenges for Global Governance; The Diplomacies of Small States: Between Vulnerability and Resilience; Innovation in Global Health Governance; Emerging Powers and Global Governance: Lessons from the Heiligendamm Process; Global Governance and Diplomacy: Worlds Apart?; and Celebrity Diplomacy. His numerous articles have been published in publications such as International Organization, World Development, International Studies Review and many others, and has served as a member of the editorial board of several International  Studies Association journals. His work has been profiled by Good Morning America, The Independent, Canada Broadcasting Corporation’s Q, Variety Magazine and many others and he has led training session on policy issues in Canada, South Africa and at the WTO in Geneva.

Seventh Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

Dr. Peter Brookes, “U.S. Security and Terrorism: Understanding the Challenges”

March 10, 5:30-7:00 p.m., Magnolia Ballroom

Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow for national security affairs. He has also served four terms as a congressionally-appointed member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is an author and has published more than 500 articles for various newspapers, journals and magazines. Aside from print media, Dr. Brookes has also appeared more than 2,500 times as a foreign policy and national security commentator on TV and radio news networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, and MSNBC. Dr. Brookes is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.  He has also been a Capitol Hill staffer, CIA officer, State Department officer and naval officer, retiring with the rank of Commander from the reserves. Dr. Brookes received his doctorate from Georgetown University and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Johns Hopkins University, the Defense Language Institute, and the Naval War College.

Sixth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Humanitarian Business and Consequentialist Ethics”

 Dr. Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science at The CUNY Graduate Center and Director Emeritus (2001-14) of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies; he is also research professor at SOAS, University of London

 November 12, 5:30–7:00 p.m., Library Museum Education Room #211, Georgia College Campus

Synopsis: Understanding the ongoing transformations in contemporary humanitarian action in war zones requires examining the nature and evolution of humanitarian culture—its values, language, behavior. The move is away from an agreed culture of cooperation to a contested one of competition as a result of militarization, politicization, and marketization. What is necessary is a “learning culture” of responsible reflection rather than rapid reaction.

Thomas G. Weiss is also Past president of the International Studies Association (2009-10), Chair of the Academic Council on the UN System (2006-9), editor of Global Governance (2000-5), Executive Director of the International Peace Academy, and Senior Economic Affairs Officer and Special Assistant to the Director of Research at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (“UNCTAD). He has written extensively about multilateral approaches to international peace and security, humanitarian action, and sustainable development. His latest authored volumes include: Governing the World? Addressing “Problems without Passports” (2014); The United Nations and Changing World Politics (2014); Global Governance: Why? What? Whither? (2013); Humanitarian Business (2013); What’s Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix It (2012); Humanitarian Intervention: Ideas in Action (2012); Thinking about Global Governance: People and Ideas Matter (2011); Humanitarianism Contested: Where Angels Fear to Tread (2011); Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey (2010); and UN Ideas That Changed the World (2009).

Fifth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Refugees from Humanitarian Crises: The Art of Hospitality”

Dr. Rama Mani, Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford’s Centre for International Studies and a Councilor of the World Future Council

October 7, 7:00–8:30 p.m., The Black Box Theatre, 135 W. Hancock Street

Dr. Mani is an internationally respected expert on peace, justice, and human security. She has worked around the world as a scholar, practitioner and policy advisor on post-conflict justice, peacebuilding, and cultural dimensions of peace and security. She is also a poet and dramatic actress. She has served as: Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Sri Lanka; Senior Strategy Advisor to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Geneva; Africa Strategy Manager on war economies and Policy Coordinator for Conflict for Oxfam GB, based in Uganda and Ethiopia; Senior External Relations Officer for the Commission on Global Governance; and Advisor to the United Nations University for Peace Africa Programme.

Fourth Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Republican Party – A View From Inside”

Mr. Alec Poitevint, Chairman COA 2012 Republican National Convention and Former Treasurer Republican National Committee

April 3, 3:00–4:30, Magnolia Ball Room, Student Activities Center

Mr. Alec Poitevint has been a Republican activist for over thirty-five years. He has served on the Republican National Committee (RNC) since 1992, and was Chairman of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention. Alec was Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party 1989–1993 and 2003–2007, Treasurer for the 1992 Republican National Convention, member of the RNC Budget Committee in 1992–1996, RNC 1996 Task Force on Primaries and Caucuses, Treasurer of the 1996 Republican National Convention, Vice-Chairman of the RNC in 1996-1997, Treasurer of the Republican National Committee from 1997–2001, and Co-Chairman/Treasurer of the 2000 Republican National Convention. He began his political party activism locally and served as Decatur County Chairman in 1975-1977 and Vice Chairman of the State Party in 1977–1979. He also served as an International Elections Observer, trade mission representative for the U.S. Government., and was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in March 1992 and has represented IRI in numerous countries. In June 2002 Alec served as Member of the United States Delegation to the World Food Summit in Rome, Italy. Poitevint is President and Chairman of Southeastern Minerals, Inc. and its affiliated companies.

Third Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Political Parties in American Politics:Restoring Trust in Washington”

Dr. Donald Fowler, Former Chairman, Democratic National Committee

March 11, 2:00–3:30, A & S Auditorium, GC

Dr. Donald Fowler is a political science professor and businessman from South Carolina who has occupied numerous leadership positions within the Democratic Party over three decades. He served as National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 1995 to 1997, which included the Presidential election between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. In 1984, he was appointed chair of the DNC “Fairness Commission,” which reformed the party’s presidential nomination process, and he was CEO of the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Fowler remains actively engaged on the DNC and currently serves on its Rules and Bylaws standing committee. He has served as South Carolina state party executive director and state party chair. He has taught public administration and American politics at the University of South Carolina and has served as the John C. West Professor of International Politics and American Government at The Citadel. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and graduate of the U.S. Army War College. He is chairman of Fowler Communications, a public relations, marketing, and governmental affairs firm in Columbia, S.C.

Second Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Spying on Our Friends: Challenges and Strategies for Promoting America Abroad”

Ms. Joan Mower, Head of Development, Voice of America

November 18, 2:00–3:30, Pat Peterson Education Room, GC Museum

Ms. Joan Mower is head of Development at the Voice of America (VOA), the largest U.S. international broadcaster. Ms. Mower oversees special broadcasting and training projects around the world. In 2007-2008, she worked at the Department of State, handling public affairs on Sudan and Darfur. She has done extensive media training and public speaking in the United States and abroad.  Previously, she was the acting director Public Relations at VOA and the Communications Coordinator at the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). She joined the BBG after serving as the director of international programs/Africa and Latin America at The Freedom Forum/Newseum. At the foundation, she promoted press freedom, working with journalists, governments and the private sector. She is also a former Foreign Service Officer. Mower began her career as a journalist with UPI. In Washington, she worked for the Associated Press, covering the State Department, Congress and the White House. She graduated from the University of California/Berkeley with a degree in political science, and she holds an M.A. in African Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

First Coverdell Chair Public Policy Colloquium Lecture

“Condoms and College Students: University Condom Policies and Political Efficacy”

October 1, 11:00–12:30, Maxwell Student Union Donahoo Lounge

Dr. Scott M. Butler is currently an associate professor of community health and faculty affiliate in the women’s studies and gender & sexuality program at Georgia College (GC). He received his PhD in Health Promotion & Disease Prevention in 2009 from Purdue University and master degrees from Purdue, Indiana University, and the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. Dr. Butler served as the Human Sexuality Program Coordinator at UNC-Chapel Hill from 2001-2003 and the Sexual Health Coordinator at Purdue from 1999-2000. Over the last 16 years he has taught human sexuality courses and organized peer-based HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness programs at GC, Purdue, UNC, and Indiana University. Dr. Butler has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to sexual health research including the 2004 William Yarber Professorship in Sexual Health Graduate Fellowship at Indiana University, the 2010 GC College of Health Sciences Outstanding Scholarship Award, and the 2012 GC Outstanding Scholar Award. His recent scholarship uses health behavior and organizational theories to assess university condom distribution programs.