Former Senator Richard Lugar will be at UT Knoxville, on Tuesday, August 27, to deliver the semiannual Ashe Lecture sponsored by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.
The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the center’s Toyota Auditorium. It is free and open to the public. For information about $2 parking at Volunteer Hall, visit the Baker Center’s website.
“Senator Lugar and Senator Baker have a long history of working together on matters of national importance, including global security and nuclear nonproliferation,” said Matt Murray, director of the Baker Center. “We’re looking forward to hearing Senator Lugar talk about his days in the Senate and the current work he’s doing to keep these important issues at the forefront of public thought.”
Lugar, a Republican, was Indiana’s longest-serving congressman. He was elected in 1977 and served until this year. He was unseated in the primary by Republican Richard Mourdock, Indiana’s state treasurer. Mourdock lost to Democrat Joe Donnelly in the general election.
Prior to the Senate, Lugar served as mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1975.
While in the Senate, Lugar served as chair of the Senate Committee for Foreign Relations from 1985 to 1987 and from 2003 to 2007. He also was appointed to the Select Committee on Intelligence by Senator Howard Baker in 1977. Much of Lugar’s work in the Senate focused on global security. Specifically, one of his most notable pieces of legislation, the Nunn-Lugar Act, led to the dismantling of thousands of nuclear warheads, and improved security at hundreds of weapons sites across the former Soviet Union states. To date, the Nunn-Lugar program has deactivated more than 7,600 nuclear warheads that were once aimed at the United States.
Lugar now serves as president of the Lugar Center, a nonprofit organization focusing on nuclear nonproliferation, food security, foreign aid effectiveness, and other critical issues. He recently announced the creation of the Lugar Academy at the University of Indianapolis, including a Washington semester internship program for university students. Lugar also recently was named a professor of practice and distinguished scholar at the new School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University and a visiting distinguished professor at Georgetown University’s Global Public Policy Institute.
Lugar graduated first in his class at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He attended Pembroke College at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, studying politics, philosophy, and economics. Lugar volunteered for the US Navy in 1957, ultimately serving as an intelligence briefer for Admiral Arleigh Burke, chief of naval operations.
Lugar manages his family’s 604-acre corn, soybean, and tree farm. Before entering public life, he helped manage the family’s food machinery manufacturing business in Indianapolis with his brother Tom.
The Ashe Lecture series, funded by former ambassador and Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, hosts former mayors, ambassadors, and other public servants to discuss important issues.
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MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Senator Lugar will be available for press from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m., immediately following his talk. Let us know if you plan to attend.
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C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakey@utk.edu)