Ferraro to Give Distinguished Lecture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For the second time in a month the University of Arkansas Distinguished Lecture Committee is hosting a well-known public figure as a distinguished lecturer. Geraldine Ferraro earned a place in history as the first woman to compete as a vice-presidential candidate on a national party ticket in the 1984 presidential campaign with running mate and vice president, Walter Mondale.

Ferraro will speak at 8 p.m. Monday, April 30, in the Fayetteville Town Center as part of the UA Distinguished Lecture Series. The speech, which will be about women in politics, is free and open to the public.

And while Ferraro is best known for her bid as a vice presidential candidate, that is only a small part of her life in public service. Ferraro was first elected to Congress from New York’s Ninth Congressional District in Queens in 1978 and served three terms in the House of Representatives. Her committee assignments in Congress included the Public Works Committee, Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and Budget Committee.

From 1996 to 1998, Ferraro was a co-host of Crossfire, a political interview program on CNN. In 1994, she was appointed the United States ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission by President Clinton and served in that position through 1996. She served as a public delegate to the commission in February 1993 and was also the alternate United States delegate to the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in June 1993 and vice-chair of the U.S. delegation at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.

An active participant in the nation’s foreign policy debate, Ferraro serves as a Board member of the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ferraro is currently a political analyst for FOX News and a columnist for the New York Times Syndicate. She has counseled clients on a wide range of public policy issues, not only giving strategic advice, but also providing lobbying support when needed. She has handled matters before agencies of the United Nations, the U.S. Government, the Congress, and the Conference of Mayors as well as certain state and local entities.

Ferraro received her Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law.  She has honorary degrees from a number of colleges and universities nationwide and serves on several not-for-profit boards as well as on the board of Goodrich Petroleum Inc.  In addition, she serves as senior adviser to the Global Consulting Group, providing strategic guidance to the group’s executive leadership worldwide.

Ferraro has written numerous articles as well as three books, Ferraro, My Story, which recounts the 1984 campaign, Geraldine Ferraro: Changing History, and Framing a Life.

The Distinguished Lecture Series is supported by student activity fees, the Associated Student Government and the University of Arkansas. Author Salman Rushdie was scheduled to speak Wednesday, April 18. Other past lecturers have included, Robert Redford, Benazir Bhutto, Ehud Barak, James Earl Jones, James Carville and Mary Matalin.