By:
Stu Hutson 352-392-0400Source:
Peter McPherson 202-478-6060
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Thinking “out of the box” takes on a new meaning when you’re talking about packaging aid to developing nations—Peter McPherson knows firsthand.
Now serving as president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, he founded the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa and was director of economic policy for the coalition provisional authority of Iraq in 2003.
“In many ways, today’s developing world is at an unprecedented crossroads,” McPherson said. “Countries like Africa are struggling to join the modern world, but at the same time are dealing with the oldest and most daunting challenges—hunger and disease—on a scale that most of us have trouble comprehending.”
As part of the York Distinguished Lecturer Series, McPherson will share his views of the day and vision for the future in a speech entitled, “The Future of Africa and the Role of Land-Grant Universities in Developing Countries” at 2 p.m. in the President’s Room in Emerson Alumni Hall on May 11, 2007.
“The land-grand university—and, in fact, Western Academia as a whole—has a unique opportunity and obligation to help establish the infrastructure,” he said.
McPherson will address how land-grant universities can establish training programs, research efforts and modern facilities within developing nations. He will also discuss how changes in current western policies could affect the future of both the developed and developing world.
“We’ve been giving them fish,” he said. “It’s time to teach them how to be fishermen.”
The event is open to the public.
For more information on the York Distinguished Lecturer Series, visit http://yorklecture.ifas.ufl.edu/
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