Jon M. Huntsman Jr., former governor of Utah and former U.S. ambassador to China, will present this year’s Patrick O’Meara International Lecture at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Whittenberger Auditorium.
This year’s Patrick O’Meara International Lecture is titled “U.S. and China: Challenges and Opportunities,” according to an IU press release.
“With his past experience on the ground in China as U.S. ambassador and his current work as head of the board of directors of the Atlantic Council, an organization that for half a century has studied and analyzed international policy, Gov. Huntsman is an eminently appropriate speaker for this lecture series,” said David Zaret, IU vice president for international affairs, in the release.
Huntsman has served former presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and President Barack Obama in positions including staff assistant, U.S. ambassador to Singapore, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Asia, U.S. Trade ambassador and, most recently, U.S. ambassador to China, according to the release.
Huntsman now serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council and co-founder and honorary co-chair of No Labels, a group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents who “want our government to work again,” according to the No Labels website.
Established in 2011 to honor Patrick O’Meara, IU vice president emeritus of international affairs, the Patrick O’Meara International Lecture brings distinguished speakers to IU-Bloomington to address relevant topics in international affairs, according to the release.
“The O’Meara Lecture is designed to bring the best international knowledge and experience to Bloomington each year,” Zaret said in the release.
The last lecture, titled “The Centenary of the First World War: Commemoration or Celebration?” brought Sir Hew Strachan, professor with the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
O’Meara was a faculty member with the department of political science under the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, according to the release. He served as director of IU’s African Studies Program and dean of international programs.
The lecture is free and open to the public, according to the release. Attendees do not need to purchase tickets or register in advance.
