Former U.N. ambassador to present 2012 Vickers lecture
LAWRENCE — John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations, will present “Threats to American Security: A Closer Look at the World’s Trouble Spots” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, at the Lied Center. His appearance is the 43rd annual J.A. Vickers Sr. and Robert F. Vickers Sr. Memorial Lecture presented by the University of Kansas School of Business.
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.
Bolton currently serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he researches U.S. foreign and national security policy.
He previously served as the United States permanent representative to the United Nations. From 2001 to 2005, he served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
During his tenure at the United Nations, Bolton was an advocate of U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, push Syria out of Lebanon and bring African peacekeepers into Somalia.
With many years in public service, previous positions he has held are assistant secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State; assistant attorney general, Department of Justice; assistant administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development; and general counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development.
Bolton is a contributor to FOX News Channel, and his op-ed articles are regularly featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times.
The lecture series was created in 1969 in honor of J.A. Vickers, KU alumnus and founder of Vickers Petroleum Company in Wichita. His son, Robert, administered and coordinated the lecture until his death in 1995, when Robert’s wife, Susan, added her husband’s name to the lecture series.
Previous Vickers speakers include former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and former U.S. Sen. Robert J. Dole.