George McGovern, former U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate, speaking at Berea College Oct. 23

Sponsored by Berea College Convocations and Berea’s Entrepreneurship for the Public Good program, the event is free and open to the public.

McGovern has served his nation in a number of different capacities over his celebrated lifetime: WWII bomber pilot, U.S. Representative, U.S. senator, and presidential nominee. A celebrated humanitarian, he was also the first director of the Food for Peace Program and founded the McGovern Family Foundation, which raises funds for research on alcoholism, the disease that caused his daughter’s tragic death. Senator McGovern is a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner and the first United Nations Ambassador on World Hunger.

McGovern is also a prolific author, having written on a variety of subjects. His books include The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time, Terry: My Daughter’s Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism, and his most recent title, Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now.

He also is the co-author of a new college textbook for emerging leaders, “Leadership and Service: An Introduction (2008).” Among those who contributed chapters to the book is Dr. Daniel Huck, William R. Gruver Chair of Leadership Studies and Co-Director of the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good (EPG) Program at Berea College.

A native of South Dakota, McGovern was elected to Congress from his home state in 1956 and reelected in 1958. After McGovern lost his first bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960, President John F. Kennedy named him the first director of the Food for Peace Program and Special Assistant to the President. McGovern was then elected to the Senate in 1962 and reelected in 1968 and 1974. As a member of the Senate committees on agriculture, nutrition, forestry and foreign relations, and the Joint Economic Committee, he led the way in expanding key nutrition programs.

In 1972, Senator McGovern was selected as the Democratic Party nominee for president, running against incumbent Republican Richard Nixon who won the election. In 1976, President Gerald Ford named McGovern a United Nations delegate to the General Assembly, and, in 1978, President Jimmy Carter named him a United Nations delegate for the Special Session on Disarmament. After leaving the Senate in 1980, McGovern was a visiting professor at numerous institutions, including Columbia University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, American University and the University of Berlin. He served as the president of the Middle East Policy Council from 1991 to 1998, when President Clinton appointed him ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. In 2001 he was appointed the first United Nations global ambassador on hunger.

In this position, McGovern continues his leadership in the battle against world hunger. McGovern has received many honorary degrees and distinguished awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, which was bestowed upon him by President Bill Clinton on August 9, 2000. In 2008, he and Senator Bob Dole were named the 2008 World Food Prize Laureates for their work to promote school-feeding programs globally.

Read more about George McGovern at his myspace page: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=113958578&blogID=297944078