The lawyer, consumer-protection advocate, 2000 Green Party presidential candidate and self-described "full-time citizen," will lecture on "The American Duopoly." Following Nader's speech, he will take questions from the audience. A reception afterwards is scheduled in the Seabury Center Trustees Room.

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Nader has been a leader in the consumer-protection movement since the mid-1960s, when he campaigned against questionable manufacturing and design practices in the auto industry and published the book "Unsafe At Any Speed." His work provided the primary impetus for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Working with lawmakers and with dedicated activists who became known as "Nader's Raiders," Nader was instrumental in creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Laws he helped draft and pass include the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Meat and Poultry Inspection Rules, the Air and Water Pollution Control Laws and the Freedom of Information Act. Other issues of corporate ethics and human safety to which has had drawn national attention include environmental pollution; the dangers of atomic energy plants, health hazards in food, medicine and occupations; fraud; and the secrecy and immunities of large companies.

In his work to empower the average American, Nader has formed numerous citizen groups, including the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, the Pension Rights Center and the student public interest research groups (PIRGS) that operate in over 23 states.

In 1996 and again in 2000, Nader ran for president on the Green Party ticket, receiving 4 per cent of the national vote in last year's election. His most recent initiative has been the launching this summer of a new grassroots movement called "Democracy Rising."

Nader’s best-selling books are “Winning the Insurance Game;” “Why Women Pay More;” and “Getting the Best From Your Doctor," and more recently “The Ralph Nader Reader.” His weekly news column “In the Public Interest,” which focuses on an array of social and economic interests, appears in newspapers across the country.

Nader's appearance is sponsored by the College's Convocations program and is free of charge and open to the public.