Even lunchtimes are packed with information for Penn State's Board of Trustees meeting this week in Washington, D.C. On Thursday, the trustees will have lunch at the National Press Club, where author and journalist Ron Suskind will be speaking. On Friday, they will hear from Robert Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities (AAU). Berdahl will discuss "Current Legislative Issues Affecting Research Universities" during his noon presentation to the board.
Suskind is author of several books including "The One Percent Doctrine," a journey deep inside America's battles with terrorists. He will speak extemporaneously and then stand for questions, following the National Press Club format. The National Press Club has been a part of Washington life for nearly 100 years. Press Club Luncheon speakers have included U.S. presidents, kings and queens, prime ministers, premiers, senators, congressmen, cabinet officials, ambassadors, scholars, entertainers, business leaders and athletes. Penn State President Graham B. Spanier spoke to the club in 1999. For the text of his remarks, visit http://president.psu.edu/speeches/articles/pressclub.html online.
Berdahl became president of the AAU in May 2006. Before that, he served as chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1997-2004, where he led the campus in a major effort to renew its infrastructure. The AAU was founded in 1900 by a group of 14 universities offering the doctoral degree. AAU currently consists of 60 American universities and two Canadian universities. The association assists its members in developing national policy positions on issues that relate to academic research and graduate and professional education. It also provides them with a forum for discussing a broad range of other institutional issues. Spanier, a member of the AAU's 11-member executive committee since 2003, was named chairman of the AAU in October 2007.