American Foreign Policy Expert Is Latest Speaker in ODU President’s Lecture Series

April 12, 2013

Joseph S. Nye Jr.

In the latest installment of the Old Dominion University President's Lecture Series, acclaimed American foreign policy expert Joseph S. Nye Jr. will speak on April 23. Nye's lecture, which is being held in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of ODU's Graduate Program in International Studies, begins at 7:30 p.m. in the North Cafeteria of Webb Center. It is free and open to the public.

Nye will speak on the "President and American Foreign Policy." His discussion will examine whether America would still have become the dominant country in the 20th century regardless of who was president and what lessons can be drawn regarding leadership and foreign policy in this century.

The ODU President's Lecture Series features speakers who share their knowledge, experiences, opinions and accomplishments. Past speakers have included scientists, writers, educators, historians, Pulitzer Prize winners and other prominent figures.

Nye is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and former dean of the Kennedy School of Government. From 1977-79, he served as deputy undersecretary of state and chaired the National Security Council Group on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. From 1993-95, Nye served in various positions that included: chair of the National Intelligence Council, which prepares intelligence estimates for the president, and assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

In a 2008 poll of 2,700 international relations scholars, Nye was listed as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy. Another poll, in 2011, rated him the fourth most influential scholar in international relations over the past 20 years, and Foreign Policy magazine named Nye among the "Top 100 Global Thinkers."

During his career, Nye has published 13 academic books, a novel and more than 200 articles in professional and policy-related journals. His most recent books include: "Soft Power," "The Powers to Lead" and "The Future of Power," which The Economist called "rigorous and convincing." Nye's newest book, "Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era," will be published in May.

Nye is a fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy and the American Academy of Diplomacy in addition to being an honorary fellow of Exeter College, in Oxford, England. He has been a recipient of the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson Award, the Charles Merriam Award from the American Political Science Association, France's Palmes Academiques and various honorary degrees.

Nye graduated summa cum laude from Princeton in 1958 and did postgraduate work at Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard, where he joined the faculty in 1964.

For more information about Nye's lecture, or to RSVP, go to odu.edu/univevents and use event code JNL13.