DR. 'PATCH' ADAMS TO SPEAK TONIGHT

The real life hero of the 1998 hit film "Patch Adams" will share his humor and zest for life in "Passion and Persistence: Following Your Dream," at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, in the Athletic Administration Building's Gymnasium. The talk, which is the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Lecture of the President's Lecture Series, is free and open to the public.

Criticized in his official medical school record for "excessive happiness," Adams combined different sides of his personality to become a physician and a clown. Inspired to become a doctor while institutionalized for depression as a teenager, he is known to dress like a gorilla or fill a room full of balloons to elicit a smile, a spiritual connection or simple moment of pleasure from a patient.

After completing his undergraduate work at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Adams received his M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and returned to D.C. for a pediatric residency at Georgetown University. In 1971, he founded the Gesundheit! Institute, a holistic health care community where humor, joy of service, creative arts and various healing traditions are integrated for patient treatment.

A professional clown since 1965, Adams has lectured around the world on humor, health care, wellness, creativity, clowning and poetry. He was the 1997 recipient of the Courage of Conscience Award.

Sponsored by the Marc and Connie Jacobson Philanthropic Foundation and named in honor of one of the legendary figures of World War II, the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Lecture features speakers who are humanitarians, balanced in their philosophical beliefs and not at either extreme of the social spectrum.

For more information, call 683-3116.