Human Rights Advocate Mary Robinson to Open 2006-07 Bryan Series Sept. 21

Mary Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland and more recently United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will be the opening speaker in Guilford College's 2006-07 Bryan Series Thursday, Sept. 21, in Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium. The theme of this year's series is "Exploring our Common Humanity."

Robinson's talk is entitled "Making Human Rights the Compass for All Ethical Globalization." The event begins at 7:30 p.m. and will also feature a performance by the Guilford College Choir and a presentation of photographs by award-winning documentary photographer Colin Finlay.

Robinson is a superb example of a woman politician who puts her humanity very much at the forefront of her politics. She is currently the president of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, chairs the Council of Women World Leaders and is a member of the Global Commission on International Migration.

Her newest project, the Ethical Globalization Initiative, is supported by a partnership of the Aspen Institute, Columbia University and the Swiss-based International Council on Human Rights Policy. Its goal is to bring the norms and standards of human rights into the globalization process and to support capacity building in good governance in developing countries.

As an academic, legislator and barrister, Robinson has always sought to use law as an instrument for social change, arguing landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights as well as in the Irish courts and the European Court in Luxembourg. She was a member of the Irish Senate from 1969-89 before her election as president in 1990. Robinson served as the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002.

The recipient of numerous honors and awards throughout the world, Robinson is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the American Philosophical Society and is Honorary President of Oxfam International as well as Penal Reform International.

Single-event tickets for Robinson's talk and other Bryan Series events ($20 per seat) are on sale at the Greensboro Coliseum Advance Box Office, online at www.Tickets.com and by phone at 1-888-397-3100.

Other Bryan Series speakers this year include Pulitzer Prize-winning author and biographer David McCullough (Nov. 2) and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison (March 13). All programs are at War Memorial Auditorium.

Since 1996, the Bryan Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Arts, Humanities and Public Affairs has afforded Guilford students and the Greensboro community the opportunity to hear from national and international leaders, renowned authors and other esteemed individuals. Past Bryan Series speakers have included Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, Madeleine Albright, Sidney Poitier and Bill Bradley.

Click here for more information on the Bryan Series.

Sept. 21, 2006