Former Sen. George J. Mitchell will be Bryan Distinguished Visiting Professor in February 2004

Former U.S. Senator and renowned peace negotiator George J. Mitchell will visit Guilford as a Bryan Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Arts, Humanities and Public Affairs Feb. 19. He will meet with students and faculty in the afternoon and deliver a public lecture at 8 p.m. in Dana Auditorium. Admission is free and seating begins at 7 p.m.

Mitchell, a Maine native and graduate of Bowdoin College, served in the U.S. Senate from 1980-95, including the last six years as Majority Leader. He was appointed to complete the un-expired term of Edmund Muskie, who resigned to become Secretary of State, and was elected to full terms in 1982 and 1988.

While in the Senate, Mitchell led the Senate to passage of the nation's first childcare bill and was principal author of the low-income housing tax credit program. He was instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and a higher education bill, and he led the Senate to ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement and creation of the World Trade Organization.

He served on the Senate's Finance, Veterans Affairs and Environment and Public Works Committees.

Mitchell served as chairman of the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland, and under his leadership, the governments of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the political parties of Northern Ireland agreed upon an historic accord ending decades of conflict. In May 1998, the voters of Ireland, North and South, in a referendum, overwhelmingly endorsed the agreement.

For his service in Northern Ireland, Mitchell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor that the U.S. Government can give, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Truman Institute Peace Prize, the German Peace Prize and the United Nations Peace Prize.

At the request of the governments of the United States and Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Mitchell served as chairman of an international fact finding committee on violence in the Middle East.

Following graduation from Bowdoin in 1954, he served in Berlin, Germany, as an officer in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps until 1956. He received an LLB degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1960. From 1960-62 he was a trial lawyer in the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. From 1962-65 he served as executive assistant to Sen. Muskie.

In 1965 he returned to Maine where he engaged in the private practice of law in Portland until 1977. He was then appointed U.S. District Attorney for Maine, a position he held until 1979, when he was appointed U.S. District Judge for Maine.

Mitchell is the author of four books. With his colleague, Sen. Bill Cohen of Maine, he wrote Men of Zeal, describing the Iran-Contra investigation. In 1990, he wrote World on Fire, describing the threat of the greenhouse effect and recommending steps to curb it. His next book was Not For America Alone:  The Triumph of Democracy and The Fall of Communism. In 1999, Mitchell wrote Making Peace, an account of his experience in Northern Ireland.

Mitchell's visit will follow Bryan Series lectures in the fall of 2003 that include Dr. Sherwin Nuland Sept. 9, Edward Albee Oct. 1 and 2, Ken Burns Nov. 6 and Sidney Poitier Dec. 2. The fall programs have the theme of "Arts and the Human Experience." 

The Bryan Series is funded by Guilford trustee and alumnus Joseph M. Bryan Jr. and the former Kathleen Price Bryan Family Fund. Previous speakers have included Thomas Friedman (1996), Colin Powell (1999), Bill Bradley (2000), Madeleine Albright (2001), Ralph Nader (2002) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (2003).

For more information about the Bryan Series, call 316-2308 or visit www.guilford.edu/bryanseries.

Feb. 19, 2003