Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, news analyst for NBC and MSNBC, and a five-term member of Congress from 1997 to 2007, will deliver the Elon University School of Law fall 2009 Joseph M. Bryan Distinguished Leadership Lecture on Thursday evening in Greensboro.
The lecture will be held downtown at the historic Carolina Theatre beginning at 7 p.m.
While serving five terms in Congress over a span of ten years, Ford served on the Financial Services and Budget Committees, and was a member of the New Democrat Coalition, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Blue Dog Coalition.
Since being named Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council in January of 2007, Ford has advocated for federal policies to promote innovation in the U.S. automobile industry, for a greater focus on national education reform, and for a federal initiative to encourage voluntary national service, saying, “devoting a year or more to national service, whether military or civilian, should become a countrywide rite of passage, and the common expectation and widespread experience of virtually every young American.”
Ford is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a B.A. in American history, and the University of Michigan Law School.
Ford also serves on the Pentagon’s Transformation Advisory Group (TAG), on the board of overseers at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Joseph M. Bryan Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series is an integral part of Elon University School of Law’s commitment to develop lawyers who are also leaders. Endowed through a generous gift from the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greensboro, N.C., the Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series brings accomplished leaders from a variety of disciplines to Elon to share their experiences and perspectives with students and faculty.