10-11-04

Swedish ambassador named Iowa State's Manatt-Phelps Lecturer; to speak Oct. 26

AMES, Iowa -- Jan Eliasson, Swedish ambassador to the United States, will present the third Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science at Iowa State University. He will speak on the European Union and the global economy at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Eliasson was named U.S. ambassador in 2000. He previously served six years as the Swedish deputy secretary of state, setting and implementing Swedish foreign policy.

From 1988 to 1992, he was Sweden's ambassador to the United Nations in New York City. While at the United Nations, Eliasson served as the secretary general's personal representative on Iran/Iraq. In 1991, he was named chairman of the General Assembly's working group on emergency relief. In 1992, he was appointed the first U.N.'s under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, overseeing operations in Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique and the Balkans.

As a diplomat, Eliasson has served in Paris, Bonn, Washington and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, he opened the first Swedish Embassy in 1980.

Thomas and Elizabeth Phelps, and Charles and Kathleen Manatt established the annual Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science. The lectures focus on significant developments in international political economy during the previous year, and how the issues affect and are affected by Iowa.

For more information, visit http://www.las.iastate.edu/newnews/manattphelps/home.shtml.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Eliasson will be available to the media from 3:15 to 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in room 302, Carrie Chapman Catt Hall. For more information, contact David Gieseke, 515-294-7742.

Quick look

Jan Eliasson, Swedish ambassador to the United States, will present the third Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science at Iowa State University. He will speak on the European Union and the global economy at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. The lecture is free and open to the public.