Final Sánchez Lecture for Year Set Wednesday at TAMIU

The final installment in the Texas A&M International University 2003 - 2004 A.R. Sánchez Distinguished Lecture Series will be held on Wednesday, April 14 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom, room 203.

Dr. Robert D. Richardson, author of Emerson: The Mind on Fire, will present "Emerson and Thoreau: Concord's Most Famous Friendship." Admission to the lecture is free and open to the community.

A well-respected author, Richardson will discuss the lifetime relationship between Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who shaped American philosophy, religion and literature. In addition to examining their shared thoughts, Richardson will also explain how the friendship suffered, and the results of disagreements.

Richardson received his Ph.D. in English and American literature from Harvard University. He earned his A.B. in English, with highest honors, from Harvard College.

Richardson has taught across the country, including at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Wesleyan University, Yale University, University of Colorado, Harvard University and was a visiting professor at Sichuan University in the People's Republic of China.

In addition to Emerson: The Mind on Fire, Richardson has written several books, including Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind, and Literature and Film. His book Emerson won several awards, including the Francis Parkman Prize, the Washington Irving Award for Literacy Excellence, the Dictionary of Literary Biography Award for a Distinguished Literary Biography and the New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 1995.

Next year's A.R. Sánchez Distinguished Lecture Series will include Dr. Kenneth R. Miller, author of the best-selling book Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground between God and Evolution. Dr. Miller is a leading biologist at Brown University.

Also scheduled to speak are Dr. Rodolfo O. de la Garza, political science professor at Columbia University and authority on the Latino vote, and Dr. Friouz Naderi, leading scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Cal., who will discuss Mars exploration.

The lecture series honors Antonio R. Sánchez Sr. and is presented through the vision and generosity of Mr. and Mrs. A.R. Sánchez Jr.

For further information, please contact the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at 326-2460, or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, 429.

University office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.