IBC Speaker Series at TAMIU Nov 12 Focuses on US, México

The next installment of the Texas A&M International University A. R. Sanchez Jr. School of Business Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade International Bank of Commerce 2008/2009 Keynote Speaker Series will explore one of the many relationships between the U.S. and México. Todd Huizinga will present “The U.S. and México: Strategic Partners at the Border and Beyond” Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Western Hemispheric Trade Center Fernando A. Salinas Lecture Room (WHTC 111).

This event is free and open to the public.

Huizinga currently serves as the public affairs officer for the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, México. He serves as the Consulate spokesman and is responsible for relations with the media and cultural affairs.

Huizinga served as first secretary at the U.S. Mission to the European Union where he was responsible for relations with the European Parliament and for promoting U.S. interests related to Latin America, the United Nations, Iraq and Iran. He also served in the Department of State in Washington, D.C., as a political officer in the Office of European Union Affairs, Consul for Political and Economic Affairs in the U.S. Consulate General in Hamburg, Germany and as vice consul in San José, Costa Rica and Frankfurt, Germany.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Huizinga worked as a business consultant in the U.S. and Europe and as a German teacher at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Huizinga speaks German, Dutch, Spanish and French. He holds a master’s in German literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The next lecture in the Series is “Western Hemispheric Travel Initiative” with David Stone, U.S. Consulate, Nuevo Laredo, México, and Eugenio Garza, director, Department of Homeland Security/Customs and Border Protection, Port Laredo, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, please contact Amy Palacios at the Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade at 326.2820, visit offices in WHTC 222E, e-mail amy@tamiu.edu or visit freetrade.tamiu.edu

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

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu