By Steven Krolak
(NEW ALBANY, Ind.)–Lee Hamilton, who represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 30 years, will speak at IU Southeast on October 12, 2018, at 1:15 p.m. as keynote at the Indiana Academy of Social Sciences annual meeting.
The topic of Hamilton’s speech is: “Why Should We Believe In America?”
The event is free and open to the public.
Hamilton is considered one of the nation’s foremost experts on Congress and representative democracy. He founded the Center on Congress at Indiana University in 1999 and served as its Director until 2015. After serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1965-1999), he served as president and director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. (1999-2010). Hamilton is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2015).
A leading figure on foreign policy, intelligence, and national security, Hamilton served as vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission and co-chairman of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. Until recently, he served as co-chair of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future with General Brent Scowcroft, and as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
Continuing to play a leading role in public affairs, he has been at the center of efforts to address some of our nation’s highest profile homeland security and foreign policy challenges. He is currently a member of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council
Hamilton currently serves as a distinguished scholar in the School of Global and International Studies and as professor of practice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.
Among his published works are How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, Strengthening Congress, and Congress, Presidents, and American Politics. He also writes commentaries about Congress and what individuals can do to make representative democracy work better, and is a frequent contributor to national press.
Hamilton graduated from DePauw University and Indiana University School of Law. A former high school and college basketball star, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.