UMPI speaker to talk on global warming

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host Dr. Robert Musil – who served as the head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Physicians for Social Responsibility – as its next Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.     Musil will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, in the Campus Center. His talk, “Hope for a Heated Planet: You are the leaders we have been waiting for,” is part of the University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series and is being held in conjunction with University Day.
He will be on campus during the week of his talk to meet with students, classes and the community to discuss issues on global warming, how Americans can find hope,\ and why students are ready now to lead us. On Thursday, April 17, he will visit with students at the Houlton Higher Education Center.
A Scholar in Residence at American University’s School of International Studies, Musil served until 2006 as the longtime head of Physicians for Social Responsibility, which won the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. A leader in national peace, nuclear disarmament and environmental movements, he is the author of Changing the Climate: Healing, Humanity and Hope for a Heated Planet (Rutgers University Press, forthcoming), as well as former executive producer and host of the nationally-syndicated radio program Consider the Alternatives. He has organized educational and lobbying campaigns and led NGO delegations and coalitions on climate, toxic chemicals and nuclear weapons in Washington, at the United Nations and at various international summits and negotiations.
A popular teacher and media spokesman, he specializes in contemporary global security, sustainability and health issues, social change movements and war/peace issues. Musil has also taught at Northwestern, Temple, La Salle and St. Joseph’s universities and serves on the boards of the Environmental Alliance, Population Connection, 20/20 Vision, the Council for a Livable World and the Herbert R. Scoville Peace Fellowships.
The Visiting Fellows Program, sponsored by The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, is designed to encourage the flow of ideas between the academic and non-academic sectors of society. Typically the Fellows spend a week on campus speaking to classes and meeting informally with students, faculty, staff and community members. UMPI has been a member since fall 2001.
Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows are successful journalists, public servants, diplomats, artists and business executives who spend a week in classes, lectures and informal discussion, helping to relate a liberal education to American society. A growing number of Fellows are knowledgeable about environmental affairs, medical ethics and the nonprofit sector.