Note to editors: President F.W. de Klerk will be available for media questions on the day of the lecture in the Nichols Room of the Bryant Conference Center between 8:40 and 8:55 a.m. Friday, Oct. 17. A mult. box will be available to the media for filming all or parts of de Klerk's public address. For more information, contact Marc Shook at 205/348-7036 or mhshook@sa.ua.edu.

Former South African President F.W. de Klerk will deliver the Frank A. Nix lecture at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at The University of Alabama's Bryant Conference Center.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – President F.W. de Klerk, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped bring majority rule to South Africa, will speak at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at Sellers Auditorium in the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama campus.

De Klerk will deliver the 2008 Frank A. Nix Lecture, a program of UA’s Blackburn Institute. The lecture, titled “Bridging the Gap: Globalization Without Isolation,” is free and open to the public.

In addition to the lecture, de Klerk will meet with Fellows of the Blackburn Institute, a UA program that seeks to develop a network of leaders who have a clear understanding of the challenges that face the state of Alabama. About 25 Blackburn Fellows are chosen each year from among the finest undergraduate and graduate students at UA.

Focused on exploring ethical leadership in the national arena, the biennial Frank A. Nix Lecture complements the Blackburn Institute’s mission of forming a network of ethical leaders who both understand contemporary issues and work toward progressive change in Alabama as well as the world. The lectures are named in honor of the late Frank A. Nix, a prominent Alabama business leader and member of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

De Klerk was inaugurated as state president of South Africa in 1989 and served until President Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in May 1994. During this period, he initiated and presided over the inclusive negotiations that led to the dismantling of apartheid and the adoption of South Africa’s first fully democratic constitution in December 1993. In July 1993, together with Mandela, de Klerk received the Philadelphia Peace Prize, and in December 1993, he was the co-recipient, also with Mandela, of the Nobel Peace Prize.

For more information on the lecture, phone the Blackburn Institute at 205/348-3277 or go to www.blackburninstitute.org/2008nixlecture.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA’s vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.