Dr. Keith Gaddie will deliver the annual Lou Watkins Endowed Lectureship at 7 p.m. Tuesday [OCT. 9] at East Central University. The free lecture will be held in the Estep Multimedia Center in the University Center and is open to the public.
Gaddie will discuss "Ambition's Edge: Moving On Up." He is a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma where he has taught since 1996. He is the author or coauthor of eight books and more than 120 articles and papers related to aspects of politics, public opinion and public policy analysis, including "Born to Run: Origins of the Political Career," upon which his lecture will be based.
"We are tremendously excited to have Dr. Gaddie deliver this year's Watkins lecture," said Dr. Christine Pappas, ECU associate professor of political science. "He's a remarkably entertaining public speaker and he will draw on many examples from his experience in doing research on Oklahoma candidates and officeholders."
The purpose of the lectureship, which honors Lou Watkins, former chair of ECU's political science department, is to bring recognized authorities to ECU to address subjects of public interest at the local, state or national level.
The lectureship is funded by interest earned from an endowment through the East Central University Foundation Inc.
Watkins began teaching at ECU in 1980 and became chair of the political science department in 1985. In 1991, she and her husband, former U.S. Rep. Wes Watkins, moved to Stillwater where she is president of World Export Services Inc. She is the current chair of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents.
Additional information is available by calling the ECU Political Science program at 580-559-5780.
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