Williams College to Host Panel in Honor of James MacGregor Burns

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., October 23, 2014—A panel of distinguished scholars will discuss the current state of American political leadership in an event to honor the memory and scholarly contributions of James MacGregor Burns, who died in July 2014. This event, which is part one of a two-part series, will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. in Griffin Hall, room 3. A question-and-answer session will follow. The panel is free and open to the public.

The panel includes Bruce Miroff, professor of political science and Collins Fellow at the State University of New York at Albany; Sidney Milkis, White Burkett Miller Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia; and Joseph Ellis, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership Studies at Williams College.

Burns, Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government, Emeritus, graduated from Williams College in 1939 and went on to earn his Ph.D. at Harvard University. He joined the Williams faculty in 1947 as a professor of American political history. Burns founded the field of leadership studies and served as president of the American Political Science Association and the International Society of Political Psychology. Williams bestowed on him both an honorary degree and a Bicentennial Medal. He retired in 1986.

Burns was the author of more than two dozen books, including the American politics textbook Government by the People and Leadership, the work credited with launching leadership studies. His work on F.D.R. has received both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. Burns died on July 15, 2014, at the age of 95.

Part two of this series will be held Thursday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. A panel of scholars will discuss Vladimir Putin from the perspectives of Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian politics and modern political leadership.

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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map

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Published October 23, 2014