Contact: Sammy McDavid
The veteran Mississippi State faculty member who founded the state's first university-based program in international and strategic studies will be honored Nov. 20 in Jackson by the Mississippi World Trade Center Inc.
History professor Janos Radvanyi, holder of MSU's Radvanyi Chair for International Studies, is being recognized during the MWTC's annual meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The former Hungarian diplomat will receive the organization's 2002 Guy Tozzoli "Peace through Trade" Distinguished International Leadership Award, a major tribute named for the long-time president of the New York-based World Trade Centers Association.
In 1982, Radvanyi founded and became the first director of the Starkville institution's Center for International Security and Strategic Studies. After retiring in the late 1990s, he became the first holder of the chair, or endowed professorship, that the university had named in his honor.
Twenty years earlier, Radvanyi had been the head of his communist country's diplomatic mission to Washington, D.C. After five years in the post, political differences with his government caused Radvanyi to seek political asylum in the United States. After relocating to California and completing a doctorate at Stanford University, he joined the MSU history department in 1971.
In 1994, Radvanyi was recognized by the new Republic of Hungary for his efforts through the MSU center to help his native country begin to erase nearly 40 years of communist mismanagement. The Award for Development of Foreign Economy cited his role in strengthening Hungary's ties with the U.S. and Japan.
Today at MSU, the Radvanyi Chair devotes its attention to critical world problems, with special emphasis on the complex security issues of the post-communist era. Through its Jackson-based Executive Lecture Forum, state business executives, academicians and government leaders participate in an information-sharing program that features internationally prominent individuals in the diplomatic, defense and related professions.
For additional information on other events at the 2002 Mississippi World Trade Center meeting, contact executive director Barbara Travis at (601) 353-0909 or btravis@mississippi.org.