MEDIA ADVISORY: Authority on India to speak in Jackson

Contact: Sammy McDavid

A former United States diplomat who now is an international authority on India and South Asia will be the May 11 featured speaker at Jackson's Executive Lecture Forum.

Walker K. Andersen's address to the capital city's ongoing world affairs program will take place during a noon luncheon at the downtown University Club. "India and the United States: A New Strategic Relationship" will be his topic.

From its inception some two decades ago, the lecture forum has been organized by the Janos Radvanyi Chair in International Security Studies at Mississippi State University.

Since 2003, Andersen has served as associate director for South Asia Studies with the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. He holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago.

Prior to joining the university faculty, Andersen spent the better part of two decades with the U.S. State Department. Special assistant to the U.S ambassador to India and head of the South Asia Division were among his diplomatic postings.

As is traditional, Executive Lecture Forums are not public events, but are open to all interested members of the news media. To ensure adequate seating, print and broadcast reporters planning to attend are asked to telephone the Radvanyi Center in advance at (662) 325-8406.