Ralph Nader at Alfred University on March 24

Students select activist Ralph Nader as speaker in lecture series 2/22/06

Ralph Nader, two-time Green Party Presidential candidate and advocate for the environment, consumer rights and pro-democracy issues, will speak at Alfred University March 24 as part of the Student Speaker Series.

His talk, scheduled for 6 p.m. in Holmes Auditorium, Harder Hall on the Alfred University campus, will focus on consumerism and the importance of being an activist in today's society.

Admission to the event for Alfred University students is free, but tickets must be obtained March 21 at the Powell Campus Center Information Desk. If tickets for Nader's speech remain on March 22, they will be made available first to AU faculty and staff. All remaining tickets will be released to the general public beginning on Thursday, March 23.

Nader's appearance at AU is sponsored by the Student Activities Board with funding from the Student Senate. Following his speech, Nader will be available at Powell Campus Center for a reception and book-signing.

Nader, who is a consumer advocate, lawyer, and author, became a national figure with Unsafe at Any Speed: the designed-in dangers of the American Automobile, which exposed the dangers of some cars, particularly the Corvair.

According to his biography at nader.org, during Nader's career as consumer advocate, he founded many organizations including the Center for Study of Responsive Law, the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, Clean Water Action Project, the Disability Rights Center, the Pension Rights Center, the Project for Corporate Responsibility and The Multinational Monitor (a monthly magazine).

Among his recent books are The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap; Civic Arousal; In Pursuit of Justice; Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for President; The Ralph Nader Reader; Corporation Nation: How Corporations Are Taking Over Our Lives and What We Can Do About It and No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America, which he co-authored with Wesley J. Smith.

He was born in Winsted, Connecticut on Feb. 27, 1934, and received an AB magna cum laude from Princeton University in 1955 and an LLB degree, with distinction from Harvard University, in 1958. He began his career as a lawyer in Hartford, CT, in 1959.

In 1965-66 he received the Nieman Fellows award and was named one of 10 Outstanding Young Men of Year by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1967. He has been a lecturer at the University of Hartford and Princeton.