President of Costa Rica presenting Landon Lecture at Kansas State University
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016
MANHATTAN — Luis Guillermo Solís, president of Costa Rica, has joined the lineup of Landon Lectures at Kansas State University for spring 2016.
Solís' lecture will be Thursday, May 19, in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. The time of the lecture will be announced later.
"The Landon Lecture Series has a long history of bringing international leaders to the university, so we're pleased to add President Solís to this distinguished list," said Jackie Hartman, the university's chief of staff, director of community relations and chair of the Landon Lecture Series.
Elected president of Costa Rica in 2014, Solís has a long background in education and politics. He studied history at the University of Costa Rica, going on to earn a master's degree in Latin American studies from Tulane University. He was an associate professor of history at the University of Costa Rica from 1981-1987, serving as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Michigan from 1983-1985. He also worked at Florida Atlantic University where he was coordinator of the Center for the Administration Justice and a researcher for the Latin American and Caribbean Center.
His political experience includes serving as an official of Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as ambassador for Central American affairs and director of foreign policy. Solís has published more than 10 books and written many articles for newspapers and magazines.
Solís will be the second Costa Rican president to give a Landon Lecture, joining Oscar Arias Sanchez who spoke in 1987.
Solís' lecture will wrap up a busy spring of speakers for the historic lecture series. Three lectures are scheduled in April:
• Historian and author H.W. Brands, 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in McCain Auditorium.
• Political pundits John Avlon and Margaret Hoover, 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, in McCain Auditorium.
• PepsiCo vice chairman and chief scientific officer, global research and development, Dr. Mehmood Khan, 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 25, in McCain Auditorium.
