Michael K. Young, president of Texas A&M University, will give a talk titled “Freedom of Religion and the Global Growth of Democracy” on April 5.
The lecture will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center and is part of the “Mosbacher Conversations in Public Policy” series, co-sponsored by the Mosbacher Institute for Economics, Trade, and Public Policy and the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, both at the Bush School of Government and Public Service.
A reception preceding the event will begin at 5:00 p.m.
Prior to becoming the 25th president of Texas A&M, on May 1, 2015, Young served as president of the University of Washington, a position he had held since 2011. He has more than three decades of teaching, research and leadership experience in higher education and has taught at the law schools of Columbia University and the University of Utah. Young also served as dean of the George Washington University Law School and has been a visiting professor and scholar at three universities in Japan.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Young has broad experience across legal, public service and diplomatic arenas. He served as a law clerk to the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and has held a number of government positions, including deputy undersecretary for Economic and Agricultural Affairs and ambassador for Trade and Environmental Affairs in the Department of State during the administration of President George H. W. Bush.
Young worked extensively on the treaties related to German unification, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Uruguay Round negotiations leading to the World Trade Organization, as well as other international agreements. He also participated in the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development. Subsequently, President Young served eight years on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which he chaired on two separate occasions. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
The reception and event are open to the public, but registration is required.
