Noted environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will deliver the inaugural Farris Lecture at the University of Central Arkansas on Wednesday, Sept. 19.
The event, which will be free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus. After his address, entitled “Crimes Against Nature,” Kennedy will participate in a question-and-answer session with the audience, and a book signing will follow.
The Farris Lecture is a new endowed lecture series established through a gift to the UCA Foundation from UCA alumna Elizabeth Farris and Dr. William Sorrels. It is named in honor of Farris’ father, former UCA President Jeff Farris Jr., during whose tenure the UCA Honors College was founded 25 years ago by Norbert Schleder. This year’s event also serves as the UCA Centennial Lecture for the Honors College.
An invitation-only reception will take place at 5 p.m. in UCA’s Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center, which adjoins Reynolds Performance Hall.
For more information about the lecture and related activities, call the UCA Honors College at (501) 450-3198.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. Kennedy was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn more than 125 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe.
Kennedy serves as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio. Earlier in his career, he served as assistant district attorney in New York City. He has worked on several political campaigns, including the presidential campaigns of Edward M. Kennedy in 1980, Al Gore in 2000, and John Kerry in 2004.
Among Kennedy’s published books are the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature (2004); The Riverkeepers (1997); and Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr: A Biography (1977). His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Nation, Outside magazine, the Village Voice, and many other publications. His award-winning articles have been included in anthologies of America?s best crime writing, best political writing and best science writing.
Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation, he attended Pace University School of Law, where he was awarded a master’s degree in environmental law.
