Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow arrives March 23

Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature, will be a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow at Radford University March 23-25.

Cortese is scheduled to give a public lecture at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 25 in the College of Business and Economics Building, room 320. He will speak about "The Role of Higher Education in Creating a Healthy, Just and Sustainable Society."

During his three-day visit to campus, Cortese will also meet with numerous classes and take a campus sustainability tour.

Cortese's organization, Second Nature, a Boston-based nonprofit that promotes sustainability at colleges and universities.

Cortese serves as the co-director of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. In 2009, RU President Penelope W. Kyle signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment pledge, which binds the university to evaluate its carbon emissions from greenhouse gases.

In addition, Cortese is the cofounder for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and the Higher Education Association Sustainability Consortium. He once served as commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

"We are really excited to have Dr. Cortese visit RU campus," said Recycling Coordinator Pavan Muddanna. "Through his experience in this field, we could learn a lot about sustainability ideas and implement those ideas here at Radford University and in our daily lives."

The Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program, which is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) in Washington, D.C., brings prominent artists, diplomats, journalists, business leaders and other professionals to campuses across the United States for a residential program of classes, seminars, workshops, lectures and informal discussions.

For more than 35 years, Visiting Fellows have been introducing students and faculty members at liberal arts colleges to a wide range of perspectives on life, society, community and achievement. The Visiting Fellows program is available to all four-year colleges and universities.