The Denison University Lecture Series will host former presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader to discuss "World Trade, Globalization and You: Bigger is Not Better." This convocation, set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 21) in Swasey Chapel, is free and open to the public. Nader was recently honored by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th Century. He last appeared at Denison in April of 1991, also under the sponsorship of the Denison Lecture Series.

Nader has devoted his life to giving ordinary people the tools they need to defend themselves against corporate negligence and government indifference. In 1965 he criticized the auto industry in his bookUnsafe at Any Speed, an expose of the disregard carmakers held for the safety of their customers, and gained national attention during the subsequent Senate hearings. Buoyed by that success, Nader went on to have an instrumental role in the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Nader worked with Congress in the drafting and passing of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Meat and Poultry Inspection Rules, the Air and Water Pollution Control Laws and the Freedom of Information Act. He also formed numerous citizen groups to empower the average American including the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, the Pension Rights Center, the National Coalition for Universities in the Public Interest and the student public interest research groups (PIRGs).

Nader believes that Republicans and Democrats now maintain very little ideological separation and organized a presidential campaign in 2000 as part of the Green Party. His goal is to challenge the duopoly of the two-party system and work to build a foundation for a third political party centered on a progressive political movement that rallies around issues rather than empty slogans and figureheads. The author of numerous books includingWinning the Insurance Game, Why Women Pay More, andGetting the Best From Your Doctor, Nader currently is working with college alumni classes to expand their efforts beyond parties and reunions to community projects that advance social justice.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575