Former UN ambassador to give Weatherspoon Lecture at Kenan-Flagler Jan. 30

Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will give a free public lecture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday, Jan. 30.
The 5:30 p.m. talk at the Kenan-Flagler Business School's Koury Auditorium is the annual Weatherspoon Lecture and kicks off the spring season of the Dean's Speaker Series. Free parking will be available in the business school parking deck. To RSVP to the lecture or for questions, call (919) 843-7787 or email kfbsrsvp@unc.edu.
Khalilzad served as the 26th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 through 2009. He is the highest-ranking Muslim in federal government in U.S. history.
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, President Bush came to rely on Khalilzad's regional expertise in the early stages of planning to overthrow the Taliban. Khalilzad served as special presidential envoy to Afghanistan until 2003, when he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. He oversaw the drafting of Afghanistan's constitution and was involved with the country's first elections. Later, as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, he was instrumental in getting the Sunni Arabs to participate in the political process and move away from al-Qaida.
The Weatherspoon Lecture was created with a generous gift from longtime UNC-Chapel Hill and Kenan-Flagler supporters Van and Kay Weatherspoon. The series provides lectures by outstanding visiting scholars and world leaders from the fields of politics, education, business and government. The purpose of these lectures is to enrich the professional lives of members of the Kenan-Flagler community and provoke interesting discussion and debate.