Grand Valley State University alumnus and Muskegon native, John Beyrie, will speak at the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center on June 8 from 1-3 p.m.
The seminar, hosted at MAREC’s Lakeshore Museum Center, is titled “Crossing Borders”. Beyrie will speak to the importance of cross-cultural studies and exchanges, the event hosted in conjunction an exhibition that honors his late father – a World War II paratrooper and decorated war hero, Joe Beyrie – that will open at the Lakeshore Museum Center the following day.
After completing his studies in GVSU’s Russian Studies program, John Beyrie has served as a diplomat for the U.S. State Department since 1983 and as the ambassador to Russia from 2008-2012. GVSU awarded Beyrie with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009, and the 1975 alumnus was the university’s winter commencement speaker in 1997.
Along with Beyrie, Gregory Guroff will speak at “Crossing Borders”. Guroff is currently the president of the Maryland-based Foundation for International Arts & Education, and is a former State Department Russian affairs specialist.
The event is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to register. For more information, call the Lakeshore Museum Center at (231) 722-0278 or visit www.LakeshoreMuseum.org.