Author and businesswoman Jill Ker Conway will give a presentation titled “The Next 50 Years in the World,” at 7 p.m. at the L.V. Eberhard Center, second floor. The lecture is free and open to the public, and a Q&A session, book signing and reception will follow the lecture.

The lecture will be the first of three GVSU 50th Anniversary lecture events and is part of the 2010 Fall Arts Celebration Distinguished Academic Lecture series.

“We were interested in taking a look at the next 50 years, not looking backwards,” said Jon Jellema, associate vice president for academic affairs and chair of the 50th anniversary speakers committee. “The committee wanted speakers that could look forward.”

The committee selected Conway for the global perspective she could provide due to her academic credentials and diverse life experience in writing, academics and business.

“Every student, and I include myself in that category, should be interested in learning from a person who has direct experience in many realms,” Jellema said. “She is a wise person who speaks with a voice of experience — as an author, businesswoman, academic and college president. If I was a physics student and a physicist was coming to speak, I would want to hear them. It is the life experience that she brings that would interest me as a student.”

Born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1934, Conway was raised in isolation on her family’s land. After her father’s passing, Conway enrolled in public school in Sydney. She was teased for her British accent and manners, so her mother moved her to a private girl’s school.

“She thrived and blossomed there,” Jellema said. “It was there she first learned that women could achieve. She knew she really had the ability and talent, but she ran into situations where male-dominated organizations would say ‘no.’”

Since then, Conway has graduated with honors from the University of Sydney and earned her Ph.D. in history at Harvard. She has 39 honorary degrees from North American and Australian colleges and became the first female president of Smith College for 10 years from 1975 to 1985. She previously served as director for Merrill Lynch & Co. and Lend Lease Corp. She is the current director for Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Nike, Inc.

“I believe our students will benefit from hearing in person about her ability to overcome adversity, her leadership skills and, most importantly, her focus on women and gender issues,” said Teri Losey, chair of the 50th anniversary committee and the Fall Arts Celebration.

Conway has also written more than 20 books, including best-selling autobiographies and memoirs. Many of her works have an emphasis on women’s education and empowerment.

“I appreciate her style of writing,” Losey said. “It is very descriptive and engaging. As a woman in higher education administration, I have appreciated learning about the challenges and paths that she took to get to a leadership role.”

The other 50th anniversary speakers will be Paul Hillegonds, former speaker of the Michigan House and current senior vice president of corporate affairs at DTE Energy, and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Hillegonds will present “The Next 50 Years in Michigan” on Feb. 16, and Burns will speak about “The Next 50 Years in the United States” on April 21.

Jellema said the goal of the three lecture events is to “look at where the university is going to go, what the world is going to be, what needs the world will have and how the university is going to meet them.”

“We wanted the speakers to look ahead and be inspiring by character and achievement,” she added. “All three speakers have those traits in common. They are accomplished and articulate. If students went to all three speakers, they would be much better informed about the world and its possibilities.”

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