Former Secretary of State to receive prestigious Hauenstein Fellowship

The Colonel Ralph W. Hauenstein Fellowship Medal, one of Grand Valley State University’s most prestigious awards, will be presented to former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III on July 14. 

The award presentation will follow Baker’s keynote address at the 2014 William E. Simon Lecture in Public Affairs, a series established by President Gerald R. Ford in 1988. 

Baker’s speech and award ceremony will follow a wreath-laying at the Ford Presidential Museum that will commemorate President Ford’s 101st birthday. 

Schedule of events:

10 a.m.: Wreath-laying ceremony, Ford Presidential Museum, presented by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation

Noon: 2014 William E. Simon Lecture with special guest Susan Ford Bales, Ambassador Ballroom, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

Presentation of the Col. Ralph W. Hauenstein Fellowship Medal will follow Baker’s lecture

Tickets for the luncheon are $35. Register at: http://gvsu.edu/s/Fz

Baker served as Chief of Staff in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and served as Secretary of State under Bush from 1989 until 1992. 

Past recipients of the Col. Ralph W. Hauenstein Fellowship include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, and President Gerald R. Ford (posthumously). 

The Col. Ralph W. Hauenstein Fellowship was created in recognition of Col. Hauenstein’s extraordinary life, which exemplifies the service and leadership that Grand Valley State University seeks to inspire in its graduates.

The William E. Simon Lecture in Public Affairs series is endowed by William Simon’s gift to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. Simon served as Secretary of the Treasury during the Nixon and Ford administrations. He established this lecture series stating, “These lectures can make a significant, continuing contribution to public debate on how to preserve and strengthen the institutions of our free society.” In acknowledging William Simon’s gift, President Ford said, “Bill Simon’s generosity makes possible a top quality program, featuring outstanding national figures. Their insight on domestic and international issues will foster better public understanding of today’s critical policy problems.”

Past Simon lecturers: William Simon (1988); Henry Kissinger (1990); Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President of Mexico; (1993); Alan Greenspan (1996); David McCullough (1999); Michael Beschloss (2001); Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft (2006); Roger Wilkins (2006); Richard Norton Smith (2008); David Broder (2008); Justice John Paul Stevens (2011), Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret.) (2012); Jon Meacham (2013).