Fairfield University's 2010 Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center Lecture in Judaic Studies to be delivered by former Ambassador to Israel Martin S. Indyk

Fairfield University's 2010 Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center Lecture in Judaic Studies to be delivered by former Ambassador to Israel Martin S. Indyk

Image: Martin S. Indyk Middle East expert Martin S. Indyk, Ph. D., vice president and director for Foreign Policy at The Brookings Institution and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, will deliver Fairfield University's 2010 Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center Lecture in Judaic Studies, on Tuesday, March 2 at 8 p.m.

Dr. Indyk will lend his considerable expertise to a talk entitled, "Will There Ever Be Peace in the Middle East?" A former ambassador to Israel and assistant secretary of state for near east affairs during the Clinton administration, he is an expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict; Iran, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf; Algeria, Libya, and North Africa. Dr. Indyk has advised numerous U.S. secretaries of state.

U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, is a sponsor of the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center Lecture in Judaic Studies, which is a program of the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies. The lecture has brought renowned speakers to the University, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and most recently, General Wesley, K. Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

Dr. Indyk has long been considered among the foremost authorities on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Stressing the United States needs to work for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Dr. Indyk told The New York Times last year: "It will need to be a way that is less naïve in its assumptions, more modest in its ambitions, more humble in its approach and more imaginative in its anticipation of what can go wrong."

As ambassador, Dr. Indyk served two tours in Israel - the first during the Rabin years (1995 to 1997), and the second (2000 to June 2001) during efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace and stem the violence of the intifadah. Prior to his first assignment in Israel, Dr. Indyk served as special assistant to President Clinton and as senior director of near east and south asian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). While at the NSC, he served as principal adviser to the President and the National Security Adviser on Arab-Israeli issues, Iraq, Iran and South Asia.

He was a senior member of Secretary of State Warren Christopher's Middle East peace team and served as the White House representative on the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission. During the second Clinton Administration, he was appointed assistant secretary of state for near east affairs, responsible for Middle East policy under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

He has been an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and has also taught at the Middle East Institute of Columbia University, the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University, and Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The author of the book, "Innocent Abroad," Dr. Indyk received a bachelor of economics degree from Sydney University and a doctorate in international relations from the Australian National University.

Presented by Fairfield University's Carl & Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies, the event will take place at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, on the Fairfield campus. Tickets are $25. Call the Box Office at (203) 254-4010 or the toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information on the Bennett Center, visit fairfield.edu/judaic .

Posted On: 02-18-2010 10:02 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 200