GVSU helps honor native son/U.N. backer

April 28, 2005
Statue Dedication: Sen. Arthur Vandenberg
2:00 p.m. unveiling
Pearl Street and Monroe Avenue, Grand Rapids
Refreshments following at the Ford Museum

Grand Rapids native Arthur Vandenberg worked for 22 years as editor and publisher of the Grand Rapids Herald and was then appointed to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat. He held that seat until he died in 1951. A staunch isolationist in the 1930s, he later championed the United Nations.

4:00 p.m. address
Gillian Martin Sorensen
60 Years Later: Arthur Vandenberg and the Birth of the United Nations
Gerald R. Ford Museum Auditorium

Gillian Martin Sorensen is a Grand Rapids native and senior adviser at the United Nations Foundation. She is a national advocate for the United Nations and US-UN relations. She served as assistant secretary-general for external relations to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and special adviser for public policy to former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Seating for the lecture is limited. Call The Gerald R. Ford Museum at (616) 254-0367 to reserve a seat. Media call Grand Valley's News and Information Services at (616) 331-2221.

For more information on the event visit www.allpresidents.org.