James Baker to Speak at Pitt Ambassadors Scholarship Dinner Feb. 26

February 21, 2002

PITTSBURGH—Former United States Secretary of State James A. Baker III will deliver a speech titled America's Role in the World After the Terrorist Attacks at the by-invitation-only Pitt Ambassadors Scholarship Dinner the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the ballroom of Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh.

The event is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Pitt Ambassadors, a partnership between administrative members of the University and individuals of the Western Pennsylvania business community, all of whom share a commitment to the continued growth of the region's economy through education and research programs.

Each year, Pitt Ambassadors awards two four-year scholarships to students from Pittsburgh-area high schools "who have made significant contributions to their schools and communities" and choose to attend the University.

Born in Houston, Tex., in 1930, Baker was graduated from Princeton University and earned the J.D. degree with honors from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. He served two years of active duty as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

His public service began in 1975 as Under Secretary of Commerce in the Ford Administration. In the Reagan Administration, Baker served as Secretary of the Treasury, chair of the President's Economic Policy Council, and White House Chief of Staff. He was President George H.W. Bush's Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992. In 1997, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Baker personal envoy to mediate direct talks between the parties over the Western Sahara dispute.

Baker is now a senior partner in the Baker Botts law firm and senior counselor to The Carlyle Group. He serves as honorary chair of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and serves on the boards of both Rice and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He and his wife, the former Susan Garrett, reside in Houston.

Among the speakers at past Pitt Ambassadors Scholarship dinners have been former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, Vice President Dick Cheney, former President Bush, retired General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, and retired Senator Robert J. Dole.

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