Index of University Press Releases

Oct. 27, 2008

McGovern Center announces final details
for 2008 McGovern Conference

MITCHELL, S.D. – The annual McGovern Conference at Dakota Wesleyan University, Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, will feature Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of the World Food Prize, according to Donald Simmons, director of the McGovern Center.

Sen. George McGovern, 2008 World Food Prize recipient and first United Nations Global Ambassador on Hunger, has selected a field of speakers who have done work relating to sustainable food practices. He will also serve as a speaker at the conference.

The event will be broadcast live, in its entirety, via the Internet.

Supported by a partial funding grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the conference, “Hungry for Green: Feeding the World Sustainably,” will bring together principal experts from a variety of fields to discuss the challenges faced in on-going efforts to end world hunger, while at same time producing increasing amounts of food in a profitable and environmentally friendly manner. The event is for advocates, educators, politicians, policy makers and citizens who support the development of public policy that will eliminate global hunger and environmental degradation.

Attendees will have the opportunity, along with international leaders in government, business and agriculture, to discuss practical and sustainable solutions to world hunger.

Additional speakers featured at the conference include:

Thomas L. Dobbs, professor emeritus of economics, South Dakota State University, W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Society Policy Fellow

Kathleen Frith, assistant director of the Center for Health and Global Environment at Harvard Medical School

Ivette Perfecto, professor of natural resources and environment, University of Michigan

Donald C. Simmons Jr., dean of the college of leadership and public service, and executive director and associate professor of public service and leadership at the McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University

The DWU Theatre will host a Hunger Awareness Banquet at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10. Participants will draw a ticket upon their arrival at the event which will indicate their meal: a four-course meal or a simple meal of fish and rice. The fish and rice ration is a representation of the food eaten daily by the 862 million individuals who do not have enough food. Advanced ticket sales are required. Cost of the meal is $20.

Lanniko Lee, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe will speak at this banquet. Sen. McGovern will give a response following her talk.

For full information about the conference program, to access the online discussion or to register, visit www.mcgoverncenter.org.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people — especially those with the fewest resources — have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and cochair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.