FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2009

Contact: Felisa Neuringer Klubes 202.663.5626
E-mail: fklubes@jhu.edu

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Speak at JHU SAIS Commencement

Ban Ki-moon, the 8^th secretary-general of the United Nations, will speak at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) commencement on Thursday, May 21 at 3 p.m.

Ban’s speech topic will be “Global Leadership in a Time of Crisis.”

Also during the ceremony, SAIS will present the 2009 Founders Award to Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and CEO of BLS Investments, LLC, and former chairman and CEO of Loral Space & Communications. The SAIS Founders Award is given to an individual or individuals who have provided extraordinary service to the school. 

Admittance to the ceremony is by invitation only but will be open to the media for coverage. Graduation will be held in DAR Constitution Hall, 18^th and D Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. Media should arrive by 2:45 p.m. and use the 18^th Street entrance to the hall.  Reserved seating for reporters will be available in balcony tiers L/M directly facing the stage.   

SAIS is one of the country’s leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. The Washington, D.C., campus is located on Massachusetts Avenue in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood and enrolls approximately 600 full-time graduate students and mid-career professionals. SAIS has trained more than 15,000 alumni in all aspects of international affairs. The school also has campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. During the graduation ceremony, SAIS will confer graduate degrees upon approximately 400 students.

Members of the media who plan to cover Secretary-General Ban’s speech must register in advance with Felisa Neuringer Klubes at the SAIS Communications Office at 202.663.5626 or fklubes@jhu.edu.

SAIS graduates and their families should click here for more information about the May 21 ceremony.