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April 18, 2005
Sadat to deliver Rosalynn Carter lecture in Public Policy, April 25

BY Deb Hammacher

Jehan Sadat, former first lady of Egypt, will deliver the ninth Rosalynn Carter Distinguished Lecture in Public Policy, titled “The Principle of Peace,” on Monday, April 25, at 8 p.m. in Glenn Auditorium.

The choice of Sadat is in keeping with the lecture’s theme of women who have played significant roles in shaping public policy; the widow of late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat has been active in Middle East and international humanitarian and women’s empowerment initiatives. Carter personally invited Sadat to deliver the lecture and will introduce her at the event.

“Jehan has devoted her energy and talent to spreading her message of peace,” Carter said. “In this troubled time, I can think of no more perfect speaker or appropriate topic to present to the Emory community, and I am deeply grateful to her for accepting our invitation to come to Atlanta.”

Sadat served as first lady of Egypt during her late husband’s term from 1970–81. (Anwar Sadat received the Nobel Peace Prize for reaching a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 through the Camp David Accords. Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the peace accords, not a word of which has been violated to date. Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Muslim fundamentalists in 1981.)

Among her many accomplishments, Sadat organized the Talla Society for the empowerment of impoverished village women in Egypt; founded Wafa’ Wal Amal, the first rehabilitation center in the Middle East for disabled veterans and civilians; founded the Arab-African Women’s League; and organized a movement to reform Egypt’s civil rights laws.

She is the author of the bestselling autobiography, A Woman of Egypt, and since 1993 has taught international relations as the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park. Sadat has been a representative to the United Nations International Women’s Conference in Mexico City, the International Parliamentary Conference on Population and Development in Sri Lanka, and the World Congress of Families II in Geneva, among other events. She is the recipient of several international awards for public service and humanitarian efforts for women and children.

Sadat earned her bachelor’s degree in Arabic and her master’s and doctoral degrees in comparative literature from Cairo University.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call 404-727-0096.

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