USI Distinguished Scholar Lecture is April 11

The University of Southern Indiana’s 2012 College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Scholar is Dr. W. Robert Connor, who will present “Why Literature? The Long Term Effects of Studying Languages and Literature,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in Kleymeyer Hall in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center at USI. A reception will follow at 7 p.m. in the McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries.

Connor holds a Ph.D. in classics from Princeton University. He later returned to Princeton as a professor and administrator until 1989, when he became president and director of the National Humanities Center in North Carolina’s research triangle region. He joined the New York-based Teagle Foundation as its president in early 2003, reaffirming the foundation’s long-standing commitment to higher education, and refocusing it on improving student learning in the liberal arts and sciences.

The Teagle Foundation, established in 1944, is a private foundation which “aims to strengthen liberal education by providing the intellectual and financial resources necessary to ensure that today’s students have access to challenging, wide-ranging, and enriching college educations, and that they succeed at the highest possible level.” He retired in 2009, but continues to serve as the foundation’s senior advisor.

Connor lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina with his wife Carolyn. He holds honorary degrees from several colleges and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

For more information about Connor and the Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series, go to http://www.usi.edu/libarts/scholars-dist.asp.