Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's March 22 lecture at UNLV has been moved to the Thomas and Mack Center in response to the great demand for tickets, university officials said Thursday.
The event, which is part of UNLV's Barrick Lecture Series, is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 22, at the Thomas and Mack Center. The event is free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available at the Performing Arts Center box office (open at 10 a.m.) and the Thomas and Mack Center box office (open at 11 a.m.) beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 18. Tickets are limited to two per person.
Gorbachev, who served as leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991, currently serves as honorary co-chairman of the Russian Heritage Highway Foundation with former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller. It was this project that brought the former Soviet leader to Southern Nevada for a series of meetings and events. Gov. Miller, who has been working closely with Gorbachev on the foundation project,
played a significant role in arranging Gorbachev's appearance at UNLV.
Gorbachev, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, is credited with helping to end the Cold War. During his leadership, he ushered in the Soviet political eras known as "glasnost" (political openness) and "perestroika" (government reform) and signed two landmark disarmament pacts that significantly improved relations with the West. He is also widely admired for streamlining and decentralizing the oppressive political system he inherited and for ending communist rule in Eastern Europe.
Since leaving office, Gorbachev has continued his efforts toward global peace and environmental stewardship. In 1992, he became president of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies, a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation that addresses the challenges of the post-Cold War world. A year later, he founded Green Cross International, a non-governmental environmental organization whose mission it is to clean up military toxins, assist in the creation of global ecological law, and foster a value shift on the environment.
The Barrick Lecture Series, funded through a grant from philanthropist Marjorie Barrick, presents nationally and internationally known speakers from a variety of fields each year at UNLV. The presentations are free and open to the public.
For more information, call 895-2787.
UNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution with more than 26,000 students and over 800 faculty members. More than 180 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees are offered. Founded in 1957, UNLV is located on 337 acres in dynamic Southern Nevada. The university is ranked in the category of Doctoral/Research Universities-Intensive by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
