PASADENA, Calif.— Nobel Prize winner and Northern Irish political leader John Hume, who regularly strode through tear gas and dodged rubber bullets in his quest for peace, will be the featured guest at the California Institute of Technology's Lee A. DuBridge Distinguished Lecture. "A Conversation with John Hume" will take place Tuesday, November 20, at 8 P.M. in Beckman Auditorium on the Caltech campus. Kevin Cullen, a reporter for the Boston Globe, who served as the newspaper's bureau chief in Dublin and London, will interview Hume.
Hume was the corecipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with David Trimble, leader of Ireland's Ulster Unionist party. Until recently, Hume led that country's Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The two were political rivals who set aside their differences to work toward their common goal of ending decades of religion-inspired violence in Northern Ireland. Hume is Catholic, Trimble, a Protestant.
Hume has been involved in the politics of Northern Ireland for more than 30 years as a tireless advocate for radical but peaceful change. According to one British newspaper, he was "regularly seen in the heart of [action], striding through the tear gas or dodging rubber bullets; never afraid to confront the security forces, but always urging peaceful protest."
In 1970, he helped found the SDLP, bringing together the various strands of nonmilitant activists in Northern Ireland. In the 1980s, he approached Sinn Fein, the political party that represents the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), the violent faction in Northern Ireland, to include them in the political process. He negotiated in secret with Gerry Adams, the Provisional IRA leader, and weathered the storm of protests that followed when his talks with terrorists became public in 1993. His negotiations with Adams, however, led to an IRA ceasefire the following year.
In 1998 Hume helped negotiate the so-called Good Friday agreement, which remains the basis for negotiations in Northern Ireland. It would allow for power sharing between the various factions, and disarmament of the IRA. Hume, 64, had been the SDLP leader from 1979 until his resignation in September 2001. He remains a member of both the British Parliament and the European Parliament.
The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary; at least 500 seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
The Lee A. DuBridge Distinguished Lecture series brings prominent speakers of national and international importance to campus. The series was inaugurated in 1996 in honor of Lee A. DuBridge, the former president of Caltech (1946 to 1969). DuBridge, who died in 1994, was once called America's "senior statesman of science" by Time magazine, and was considered an exemplary research-university president in an era of vast scientific, societal, and educational change. He guided the growth of the modern Caltech, while maintaining an understanding and interest in national affairs that was rare among university presidents. Previous DuBridge speakers include Walter Cronkite and Warren Buffett