Plenary Speakers

The conference plenaries showcase the knowledge, views, and achievements of national and international leaders, as they discuss the complexities of global forces affecting international education and exchange.

Tuesday, May 29 General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), 65th U.S. Sec. of State Colin L. Powell, a founding chairman of America’s Promise–The Alliance for Youth, will be the opening plenary speaker at NAFSA’s 2007 Annual Conference in Minneapolis. General Powell will address the conference on Tuesday, May 29, 2007. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell keenly observed the need for, and benefit from, strengthening international education programs and exchanges. Opening Plenary sponsored by Aramco Services Company

Wednesday, May 30 J. Brian Atwood Brian Atwood is dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Previously he was an adjunct lecturer at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Sol M. Linowitz Professor for International Affairs at Hamilton College, & a founding director & president of Citizens International. In 2001 he served on U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan’s Panel on Peace Operations. From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Atwood was administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Read Dean Brian Atwood's Plenary Speech Wednesday Plenary sponsored by Dubai Knowledge Village

Thursday, May 31 Jack Weatherford Jack Weatherford has been called a fantastic storyteller. His book on Genghis Khan, according to reviewers, takes wonderful learned detours and is well written and full of surprises. Weatherford traveled to Mongolia numerous times researching the book and, in 2000, became the first foreign scholar to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Chinggis Khaan College in Mongolia. He was then invited to deliver a United Nations Lecture in honor of the 800th anniversary of the founding of Mongolia. Thursday Plenary and Annual Meeting sponsored by Augsburg College's Center for Global Education

Friday, June 1 Kishore Mahbubani Kishore Mahbubani was a diplomat in the Singapore Foreign Service from 1971 to 2004 and served as Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998. During his two appointments at the United Nations, he was also President of the UN Security Council. Mahbubani has spoken and published globally. Mahbubani was educated in Singapore, Canada, and the United States and received the 2003–2004 Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award of the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) at Tufts University. Friday International Luncheon and Plenary sponsored by the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota