The Office of Service-Learning is sponsoring a public lecture given by John Graham on March 20 focusing on the importance of getting involved in service and community issues.
Graham is an adventurer, author, diplomat, international peacemaker,
What Graham has done is live a life on the edge, and from that perspective he’s gained remarkable and provocative insights into what makes life – and work – meaningful.
Graham shipped out on a freighter when he was 16, took part in the first ascent of Mt. McKinley’s North Wall at 20, and hitchhiked around the world at 22.
AForeign Service officer for 15 years, he was in the middle of the revolution in Libya and the war in Vietnam.
For three years in the mid-’70s, he was member of NATO’s top-secret Nuclear Planning Group, then served as a foreign policy advisor to Senator John Glenn.
As an assistant to Ambassador Andrew Young at the United Nations, he was deeply involved in U.S. initiatives in Southern Africa, South Asia and Cuba.
By most measures, he wasvery successful.
But something was missing.
In 1980, a close brush with death aboard a burning cruise ship in the North Pacific forced him to a deeper search for meaning in his life.
Now out of the Foreign Service, he began teaching better ways of handling challenge and conflict.
Since 1983 he’sbeen a leader of the Giraffe HeroesProject, an international organization moving people to stick their necks out for the common good.
A frequent keynote speaker, he’s also done TV and radio all over the world.
Articles about him have appeared in major magazines and newspapers.
He is the author ofOutdoor Leadership; It’s Up to Us; and Stick Your Neck Out – A Street-smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond.
He’s walking his talk, including as an international peacemaker, active in the Middle East and Africa.
He has a degree in geology from Harvard and one in engineering from Stanford.
“Get involved,” Graham said, “and you’ll not only make a difference in your world – you’ll build passion, energy, focus and satisfaction that will spread into every part of your life.”
Graham teaches that courage and caring are the keys to solving tough problems, and to finding meaning in a world that often seems to be spinning out of control.
Graham will hold a public presentation titled “Making a Difference – How to Tackle the Public Problems You Care About”in the Culp Auditorium on Monday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. with a question-and-answer session to follow.
He will also be available to sign his latest book prior to the presentation.
The event is sponsored by the Office of Service-Learning, Cross Displinary Studies, Alpha Xi Delta, Gamma Beta Phi, and America Reads, and promoted by Buctainment and ELA.
For more information please contact the Office of Service-Learning at 439-5675.

Author