Shevardnadze to Discuss End of Cold War at Thursday Event

Shevardnadze to Discuss End of Cold War at Thursday Event

RICE NEWS
April 22, 1999

The campus visit of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze scheduled for Thursday
evening has attracted considerable media interest: more than 50 television,
radio, wire service and newspaper reporters and photographers will record the
distinguished guest’s trip to Rice.

Shevardnadze will meet with reporters at 5 p.m. in the International Conference
Facility of James A. Baker III Hall.

At 6 p.m. he will deliver an address, "Georgia, the Caucusus and Beyond,"
in Stude Concert Hall at Alice Pratt Brown Hall and then join former U.S. Secretary
of State James A. Baker, III, in a "town hall" meeting to reflect
on historic events that brought about a peaceful end to the Cold War nearly
10 years ago.

Former President George Bush will deliver a videotaped welcoming message to
start the evening’s program.

After the event, Shevardnadze will be presented with the Baker Institute’s
Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service. Enron chairman and chief executive
officer Kenneth L. Lay will join Baker in making the presentation.

"President Shevardnadze epitomizes the ideals upon which the Enron Prize
for Distinguished Public Service was established," Lay said. "His
unrelenting commitment to peace and democracy in Georgia and the former Soviet
Union makes him the model recipient of the 1999 Enron Prize."

Shevardnadze will be the third person to receive the prize. Previous recipients
were retired U.S. Gen. Colin Powell (1995) and former Soviet Union President
Mikhail Gorbachev (1997).

Rice faculty, students and staff who want to attend the Shevardnadze event
in Stude Concert Hall need only show university identification for admittance
to the venue. No backpacks, handbags or briefcases will be allowed inside the
venue.