Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, will speak at the University April 25 as the Ogden Memorial lecturer. After Bush delivers a speech entitled “Leadership in a Changing World,” President Christina Paxson P’19 will moderate an audience question-and-answer session, according to a University press release.
The son of former president George H.W. Bush and the younger brother of former president George W. Bush, Bush served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007 and launched a presidential campaign for the Republican Party nomination in the 2016 election. Under Bush’s leadership, “Florida was on the forefront of consumer health care advances, led the nation in job growth and launched and accelerated restoration of America’s Everglades,” according to the Ogden website.
Bush was born in Texas and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, according to the website of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, of which Bush currently serves as founder, president and chairman of the board of directors.
After moving to Florida in 1981 and co-founding the Codina Bush Group, a real estate development company, Bush stepped into the political arena by serving as Florida’s secretary of commerce under the state’s 40th governor, Bob Martinez. In 1994, he founded the Foundation for Florida’s Future, a nonprofit organization that aims to make “education in Florida a Model for the Nation,” according to its website.
Bush has authored three books: “Profiles in Character,” “Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution” and “Reply All: A Governor’s Story 1999-2007,” according to the press release.
The Ogden Lectureship celebrates the life of Stephen Ogden Jr. ’60, who died of injuries from a car accident during his junior year. Bush will join many political figures who have taken the role as Ogden lecturer, including former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and His Highness the Aga Khan, according to the press release.
“For more than 50 years, the Ogden Lectures have brought leaders from across the country and the globe to Brown for engaging discussions on pressing and timely topics. We’re pleased to welcome Gov. Bush this month and look forward to a conversation informed by his lifelong career in business and public service,” wrote Director of News and Editorial Development Brian Clark in an email to The Herald.
Bush will begin his lecture at 5 p.m. at the Salomon Center. For those who are unable to obtain tickets, the event will be livestreamed.
