UCLA professor will give annual Romney Lecture March 15 - BYU News Skip to main content
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UCLA professor will give annual Romney Lecture March 15

James Q. Wilson, the James Collins Professor of Management and Public Policy at the University of California-Los Angeles, will speak Monday, March 15, as this year’s Romney Lecturer for the George W. Romney Institute of Public Management at Brigham Young University.

Wilson will deliver his main address, “The Relationship Between Capitalism and Morality,” to students, faculty and the general public from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Wilkinson Student Center’s Varsity Theater.

The Romney Lecturer Award is given annually to a person who has significantly contributed to an improved understanding of the practice of public and nonprofit administration as an administrator or academic. The award winner is nominated and voted upon by the faculty of the Romney Institute of Public Management. As a result, a paper based on the speech given by the award winner, consistent with the ideals of the Romney Institute, will be printed and distributed nationally.

Wilson has been the James Collins Professor of Management and Public Policy at UCLA since 1985. He was previously a professor of government at Harvard College in the 1960s. His prestigious career has also included:

  • Chairman of the White House Task Force on Crime in 1966.

  • Chairman of the National Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse Prevention in 1972-1973.

  • Member of the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Crime in 1981.

  • Member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1985 to 1990.

  • Member of board of directors of the New England Electric System, Protection One, the RAND Corporation,and State Farm Mutual Insurance. Wilson will also speak to the Utah Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration on the topic of “Why Do We Give Any Rights to Strangers?” at noon on March 15. He is scheduled to give another lecture to MPA students on “Our Churches and Our Constitution” March 16.

    The Romney Institute of Public Management was named in 1998 for three-term Michigan Governor George W. Romney. Part of BYU’s Marriott School of Management, the Romney Institute offers a master’s degree in public administration through both preservice and executive programs. The Romney Institute has a long tradition of preparing young people for careers in public service and is dedicated to educating men and women of faith, character and professional ability who will become outstanding managers and leaders in public and not-for-profit institutions worldwide.

    Writer: Tanya Harmon

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