Mamphela Ramphele, First African Woman Managing Director of World Bank, and Kenneth Prewitt, Dean of the Graduate Faculty at New School University Present Keynote Lectures at The Yale Center for International and Area Studies

For Immediate Release

Contact: Marilyn Wilkes (203) 432-3413

October 2, 2001. New Haven, CT � Mamphela Ramphele, Managing Director of the World Bank, and Kenneth Prewitt, Dean of the Graduate Faculty at New School University will present separate keynote lectures as part of a conference on “International Higher Education and African Development” taking place October 18-21, 2001. The conference is presented by the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, African Studies, and the Yale Economic Growth Center. Both keynote lectures are free and open to the public.

Dr. Ramphele will present “The University as an Actor in Development: New Perspectives and Demands” on Thursday, October 18, 4:30pm, in Luce Hall Auditorium. Dr. Prewitt will present “Higher Education, Society and Government: Changing Dynamics” on Friday, October 19, 5:30pm, in Luce Hall Room 203.

A South African national, Dr. Ramphele assumed her position as a Managing Director of the World Bank in May 2000. She is the first African and only the second female to hold this position. As a member of the senior leadership team, she is responsible for managing the institution’s human development activities in the areas of education; health, nutrition, and population; and social protection. Dr. Ramphele provides oversight and guidance to the Bank Group’s efforts with client governments in strengthening human development support systems.

Prior to joining the Bank, Dr. Ramphele was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, a post she took up in 1996, becoming the first black woman to hold this position at a South African university. Dr. Ramphele started her career in the 1970s as a student activist in the Black Consciousness Movement, and she has been honored widely for her contribution to the struggle against apartheid. She has also worked as a medical doctor, civil rights leader, community development worker, and academic researcher. From 1977 to 1984, Dr. Ramphele was banished by the South African Government to a remote township where she continued her work with the rural poor and established a Community Health Program.

Dr. Prewitt became the Dean of the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science at New School University in New York earlier this year. The Graduate Faculty is known for its interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research in the social sciences and its international outlook. Prior to assuming his position at New School University, Dr. Prewitt was the Director of the United States Census Bureau beginning in 1998 where he headed an agency that produced an extensive array of economic and demographic statistics for the nation.

His main attention at the Census Bureau was on Census 2000 - often described as the largest peacetime mobilization in history. Dr. Prewitt had overall responsibility for ensuring that 281 million residents were counted. Dr. Prewitt came to Government Service after a career in higher education and private philanthropy. From 1995 to 1998, he served as the President of the Social Science Research Council, a position he also held from 1979 to 1985. For ten years, he was Senior Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation, where he directed the international Science-Based Development program involving activities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He taught for fifteen years at the University of Chicago and for shorter periods, taught at Stanford University (where he received his Ph.D.), Columbia University, Washington University, the University of Nairobi, and Makerere University (Uganda).

Yale faculty interested in obtaining more information about the conference may call 432-9368

Contact Information:

Marilyn Wilkes

The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale

(203) 432-3413