On March 27, John Kasich—two-term former Ohio governor, New York Times best-selling author, and contributor for MSNBC and NBC News—will visit Iowa State to present the 2024 Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science. Kasich’s presentation, “Socially Responsible Innovation,” will be at 7 p.m. in the Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union. The event is free and open to the public.
“Gov. Kasich’s knowledge of public policy and emphasis on grassroots innovation as an alternative to partisan deadlock provides a needed perspective that helps broaden the scope of our thinking during the current campaign season,” said Alex Tuckness, chair of the Department of Political Science, which sponsors the annual event.
Kasich earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State in 1974. He served in the Ohio Senate from 1979-1981, the youngest person elected to that body up to that time. He was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at just 30 years old, representing Ohio’s 12th District from 1983-2001.
After leaving Congress, Kasich worked as a managing director in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers. He was elected governor of Ohio in 2010. He undertook a high-profile run for president in 2016, the final major challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
Additional co-sponsors of this year’s lecture include the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Student Innovation Center and Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government).
The Manatt-Phelps Lecture series, established in 2002 by the late Ambassador Charles T. Manatt and Kathleen Manatt and Thomas and Elizabeth Phelps, brings to campus a prominent practitioner or scholar to address the ISU community on issues of significance to the United States and to Iowa. The 2024 event will mark the 20th presentation of the lecture.