Former Rep. J.C. Watts to give Vickers Memorial Lecture Jan. 29 at KU

LAWRENCE -- J.C. Watts Jr., a distinguished four-term congressman from Oklahoma and the highest-ranking African-American Republican when he left the U.S. House of Representatives, will present the 2004 Vickers Memorial Lecture, University of Kansas School of Business Dean William L. Fuerst said today.

Watts, the author of "What Color Is a Conservative? My Life and Politics," will discuss "Our Nation Today" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004, in the Lied Center on KU's West Campus. The lecture, offered by the business school, is free and open to the public.

Watts, elected to Congress in 1994, served as chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth-highest position in the House, for four years. He was co-chairman of the Republican National Convention in 2000. He left Congress in 2002 after eight years, becoming chairman of the J.C. Watts Cos. He first entered the spotlight when he quarterbacked the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team to two consecutive Orange Bowl titles.

As a congressman, Watts earned a solid reputation as a spokesperson for improving communities, exercising fiscal discipline, strengthening education and bolstering the national defense.

"The School of Business is pleased to have Congressman Watts join a long list of distinguished speakers in the J.A. Vickers Sr. and Robert F. Vickers Sr. Memorial Lecture Series," Fuerst said. "Watts will be the 36th speaker in the series named for J.A. Vickers, KU alumnus and founder of Vickers Petroleum Company, and his son, Robert."

The lecture series began in 1969 and has brought to KU such notable presenters as George Bush Sr., Yitzhak Rabin, Donald Rumsfeld, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Kenneth Starr.

For more information on the Vickers Lecture Series or the KU School of Business, call (785) 864-7581 or go to http://www.business.ku.edu.