KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature, will present the 2011 Earth Day Lecture at the University of Kansas.

Cortese’s lecture is titled “Higher Education Leadership in Creating a Healthy, Just and Sustainable Society.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

The Earth Day Lecture is sponsored by the Center for Sustainability, KU Environs, Environmental Studies Program, Department of Geography and IGERT C-CHANGE Program.

Cortese co-founded Second Nature with U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz, in 1993. The mission of the nonprofit organization is to develop the national capacity to make healthy, just and sustainable action a foundation of all learning and practice in higher education. Cortese is a co-organizer of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and co-founder of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

“We are excited to have Dr. Cortese visit KU for Earth Day,” said Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability. “This is a great opportunity to hear from one of the leaders in the higher education sustainability movement and is especially timely as our campus is in the process of developing a comprehensive sustainability plan and considering our own role in advancing sustainability.”

Cortese has been engaged in climate change and other large system sustainability challenges for 25 years. He is working with the presidents and chancellors of colleges and universities and several higher education associations that represent, among others, campus planners, purchasing agents, housing officers, business officers and facilities managers.

In addition to the Earth Day Lecture, student organizations and departments across KU are collaborating to host an array of events during the month of April addressing issues of sustainability — the balance of environmental, economic and social responsibility. For a complete listing of events, visit the Center for Sustainability website.