Kenneth Adelman ’67 on Reagan at Reykjavik

11 a.m. Thursday, March 2, 2017

Published:
February 27, 2017
Kenneth Adelman ’67
Former Reagan Administration Arms Control Director and a US Ambassador to the United Nations Ken Adelman '67 will discuss, during a talk at Grinnell College on Thursday, March 2, the famous 1986 superpower summit in Iceland that helped lead to the end of the Cold War.

Adelman's book Reagan at Reykjavik: Forty-Eight Hours that Ended the Cold War is being made into an HBO movie, with actor Michael Douglas starring as President Ronald Reagan.

Adelman's talk at the College will draw primarily from the Reykjavik Summit and his first-hand experiences there, incorporating leadership lessons and diplomacy insights.  The event begins at 11am at Alumni Recitation Hall (ARH) Room 302.

Adelman, a 1967 Grinnell College alumnus, was captain of the varsity swim team and active in the College's Program in Practical Political Education (PPPE), which is co-sponsoring the event with the Rosenfield Program.

He served in a variety of prominent positions in the federal government, starting in 1969 at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  From 1975 to 1977, he was an assistant to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld before joining the Reagan Administration in 1981.

In addition to his federal service, Adelman served as the translator to boxer Muhammed Ali during his trip to Zaire for the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" rematch with Joe Frazier.   Adelman is a popular speaker on executive leadership, weaving in Shakespearean themes in his program Movers & Shakespeares.

Adelman's visit is sponsored by Grinnell's Program in Practical Political Education (PPPE) and Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights.

 

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations.
The College welcomes the presence of minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child’s safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases the College expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child’s safety and sees that the child complies with directions of College personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.
Tagged as

We use cookies to enable essential services and functionality on our site, enhance your user experience, provide better service through personalized content, collect data on how visitors interact with our site, and enable advertising services.

To accept the use of cookies and continue on to the site, click "I Agree." For more information about our use of cookies and how to opt out, please refer to our website privacy policy.