Published on April 8, 2010 by William Nunnelley  

Samford University’s Vulcan Materials Center for Environmental Stewardship and Education will present a workshop on “The Challenges of Environmental Sustainability in Alabama” Friday, April 16.

Robert K. Dawson, president of Dawson and Associates, Washington, D.C., and former associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President under Ronald Reagan, will be the keynote speaker.  His topic will be “Government and the Environment: Lessons Learned from a Washington Career.”

Dawson also has served as assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, administrator of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and legislative aide to former Alabama representative Jack Edwards during a 38-year career in the nation’s capital.  

The program begins at 2:30 p.m. in Brooks Hall Auditorium.  The event is free but reservations are requested by calling (205) 726-2844.

Following Dawson’s talk, a panel of experts will discuss the workshop topic.  Panel members are Colin Coyne, moderator, president of The Coyne Group; David Frings, associate director, Samford Environmental Management Program; Bob Greene, professor of environmental law, Samford’s Cumberland School of Law; John Knapp, director of the Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership at Samford; Danny Smith, Alagasco and the Freshwater Land Trust; Beth Stewart, executive director, Cahaba River Society; and Dawson.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.