FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT AND NOBEL PEACE PRIZE-WINNER TO ADDRESS UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA STUDENTS OCT. 13

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CONTACT: OU Public Affairs, (405) 325-1701

NORMAN – Nobel Peace Prize-winner F.W. de Klerk, president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and one of the most influential statesmen of this generation, will be the keynote speaker at a President’s Associates dinner Monday, Oct. 13. De Klerk will speak on “Bridging the Gap: Globalization Without Isolation.” The dinner will be preceded by an informal discussion for students.

“The president of South Africa, F.W. de Klerk, entered into a unique cooperative partnership with Nelson Mandela, which led to a peaceful transition to a true democracy in South Africa,” said OU President David L. Boren. “This cooperation led to a Nobel Prize being awarded to each of these unselfish leaders. The OU community is fortunate to have the chance to hear first hand from this Nobel Prize-winner as he shares his ideas about how we should adjust to our rapidly changing world.”

De Klerk’s career has included more than two decades in the South African parliament and culminated in the presidency of South Africa from 1989 to 1994. During his presidency, de Klerk made international headlines with his dramatic decision to release Nelson Mandela from prison and legalize the previously banned African National Congress and Communist Party, which in turn led to that nation’s first-ever multi-racial elections in 1994 and the election of Mandela as the country’s president. During his term in office, he overturned every remaining discriminatory apartheid law in South Africa. His leadership earned him the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, and both he and Mandela were named TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year.

In 1994, he assumed the post of deputy president in the National Unity Government and worked with Mandela in drafting the country’s new constitution and continuing the peaceful path of political reform. He resigned as deputy president in 1996, and remained in Parliament as head of the National Party until 1997.

De Klerk published his autobiography, The Last Trek – A New Beginning, in 1998. He currently serves as chairman of the Global Leadership Foundation, a consortium of former heads of state providing confidential peer-to-peer advice to governments around the world, and runs the F.W. de Klerk Foundation, which works to promote democracy in South Africa and other multicultural societies.

De Klerk was born in Johannesburg, the son of Sen. Jan de Klerk, a senior cabinet minister. He earned his bachelor’s degree and law degree cum laude from the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, where he was involved in student affairs. In his early career, he worked for a law firm in Vereeniging that he helped to develop into one of the leading law firms outside of South Africa’s major metropolitan areas while assuming a prominent role in community activities. In 1972, he was offered the chair of administrative law at Potchefstroom University, but had to decline because of his decision to enter politics. That same year, he was elected as the member of Parliament for Vereeniging.

De Klerk has received numerous national and international honors and honorary doctorates, including the South African Decoration for Meritorious Service in 1981. In 1992, he received the Prix du Courage Internationale (The Prize for Political Courage) and was co-recipient of the UNESCO Houphouet-Boigny Prize; that same year, he also was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Spain. In 1993, he and Mandela were co-recipients of both the Philadelphia Peace Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize.
Limited seating for the dinner is available by reservation for OU students, faculty and staff, with some overflow seating available for the public. For more information and accommodations on the basis of disability, call the Office of Special Events at (405) 325-3784.