Christine Todd Whitman

The Cutchins Distinguished Lecture will be delivered by former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman on March 28.  Whitman will give the talk “Women, Leadership, Power and Politics: Overcoming Obstacles” in Virginia Tech’s Burruss Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The talk is sponsored by the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development and the Pamplin College of Business. This event is free and open to the public. Visit www.parking.vt.edu  for parking information.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 19, 2013 – Former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman will give the Cutchins Distinguished Lecture, “Women, Leadership, Power, and Politics: Overcoming Obstacles,” at Virginia Tech on Thursday, March 28, 7:30 p.m., in Burruss Auditorium.

Whitman will offer her perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing women today in every aspect of American society and what it takes to succeed in the public and private sectors. Her talk is expected to include personal anecdotes and hard-won advice from her more than three decades in politics and public service.

The event is free and open to the public, no tickets needed. Free parking for the event is available around the Drillfield, in the Perry Street lots, and in the Perry Street parking garage near Prices Fork Road. Find more parking information online www.parking.vt.edu, or call 540-231-3200.

Whitman is the president of The Whitman Strategy Group, a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues.

She was the 50th governor of New Jersey and its first female governor, serving from 1994 until 2001. As administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001-03 during the administration of President George W. Bush, she promoted watershed-based water protection policies and championed regulations requiring non-road diesel engines to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 95 percent. Under her tenure, the agency established the first federal program to promote redevelopment and reuse of “brownfields,” previously contaminated industrial sites.

Whitman co-founded and co-chaired the Republican Leadership Council and authored the New York Times best seller, “It’s My Party Too,” published in 2005.

She serves in a number of non-profit organizations, including as chair of the board of trustees’ executive committee of the Eisenhower Fellowships and as a member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. She co-chairs Clean and Safe Energy and is a board member of the American Security Project.

Whitman also serves on the boards of S.C. Johnson and Son, Texas Instruments, and United Technologies Corporation. She has a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College.

The Cutchins Distinguished Lecture is sponsored by the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development and the Pamplin College of Business and is also held in celebration of Founders Day. The center aims to educate students about leadership and prepare them to be leaders of integrity and ability. It is named in honor of the late W. Thomas Rice, a member of the class of 1934, who majored in civil engineering, a retired railroad industry executive and former rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The lecture series is named for the late Clifford A. Cutchins III, a member of the class of 1944, who majored in accounting, a former bank chairman and rector of the Board of Visitors.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of leadership, technology, multicultural, and international business knowledge and skills and is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of two alumni: the late Robert B. Pamplin, retired CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr.