Jane Goodall to speak on campus in March for more than $60,000
Editor's note: This article was revised for clarity.
World-renowned primatologist, anthropologist and conservationist Jane Goodall will speak at Central Michigan University in March.
Central Michigan University will pay $60,000 to the Jane Goodall Institute.
Goodall, 77, is best known for her work studying the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park in Tanzania. She will deliver a speech, "Making a Difference Everyday with Jane Goodall," on March 28, 2012 in the Events Center.
Liz Morris, secretary of the speaker series committee, said funding for Goodall’s visit came from a $60,000, one-time gift from the college deans and the provost, along with smaller contributions from other departments on campus.
“She’s one of the top researchers or scientists in the world,” said Eric Buschlen, assistant professor of recreation, parks and leisure services, who is on the Academic Senate's speaker series committee.
The speech will focus on changes in the world Goodall has witnessed personally and professionally over that last 50 years, how those changes affect humans, animals and the environment and how humans should proceed over the next 50 years.
The committee contacted Goodall this summer and invited her to CMU.
“We knew we had received the funding at the beginning of (the) last (academic) year, and we booked her over the summer,” Morris said. “We said we’d like to have her come in the spring of 2012 and it worked out well, because she was already going to be in the U.S. in March.”
Morris said the committee plans to work with groups like Program Board to show documentaries on campus about Goodall’s work and life in the weeks leading up to her speech.
“It’s so people can get some information about her before she arrives,” Morris said.
The committee also plans to reach out to area K-12 schools, public libraries and other colleges and universities in Michigan about the event.
“We’re really excited for the opportunity to bring a lot of people to campus and get the name of CMU out there,” Morris said.
