MEDIA CONTACT: Kristine M. McGrath
561-297-1168, kmcgrath@fau.edu

FAU Hosts Pat Schroeder As She Analyzes Women And Their Relationship to the American Presidency

BOCA RATON, FL (December 8, 2004) - Congresswoman Pat Schroeder will speak at Florida Atlantic University as part of FAU's Distinguished Lecture Series on the American Presidency. Her lecture will analyze women and their relationship to the American presidency.

Schroeder's lecture will begin on Thursday, December 9 at 6:30 p.m. at FAU's Boca Raton campus, Lifelong Learning Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd. and Friday, December 10 at 9:45 a.m. on FAU's Jupiter campus at the Abacoa Crown Theater, 4688 Main Street, Jupiter.

Former Congresswoman Schroeder is currently president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, a national trade organization of the U.S. book publishing industry. Schroeder left Congress undefeated in 1996 after serving in the United States House of Representatives for 24 years.

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1940, Schroeder graduated magna cum laude in 1961 from the University of Minnesota. She went on to Harvard Law School, one of only 15 women in a class of more than 500 men. Schroeder earned her J.D. in 1964 and moved to Denver, Colorado with her husband, who encouraged her to challenge an incumbent Republican for Colorado's First Congressional District seat in 1972.

The mother of two young children at the time of her election, Schroeder went on to serve 12 terms in the United States House of Representatives. During her tenure in the House, she became the dean of Congressional Women, co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues for 10 years, and served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee. In addition, Schroeder was the first woman to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. As chair of the House Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families from 1991 to 1993, she saw the Family and Medical Leave Act and the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act to fruition in 1993, a fitting legislative achievement for her lifetime of work on behalf of women's and family issues.

The cost for the lecture series is $10 for each individual lecture. Seating is limited. For more information on the series at Boca Raton, call 561-297-6902. For more information on the series at Jupiter, call 561-799-8547.

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