Exeter, NH (February 21, 2006)—On Tuesday, February 28, 7:00 p.m., Phillips Exeter Academy will present "The Collapse of a Superpower: What Happened to the Soviet Union, What is Happening Now," a conversation with Kenneth Yalowitz, former U.S. ambassador to Georgia and Belarus, and former acting deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and Michael Golay, history instructor at the Academy.  A question and answer session will follow.  The event will be held in the Kaplanoff Periodicals Room, Academy Library, Phillips Exeter Academy.

Yalowitz is presently the director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College.  He retired from the U. S. Department of State in 2001 after a distinguished 36 year career as a diplomat and member of the Senior Foreign Service. In 2000, Yalowitz received the Ambassador Robert C. Frasure Award for Peacemaking and Conflict Prevention, among other honors. In addition to his ambassadorships in the Republic of Belarus (1994-1997) and Georgia (1998-2001,) his tours of duty have included postings in Moscow, The Hague and Brussels.  He was an adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University and has been a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. 

This annual event is made possible by the Colin F. N. Irving '41 History Lecture Series Fund, established by John Irving, '61.

For information contact Jack Herney, (603) 777-3783. A complete listing of upcoming events is available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309 and on our website.  For directions call (603) 777-4330.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931.  In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds.  The diverse student body comes from approximately 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 25 foreign countries.