Purdue Policy Research Institute director to speak at Goalkeepers 2017; Discovery Park to host viewing party

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – S. Laurel Weldon, Purdue Policy Research Institute director and Distinguished Professor of Political Science, will join a group of renowned leaders and thinkers in New York City at 9 a.m. Wednesday (Sept. 20) to celebrate the biggest recent achievements in global sustainable development as part of Goalkeepers 2017.

 The Purdue Policy Research Institute will hold a viewing party of Weldon’s portion of the event, which will be livestreamed in the Gerald D. and Edna E. Mann Hall first floor atrium in Discovery Park.

Goalkeepers 2017 is hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the purpose of uniting a generation of distinguished thinkers, dedicated to accelerating world progress. Each year, the foundation launches the Goalkeepers Report, aiming to solve problems, identify solutions, measure results in key development areas and reveal the stories behind the data.

“The Purdue Policy Research Institute, Discovery Park and, indeed, the whole of Purdue University, as a land-grant school, are charged with tackling the complex issues and global challenges facing our world today,” Weldon said. “I am honored to speak on behalf of Purdue about the progress we are making on the global goals, specifically in the area of women and girls.”

Other Goalkeepers featured in this year’s program include Bill Gates, former President Barack Obama, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and 18 other global leaders. The event can be viewed from the Gates Foundation’s YouTube and Facebook pages, as well as followed on social media using #GOALKEEPERS17. More information about the event can be found at http://www.globalgoals.org/goalkeepers.

For more information about the event, the Purdue Policy Research Institute, or Discovery Park, contact Amy Schlueter (aschlue@purdue.edu), communications specialist for Discovery Park. 

Contact: Amy Schlueter, aschlue@purdue.edu 

Sources: Laurel Weldon, weldons@purdue.edu

                Krista Kelley, kokelley@purdue.edu