Rodrigo Jordán Fuchs to deliver Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture

By Philip Hadley
University News Service
March 27, 2008

The 10th Annual Texas State University-San Marcos Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture will be held April 1, at 7 p.m. in the LBJ Student Center's 4th floor teaching theatre.

This year’s lecture, “Discovery: Linking Expeditions, Environment, Education and Poverty,” will be given by Rodrigo Jordán Fuchs, a renowned Chilean educator, mountaineer and social activist. Gilbert M. Grosvenor, chairman of the board of trustees of the National Geographic Society, will also be present that evening to introduce Fuchs.

Fuchs, an accomplished mountaineer, has climbed throughout the Andes; reached the summits of Mt. Everest, K2, Kilimanjaro and Lhotse; led a four-person team on a traverse of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica; and as recently as January 2008, participated in a National Geographic-sponsored kayaking expedition to document the rate of ice melting in the Antarctic Peninsula.

He has authored two books about his mountaineering experiences, including “Everest: The Challenge of a Dream,” and “K2: The Ultimate Challenge.”  In addition, “Time” magazine highlighted Jordán as one of the leaders of the “next millennium” in 1995. His ascent of K2 was featured in the 200l National Geographic television series, “Quest for K2.”

Fuchs earned a Ph.D. in organizational administration from Oxford University, England, in 1990. He currently teaches leadership and decision making in the MBA program of the Universidad Católica de Chile. He also serves as the current chairman of the Chilean National Foundation for Overcoming Poverty, the most noteworthy organization dealing with poverty and social development in Chile today.

For more information about the upcoming Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture, or to obtain free lecture tickets, please contact the Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at (512) 245-1823 or e-mail jb42@txstate.edu.