Indiana Lectures bringing Bill Gates to IUB Oct. 12

Speech to be broadcast live over IHETS, WTIU

By DeAnna Hines

Microsoft's Bill Gates will speak at Assembly Hall on the Indiana University Bloomington campus Monday (Oct. 12). The 3 p.m. speech is part of the Indiana Lecture series and will be telecast live through IHETS and WTIU, Channel 30. (Campus IHETS locations are listed at the end of this story.)

Tickets to the event, which were offered free of charge to students, staff and faculty of IU, were all claimed earlier this week. The Indiana Lecture series, which was instituted in 1995 by IU President Myles Brand, brings international figures to IU to speak about their respective areas of expertise.

Gates will describe Microsoft's vision for the role of technology in education -- a "Connected Learning Community" -- where learning isn't limited by walls, the materials on a library's shelves, credentials of one university's faculty, or by the usual barriers of time, distance, convenience and access. And he will talk about how college campuses are building strong digital nervous systems that will help improve efficiencies, lower costs, keep students, faculty, staff and alumni informed, and allow their organizations to respond more quickly to change.

Gates will describe Microsoft's vision for the role of technology in education -- a "Connected Learning Community."

"Indiana Lectures brings eminent leaders in the fields of technology, business, academia, government, sports and the arts to the university to address the IU academic community on topics of national and international interest and importance," Brand said. "Information technology is a high priority at IU, and we are excited that Mr. Gates will share his vision for the future of technology on college campuses and the world as this year's Indiana Lecture speaker."

Other Indiana Lecture speakers have been former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

"Gates' appearance at IU is a direct result of the university's international reputation as a leader in information technology," said Michael McRobbie, IU vice president for information technology.

Indiana Lecture The Gates lecture will be broadcast live over the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System from 3-4 p.m. (4-5 p.m. at the New Albany campus). The lecture will also be broadcast live from IUB's WTIU-TV, Channel 30. IHETS campus locations: IUPUI--LD010 (the Science Complex Auditorium); IU East--Hayes 255; IPFW--Helmke B35; IUPU-Columbus--Main 143b; IU Kokomo--KO177; IU South Bend--NS108; IU Southeast--KV236; IU Northwest--Conference Center 110.

"In a year in which IU has made many great strides in this area, a visit to the Bloomington campus by Bill Gates, arguably the world's most influential figure in information technology, is most fitting."

IU's reputation as a campus leader in information technology has been bolstered by the announcement that the network operations center for Internet2 will be located on the Indianapolis campus, and the recent selection of IU to manage TransPAC, the U.S.-Asia network that will link American universities with Pacific Rim countries. (See the Sept. 25 issue of Home Pages).

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