Florida Comes to Sackville

Mount A welcomes noted academic and author Richard Florida — Feb. 6

Sackville is living up to its designation as a 2008 Cultural Capital of Canada as Mount Allison University welcomes Richard Florida, celebrated academic and best-selling author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class, to campus.

Florida will deliver the Wilford Jonah Lecture in Convocation Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 6.

His talk is entitled, “The Creative Class: The role of the artistic community in building towns and cities.” Everyone is welcome to attend and there is no admission charge.

Richard Florida is a noted American academic and author, with two recent best sellers to his credit — The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class. He also wrote The Breakthrough Illusion (1990) and Beyond Mass Production (1993), which have paved the way for his provocative looks on how creativity is revolutionizing the global economy.

He was recently named one of Esquire Magazine’s Best and Brightest, sharing the honour with such notables as Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Sachs. Richard Florida is head of the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute and a professor of business and creativity at the Rotman School of Management. He is also a contributor to a myriad of publications, including the Globe and Mail, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Mount Allison University President, Dr. Robert Campbell, says, “We’re ecstatic to welcome Richard Florida to Mount Allison. Florida’s writings on creativity and the global economy are known throughout the world. His visit is appropriate and timely, as Sackville was recently named a Cultural Capital of Canada for 2008.”

Florida earned his Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D from Columbia University. He has held professorships at George Mason University and Carnegie Mellon University, and has taught as a visiting professor at Harvard University and MIT.

The Wilford B. Jonah Lecture Series was established at Mount Allison University in 2000 through the generosity of Wilford B. Jonah, a member of the Class of 1936. The endowment created is intended to provide funds to enable the University to bring to campus persons of high international stature and prominence to give a public lecture and, where possible, to take part in a forum of discussion with students.

Past distinguished lecturers have included: Mordecai Richler, author and essayist; Dr. David Suzuki, scientist, broadcaster, and environmental advocate; world-renowned physicist Dr. Lawrence Krauss; and inventor of the personal computer and co-founder of Apple Computers, Steve Wozniak.