The Harry Middleton Lectureship was established by Mrs. Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1994 to honor the career and contributions of Harry Middleton. Until his recent retirement, Mr. Middleton was the Director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum for 30 years and concurrently the Executive Director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation. Prior to holding those positions, he had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter for the Associated Press in New York, news editor for Architectural Forum, and freelance writer and consultant for Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and LIFE. Mr. Middleton served as staff assistant to President Johnson from 1967 to 1969 and assisted the President in the preparation of his memoirs. His published works include PAX (1958), The Compact History of the Korean War (1962), LBJ: The White House Years (1990), and Lady Bird Johnson: A Life Well-Lived (1992). Mr. Middleton received the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive in 1991, the Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty Award in 1992, and The University of Texas Presidential Citation in 2003.
Mrs. Johnson’s desire was to create a lectureship series to honor Mr. Middleton and, in doing so, to make renowned speakers available to students and the public free of charge. Past Middleton Lecturers include former Presidents Ford and Carter, journalist Brian Williams, Bill Moyers, Lawrence Luckinbill, actor Michael York, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg, film director David Mamet, NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw, presidential historian and author Dr. Douglas Brinkley, and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The Harry Middleton Lectureship series is co-sponsored by The Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum.
This year we are pleased to be joined by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The lecture will be held in the LBJ Auditorium on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:00 p.m.
Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the most important political figures of the twentieth century. As secretary general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and later executive president of the Soviet Union, President Gorbachev brought about the peaceful end of the Cold War while helping to introduce democratic reform to the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 "for his leading role in the peace process which today characterizes important parts of the international community." Today, he continues to work toward a global vision for peace through the Gorbachev Foundation.
Tickets: Seating is limited, and tickets are required for entry.
ALL public tickets to the program with Mikhail Gorbachev have been distributed. This includes all UT student and overflow tickets. On October 18, a stand by line will form in the lobby outside the LBJ Auditorium. Doors open at 5 p.m. Just before the program begins at 6 p.m., those in the stand by line will be invited into the Auditorium to fill any empty seats. Admission is not guaranteed and will be first come first serve.
If you received a ticket to overflow seating in the Bass Lecture Hall, you may stand in the stand by line. If you get seating in the Auditorium, your overflow ticket will be given to someone else. However, if you do not get into the Auditorium, you are guaranteed seating in the Bass Lecture Hall.
A standby line may form in the upper Auditorium lobby (by the for those without tickets on the evening of the event. About 5-10 minutes before the program begins, we will fill in any empty seats from the standby line. We cannot guarantee admission to those waiting in the standby line.
Location and Parking: Free parking will be available in the LBJ Library visitors' lot (lot #38) and, after 4:30 p.m., in lots #37, #39, and #41. Overflow parking will be in Manor Garage on a self-pay, space available basis. The LBJ Auditorium is located on the lower level of the LBJ complex at 2313 Red River Street. Access to the Auditorium will be through the lobby of the LBJ School of Public Affairs or through the south Auditorium doors by the LBJ Fountain.