Famous Mayors to Discuss
How to Keep Cities Great

March 5, 2009

By Henry DeVries

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and former Mayor of Bogotá Enrique Peñalosa will lead a discussion on “The Upside of Down: How to Keep Our Cities Great” at 7:30 am March 20 at the Forum Auditorium on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus of the University of California, San Diego.
The event is free but you must register in advance by contacting Robin Wittman of UC San Diego Extension by emailing rwittman@ucsd.edu. Free parking is available at the Birch Aquarium at SIO with shuttles to the Forum Auditorium.

The moderated discussion will cover the views of two mayors who have catapulted their cities to international acclaim. Just two weeks before making his presentation to the International Olympic Committee, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will share how his city has moved from “second city” status to global city status for the Olympics and beyond.  Enrique Peñalosa will share the bold moves he made to position Bogotá, Colombia as a model of enlightened planning for the world.

Also in attendance will be UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. The discussion is sponsored by the UC San Diego Helen Edison Series and is part of the CEOs for Cities meeting taking place at UC San Diego. CEOs for Cities is a national cross-sector network of urban leaders from the civic, business, academic and philanthropic sectors dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities.

Enrique Peñalosa

In accordance with a major gift from a late philanthropist, the Helen Edison Lecture Series presents ongoing free public lectures on issues that advance humanitarian purposes and objectives. Attended annually by thousands, speakers include former Vice President Al Gore,  Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Nobel Prize in Literature winner Toni Morrison and Hispanic dramatist Luis Valdez, just to name a few.

For additional information contact UC San Diego Extension’s Helen Edison Lecture Series at (858) 822-0510, email emunk@ucsd.edu  or visit http://helenedison.ucsd.edu.

Media Contact: Henry DeVries, 858-534-9955 or 619-540-3031