By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community News
The New Albany Community Foundation this month will launch the Jefferson Series of community lectures at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts.
“We’ve had a lot of success over the years with A Remarkable Evening and the student lectures we’ve held at the (New Albany-Plain Local) schools,” said Craig Mohre, executive director of the community foundation. “The foundation board thought it would be nice to do these routinely at the McCoy and make them available to the community and the students.”
The first lecture will feature T. Boone Pickens, an Oklahoma native who is considered a self-made billionaire, Mohre said.
Pickens formed an independent oil company that acquired many other oil companies in the 1980s and is a philanthropist, regularly supporting his alma mater, Oklahoma State University.
Mohre said Pickens will be joined on stage by New Albany businessman and philanthropist Leslie Wexner.
“There are a lot of similarities between the two and we thought it would be interesting to have the two of them together,” Mohre said.
Michael Morris, who retired as chief executive officer of American Electric Power, will serve as the moderator for the event, which will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the McCoy center, 100 E. Dublin-Granville Road in New Albany.
Tickets are $5 for students and $10 to $30 for adults. They can be purchased at mccoycenter.org.
Mohre said the second lecture will feature former U.S. senator and astronaut John Glenn, who will speak at 7 p.m. May 20 at the McCoy center.
He said the series will conclude with a third speaker yet to be announced.
The series is funded through the foundation with help from local sponsors.