About the Lecture

The annual Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science was established by Charles T. and Kathleen Manatt together with Thomas and Elizabeth Phelps in 2002.

This prestigious lecture, usually held in the fall, brings to campus a prominent practitioner or scholar to address the ISU community on issues of significance to the United States and to Iowa in international political economy.

The lecture series has featured distinguished leaders from America’s closest allies and trading partners, like Canada and Mexico, as well as foreign ministers and ambassadors who have gone on to even higher levels of responsibility in major multilateral organizations such as the United Nations.

Charles T. Manatt, who passed away in 2011, and Kathleen Manatt are 1958 graduates of ISU; Thomas D. Phelps graduated in 1959. Chuck Manatt and Tom Phelps founded the national law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Mr. Manatt, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 1999 to 2001, received the ISU Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008.