Graham to speak at UF on sustainability in a 'distressed economy'

November 13, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham will present the first lecture in the Ernest R. Bartley Memorial Lecture Series at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Ocora in Pugh Hall at the University of Florida's Graham Center for Public Service. Graham's lecture, "Growth, Growth Management and Sustainability in a Distressed Economy: Where are We and Where are We Going?" is free and open to the public.

The lecture series honors the late Ernest "Bart" Bartley, professor emeritus of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the College of Design, Construction and Planning. Bartley served 24 years as a UF political science professor before helping to form the urban and regional planning department in 1975. The series is funded by the department and the Bartley family.

Graham was a student of Bartley's at UF while earning a bachelor's degree in political science in the late 1950s. As a state representative, two-term governor and three-term senator, he was a strong supporter of planning and environmental policy and worked with Bartley to craft and enact growth management and environmental protection legislation.

"This lecture series honors a man who, as a teacher and scholar, influenced generations of UF students and, as a legendary planning practitioner, influenced the form of countless communities in our state and nation," Dean Christopher Silver said. "As one of Bart's most illustrious former students and as someone who played such a pivotal role in the genesis of Florida's landmark planning and growth management legislation, it is particularly fitting that Sen. Graham serves as the lead-off speaker."