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US HUD secretary to deliver keynote at Rutgers-Camden

Alphonso Jackson to discuss 'Future Trends in Affordable Housing'

CAMDEN -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson will deliver the second Richard C. Goodwin Lecture in Honor of Ethel Lawrence at Rutgers University-Camden at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 6.

The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Jackson as the nation's 13th secretary of HUD on March 31, 2004. An expert on public housing and urban issues, Jackson guides HUD in its mission of providing affordable housing and promoting economic development.

Presented by the Rutgers-Camden College of Arts and Sciences with support from The Goodwin Foundation, the Richard C. Goodwin Lecture in Honor of Ethel Lawrence is an annual series commemorating Lawrence, the lead plaintiff in the landmark Mount Laurel rulings that provided impoverished citizens with the opportunity to live where they choose. The rulings transformed the process by which local governments control the use of land through their zoning power and resulted in the creation of a state agency to promote affordable housing throughout New Jersey.

Jackson first joined the Bush Administration in June 2001 as HUD's deputy secretary and chief operating officer. As deputy secretary, Jackson managed the daily operations of the $32 billion agency and instilled a new commitment to ethics and accountability within HUD's programs and among its workforce and grant partners. He previously served as president of American Electric Power in Texas; president and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Dallas; and director of the Department of Public and Assisted Housing in Washington, D.C.

The event, which is free of charge and open to the public, is supported by The Goodwin Foundation, which is based in Aspen, CO. Richard C. Goodwin is the founder of the Middle East Peace Dialogue Network; a founder of the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia; a member of the Ambassador's Circle of the World Jewish Congress; and benefactor of the Goodwin Holocaust Museum and Education Center at the Jewish Community Center of Southern New Jersey.

A real estate developer for five decades, Goodwin describes Lawrence as "the Rosa Parks of low and moderate income housing and deserves national recognition for her courage. She has changed the process of zoning throughout America. Now most states are proactive in encouraging fair housing opportunities for all."

The event will be held in the Gordon Theater, located in the Fine Arts Complex on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers-Camden campus. A reception will follow the talk.

To register, call (856) 225-6324.

More information about the lecture is online at http://goodwinlecture.rutgers.edu. Directions to Rutgers-Camden are online at www.camden.rutgers.edu.

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