CRESSON, Pa. – Few Americans have traveled inside North Korea and Iran for face-to-face discussions on nuclear proliferation with the top leaders of these nations. Mount Aloysius College will host one of them. Recognized as an international expert in terrorism and security, Dr. Jim Walsh serves as research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program (SSP). He will deliver the Mount Aloysius College Moral Choices Lecture for Spring 2013 on Tuesday, March 12^th at 7:00 p.m. in historic Alumni Hall. His lecture, entitled “Five Dinners With Ahmadinejad” is open to the public free of charge. “Five Dinners With Ahmadinejad” is another lecture in a series, as the College explores their theme for 2012-2013 academic year:  “Hospitality – creating home in an often inhospitable world.“

Mount Aloysius President Tom Foley stated that the timing of Dr. Walsh’s visit to the Southern Allegheny region seems particularly on point. “As tensions escalate in the Middle East,” he said, “Jim Walsh’s visit will shed light on the subtle and unsubtle dynamics between Iran and her neighbors and explore the implications of recent rhetoric coming from the new leader of North Korea. Because of his unique perspective and his understanding of the geo-politics and the personalities at work,” added President Foley, “we anticipate that our campus community and the larger regional community will hear new information offering uncommon insight into our complex world.” 

Mount Aloysius’ Moral Choices Lecture, now in its sixth year, is aimed at providing a context where people can search for ethical understanding and insight regarding their world. “This involves learning and teaching and acknowledges our responsibility to share the fruits of these endeavors on campus and with the community at large,” said Sr. Helen Marie Burns, RSM, vice president of missions integration. Mount Aloysius holds the Moral Choices Lecture each spring. Last spring Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Ph.D. addressed the moral and ethical issues surrounding Civil Discourse. Dr. Jamieson is director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to his public lecture, Dr. Walsh will spend significant time interacting with Mount Aloysius students. Scheduled to visit several classes throughout his stay, Mount Aloysius students will enjoy round-table discussions with Dr. Walsh during several meals during his stay.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country. Dr. Jim Walsh, the Mount Aloysius College Moral Choices Spring Lecturer, has met and dined with him five times.

Dr. Walsh's research and writings focus on international security, and in particular, topics involving nuclear weapons and terrorism. Dr. Walsh has testified before the United States Senate on the issue of nuclear terrorism and on Iran’s nuclear program.  The British newspaper, The Independent, named Dr. Walsh and his co-authors as having offered one of the 10 best and original ideas of 2008.

His comments and analysis have appeared in the New York Times, the “New York Review of Books,” Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Times of London, the Financial Times, Associated Press, Reuters, “Time Magazine,”US News and World Report, The Atlantic, The Economist, ABC news, CBS news, the Discovery Channel, MTV, and numerous other national and international media outlets.   He acts as terrorism consultant for the NBC affiliate in Boston (WHDH, Ch 7), served as Iraq War analyst for WGBH (PBS, Boston), and regularly appears on Fox, CNN, NPR, and the BBC (over 500 appearances since 2001). His film credits include “Testament” (Paramount Pictures, 2004), “Meltdown” (FX channel, 2004), and “Fortress Australia” (Australia Broadcast Corporation, 2002).

Dr. Walsh’s recent publications include, “Egypt’s Nuclear Future: Proliferation or Restraint?” in Forecasting Proliferation, Stanford University Press, 2010 (forthcoming);  “Sanctions Can’t Be the Centerpiece,” in Room for Debate, New York Times, September 25, 2009; “How to Deal with Iran” and "A Solution for the US-Iran Nuclear Standoff" with Thomas Pickering and William Luers in the ”New York Review of Books” (2008, 2009);“Iran's Nuclear Program: Motivations, Consequences, and Options” in Terrorist Attacks and Nuclear Proliferation: Strategies for Overlapping Dangers (Academy of Political Science, 2007), and “Learning from Past Success: The NPT and the Future of Non-proliferation” for the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission chaired by Hans Blix (2006).

Dr. Walsh also served as editor for the book series, “Terrorism: Documents of International & Local Control” and his writings have appeared in several scholarly journals including “Political Science Quarterly,” “The Nonproliferation Review,” “ International Studies Review,” and “Contemporary Security Policy.“

Before coming to MIT, Dr. Walsh was executive director of the Managing the Atom Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a visiting scholar at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has taught at both Harvard University and MIT.  Dr. Walsh received his doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Anyone needing additional information regarding Dr. Walsh’s Public Lecture should contact the college at (814) 886-4131. College officials note that seating is limited and urge attendees to arrive 30 minutes early for comfortable seating.