The Rt. Hon. Henry McLeish, former First Minister of Scotland, served in the government of former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, dined with Queen Elizabeth II, met with former President George W. Bush in the Oval Office, and had a private audience with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.

At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, McLeish will bring his expertise in European Union politics to the public at the launching of the Law Lecture on Global Affairs series at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. The free event will be held in the courtroom of the Law Classrooms Building.

McLeish, who played professional soccer before rising up the political ranks in Britain, will speak about a variety of topics affecting European Union member countries with ties to the United States – the evolving conflict in Ukraine, the Greek debt crisis, and the Scottish independence movement.

“A stable Europe, at this time, is crucial to the United States,” McLeish said. “While the United States is several thousand miles away from global hotspots in Ukraine and the Middle East, some European countries are just a few hundred miles away from those conflicts.”

A panel discussion will follow the lecture featuring Aaron Tyler, Ph.D., Dean of Graduate Studies and Chair of the International Relations Graduate Program; James Greenaway, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Nelson Wolff Law Early Admission Program; and Professors of Law Gerald S. Reamey, J.D., and Chenglin Liu, J.S.D.

McLeish has joined the School of Law as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of European Law this month and is teaching a course on European Union Law.

“We are honored to have Henry McLeish bring his international political experience to St. Mary’s University School of Law as a visiting faculty member,” said Dean Stephen M. Sheppard, J.S.D. “Henry’s presence augments the law school’s international education offerings, provided both on our campus in San Antonio and through our study abroad programs in Beijing and Innsbruck, Austria.”

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