MEDIA, Pa. — Penn State Brandywine will host David Hardison, alumnus and U.S. Department of State foreign affairs officer, on Thursday, April 7. Hardison will speak to Distinguished Professor of Political Science Stephen Cimbala’s classes at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in the Vairo Library, Room 111. An afternoon reception at 4 p.m. in the Tomezsko Lounge will be held for students, faculty and staff to meet Hardison.
Hardison has served as the program manager for conventional weapons destruction in Northern Africa in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement and manages approximately $8 million in foreign assistance funds annually. He will discuss how his studies at Brandywine and University Park prepared him for his career in government service, among other topics. A Philadelphia native, Hardison received his bachelor of arts degree in international politics with distinction from Penn State in 2008 and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Prior to graduate studies, Hardison interned at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. He also served as an English teaching assistant on a Fulbright grant in Nuremberg, Germany, and as a volunteer at the German-American Institute of Nuremberg.
In May 2012, Hardison received his master of arts degree in international affairs from American University’s School of International Service. His thesis examined U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the Middle East in light of the Arab Spring.
The political science class presentations and reception are open to campus visitors.