The presentation will focus on her views on the state of international affairs and her own experiences.
“Baroness Ashton is one of the most important political figures of the past 25 years,” Stephanie Anderson, a professor in the Political Science Department, said. “[She’s] one of the most influential women leaders.”
In the past, Ashton worked as a leader in the United Kingdom’s House of Lords before transitioning to the European Union. She became the EU High Representative for foreign affairs and security in 2009.
Ashton was also a key negotiator during the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal with former US Secretary of State, John Kerry.
“Sadly, people haven’t heard of the European Union Secretary of State,” Anderson said. “That’s what Catherine Ashton is. She was really one of the architects of the Iran Nuclear Deal.”
Anderson said she had heard Ashton speak at a European Union Studies Association conference and ever since then, wanted to bring Ashton to campus.
“It was sort of a fantasy of mine to have someone as important as Baroness Ashton come,” she said. “There aren’t that many women leaders in the world. I think it’s important to hear what women think when they do make it to these upper echelons. I think it will be very interesting to hear her perspective.”
In partnership with Women@IR and the Colorado European Union Center for Excellence (CEUCE), Anderson was able to put together a tour for Ashton. She will visit Denver University, UW, Washington D.C. and Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
Women@IR is a group working to promote female leadership in International Relations. Federiga Bindi, director of the organization, helped Anderson bring Ashton to campus.
“She [Bindi] happened to be a personal friend of Catherine Ashton and she said ‘Stephanie, let’s work together,” Anderson said. “With these two groups, we decided to collaborate and cooperate.”
David Messenger, head of the Global and Areas Studies Department, said Baroness Ashton is a great way to expose the community to outside experiences.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to expose students and faculty to how international politics and global affairs works,” Messanger said. “It’s good to bring people who have real word experience on foreign policy and to share that.”
Messanger said this event could influence students when making career decisions.
“People come and talk about the work they’ve done, and it makes students think about what they might do or what they could do after they leave here,” Messenger said. “I think it’s really good to hear people who have real world experience to talk about that experience so students realize that what we’re talking about in the classroom is based on real people’s experiences and that these things really do exists out there in the world.”
Ashton said she is also looking forward to the visit.
“It is a great honor to visit the University of Wyoming and to have the chance to talk with academic staff, students and the people of Wyoming,” Ashton said. “I look forward to a good exchange of views on some of the foreign policy issues that dominate our agenda at this time.”
Ashton will speak Friday at 2 p.m. in the College of Education Auditorium. After her presentation, Ashton will be in the College of Business Atrium at 3:30 p.m. to answer any questions students may have about what being a women leader is like.
