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International Speaker Series

The International Speaker Series is the flagship event of the Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana. Throughout the year we offer a number of high-impact lectures presented with a broad range of topics related to international business; all designed to interest and inspire.

The series features guest speakers from the business world both local and abroad.  Our objective is to provide our community with the opportunity to learn directly from experts in the field of global enterprise and entrepreneurship. Each year the International Speaker Series attracts audiences that include an impressive cross-section of students, educators, administrators, political officials, civic leaders and business executives from all sectors.

Presentations are free and open to the public. 

International Speaker Series 2008

The Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana at the University of Evansville is proud to announce Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, as the first speaker in its 2008 International Speaker Series.

Fox, the Mexican president from 2000-2006, will come to Indiana for a two-city event on April 10. His keynote address will begin at 7 p.m. in the Victory Theatre in Evansville. Earlier in the day, Fox will speak at an 11:30 a.m. luncheon at the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis (click here to register for the Indianapolis luncheon).

"We are honored that President Fox has chosen to join us in creating this very special, two-city event," said Robert Clark, dean of UE’s Schroeder Family School of Business Administration. "Obviously, we are excited to have such a major player on the world stage come to Indiana and bring his unique perspective on the global community to the Indianapolis and Evansville communities."

Fox was elected President of Mexico in 2000, ending the 71-year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. While in office, he focused his many of his early efforts on improving trade relations with the US, calming civil unrest, and reducing corruption, crime, and drug trafficking. Early in his term, Fox made significant progress toward bilateral cooperation with the United States on drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

Interest in the United States stemmed from Fox’s younger years, several of which he spent in this country. He was born in 1942 in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, and spent his youth in Mexico before coming to the United States and attending Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He began his college career at Harvard before finishing his degree in Mexico.

Upon graduation, he was hired by Coca-Cola as a route supervisor, and eventually promoted to the company’s chief executive in Mexico. While in that position, in 1987, Fox was approached by the leaders of the National Action Party (PAN) and asked to run for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. He accepted the challenge and won in 1988. After serving three years in the chamber, he decided to run for governor of Guanajuato. It was a very controversial race, and he ended up coming in second. Over the next few years, Fox was politically inactive.

Fox came out of political retirement in 1994 to rally the PAN. The rally proved successful for Fox. In 1995, he ran for governor again, and this time won with 59.8% of the vote. After his victory, he tried to get the PAN to shed its conservative image and embrace a more moderate social welfare position. In 1998, Fox announced he would seek the PAN nomination for the presidency in the 2000.