Missouri Representative Linda Black To Speak |
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Despite the topic of her lecture, there is nothing ordinary about Missouri Rep. Linda Black, who will present the annual Merrill E. Gaddis Memorial Lecture at Central Methodist University.
Rep. Black's Gaddis Lecture, entitled "The Missouri House: Ordinary People Making Extraordinary Decisions," is set for Thursday, Oct. 4 in the Courtney/Dealy Rooms of the CMU Student and Community Center. The 7 p.m. event is open to the public at no charge.
As a 1998 CMU alumna, Rep. Black continues the tradition of Central graduates presenting the Gaddis Lecture. At the same time, she is the first graduate of one of CMU's off-campus programs - in this case, its partnership with Mineral Area College in Park Hills - to be thus honored.
"Being able to finish my degree through Central Methodist's off campus program gave me tools to achieve a career in education; using that experience in the classroom to become a State Representative was certainly an unforeseen reward of continuing my education through Central Methodist University," Rep. Black noted.
Rep. Black received her associate's degree from Mineral Area, and later earned her master's from Southwest Baptist. She taught school for 11 years in St. Francois County public schools. And she is the mother of two.
Elected to the Missouri House in 2008 and re-elected in 2010, Rep. Black has been involved in a variety of community, civic, and church-related activities.
In the Missouri House, Rep. Black chairs its Corrections committee and serves on its Agri-Business, Emerging Issues in Animal Agriculture, and Tourism and Natural Resources committees. She also is a member of the state legislature's Joint Committee on Corrections.
CMU has hosted the Gaddis Lecture series, which traditionally features notable Central alumni as speakers, since 1984. It is sponsored by CMU's Kappa Chapter of Pi Gamma Mu, international honor society for the social sciences.
The Kappa Chapter was established at Central in 1935 by Dr. Merrill Gaddis (1891-1958), who was professor of history and later chair of its history and political science department, and who served the institution for nearly 30 years.
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