UK Happenings

UK’s 2020 Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Lecture Features Washington Political Analyst Charlie Cook

Charlie Cook
Charlie Cook

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 16, 2020) — Students, faculty and everyone seeking to expand their knowledge on the upcoming elections should have a special interest in the University of Kentucky’s 2020 upcoming Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Lecture. Scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m. — exactly three weeks before the Nov. 3 elections — this lecture will feature one of the country’s most known and respected political analysts, Charlie Cook, publisher and editor of The Cook Political Report along with a panel of prominent national and Kentucky journalists.

The lecture is hosted by UK’s Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and co-sponsored by the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship and Commerce Lexington. For the first time, the Ford Lecture will be a virtual event presented as a webinar rather than in front of a live audience due to COVID-19 guidelines. This is the seventh renewal of the Ford Lecture, named for the late former Kentucky governor and U.S. senator.

Cook is expected to share his thoughts and insights about not only the presidential election but the many key House and Senate races in Kentucky and elsewhere. The outcome of these races will determine if Democrats retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Republicans of the U.S. Senate when the next Congress convenes in January 2021.

“We are delighted to have Charlie Cook deliver this year’s Ford Lecture,” said Ron Zimmer, director of UK’s Martin School of Public Policy. “We are seeing unprecedented interest in the upcoming elections. No one is more knowledgeable about the country’s political landscape or the public policy implications of the upcoming elections than Charlie. His presentation could not be timelier, and there will be national interest in what he has to say."

Cook is editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report​, founded in 1984. The publication is universally recognized as a nonpartisan source of accurate, fact-based political analysis and is regularly quoted by national print and television media. The publication has a strategic partnership with the National Journal Group and since 2004 has been located in the historic Watergate complex.

The panel discussion following Cook’s remarks will include Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today, who recently was selected to moderate the Oct. 7 Vice Presidential Debate in Salt Lake City, Utah; Al Cross, UK journalism professor and former Courier-Journal political writer; and Renee Shaw, public affairs producer and host for the Kentucky Educational Television network, who will serve as moderator.

You can watch the live stream here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWh9ZqNcLGY&feature=youtu.be.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.