The University of Scranton will host the fifth annual Jay Nathan, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar Lecture Series on Thursday, April 19, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.
At the event, George Cristian Maior, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the United States, and Dr. Remus Stefureac will join Dr. Nathan for the panel discussion, “The Rise of Romania: History. Culture. Economy.” The talk will be followed by a performance of traditional Romanian music and dance by the professional dance group “Folcor” and a reception.
The event is free of charge and open to the public, and made possible through the generosity of Dr. Nathan, a former professor in Scranton’s Kania School of Management who is now a tenured professor of management at St. John’s University in Queens, New York.
A recipient of the Fulbright Travel Scholar Grant to Romania, and the Fulbright Senior Scholar Awards to Thailand, Poland, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, Dr. Nathan is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Association. He serves as editor of the Journal of Global Awareness, and was past president of the Global Awareness Society International. In addition, he is the author of recently published books on Kazakhstan and India.
Ambassador Maior has been in his current position since 2015, and prior to that he held a number of prominent positions within the Romanian government.
Between 1992 and 1997, he was a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2000 and 2004, he was state secretary and head of the Department for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Defense Policy within the Ministry of National Defense. In that role, he was responsible for coordinating the strategic and military dimension of Romania’s NATO accession process. In November 2004, he won a senate seat in the Romanian Parliament.
In October 2006, Ambassador Maior was appointed director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). During the eight years he led the SRI, it went through an extensive reform process, allowing it to strengthen bilateral and multilateral partnerships with the most important intelligence services throughout the democratic world.
A university professor and Ph.D. coordinator at the Department of International Relations and European Integration within the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest, Ambassador Maior has been a keynote speaker at many prestigious universities, organizations and think tanks, including Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, George Washington University, American University, Atlantic Council, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Center for European Policy Analysis. In 2017, the CIA awarded him with the Earl Warren Medallion for his leadership during his tenure as director of the SRI.
Dr. Remus Ioan Stefureac is a political scientist, obtaining his degree in Political Science at the National School of Political and Administrative Studies, Bucharest. In 2003, he graduated from the same university as Master of “Governance and Institutional Development”. In 2013, he obtained the title of Doctor of Military Sciences and Information at the National Academy of Information “Mihai Viteazul”. Between 2008-2011, he was adviser to SRI Director George Cristian Maior. During the last 15 years he has published numerous articles of political analysis in the Romanian press, as well as specialized studies in the country and abroad. Currently he coordinates the activity of INSCOP Research, a specialized structure of sociological research and political analysis
The Jay Nathan, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar Lecture Series invites international scholars from emerging democracies and countries in political and economic transition to visit the University to address issues that will enlighten and benefit students, faculty and the community at large. While visiting the campus, scholars deliver presentations on topics of interest to the academic community and meet informally with attendees, students and faculty.
Reservations are suggested for the lecture, and can be made at scranton.edu/JayNathanLecture, or by calling 570-941-7816.
