On Monday, Aug. 31, Washburn University will be visited by former United States Congressman and Washburn alum Jim Slattery where he will be discussing United States-Iran relations. He will make presentations to political science, law and government classes during the day and will give a presentation in Mabee Library in the evening.

Slattery has traveled often over the last ten years to the Middle East in order to encourage interfaith conversations and reconciliation.  During his six terms in Congress, he served as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which discusses health care, energy, telecommunications and environmental issues. Additionally, he has served on the House Budget, Veterans Affairs and Banking and Energy committees and has been an international election monitor in Iraq, Ukraine and Nicaragua.  Before he was elected to Congress, Slattery was an officer in the Kansas Army National Guard and served in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Currently, Slattery is a partner in the Wiley Rein, L.L.P. law firm located in Washington, D.C. He is the head of Public Policy Practice and advises clients whom have items brought up in Congress, federal agencies and regulatory bodies.  He serves on the Washburn University School of Law Alumni Association Board of Governors as well as the Board of Advisors for the Business and Transactional Law Center.  

At Washburn, Slattery received a bachelors of arts in political science and his juris doctor. In 1986, he received the Alumni Distinguished Service award and in 1993, he joined the Washburn University Foundations Board of Trustees. In 2001, he was named a Washburn University Alumni Association Fellow. 

Before the presentation, there will be a reception from 6:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Immediately proceeding, Slattery will begin his presentation, “Iran and the U.S.—The Persian Puzzle,” and he will answer the audience’s questions afterwards. The presentation is open to the public.