Former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner F.W. De Klerk will present "Bridging the Gap: Globalization without Isolation" on April 17 as part of the annual Barrick Lecture Series at UNLV.

During his lecture, de Klerk will examine the sweeping changes in technology and global ideology that have transformed the world and will discuss the need for wealthy countries to assist underdeveloped nations that are falling further behind in the global economic race. He will also examine why globalization and the persistence of ethnic and religious conflicts will likely dominate the next decade and how those global conflicts will affect us all.

The presentation is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall at UNLV. Although the event is free and open to the public, tickets are required and will be available beginning March 24 at the Performing Arts Center Box Office. Tickets are limited to two per person.

Born in Johannesburg in 1936, de Klerk has played a prominent role in the political evolution of his home country. After 11 years of practicing law, de Klerk was elected to South African Parliament in 1972 and appointed to the Cabinet in 1978. In 1989, he became the leader of the National Party, and later that year was elected president of South Africa.

Less than five months into his presidency, de Klerk announced his decision to release Nelson Mandela from prison and to legalize the previously banned African National Congress and Communist Party. These decisions led to South Africa's first-ever multi-racial elections in 1994, resulting in the election of Mandela as the country's president. President de Klerk's leadership in initiating these reforms earned him the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. That same year, he was named along with Mandela, Yitzak Rabin, and Yasser Arafat as Time magazine's "Man of the Year."

In 1999, he published his autobiography, "The Last Trek - A New Beginning," and established the F. W. de Klerk Foundation, which is dedicated to the promotion of peace in multi-communal societies.

He is the honorary chairman of the Prague Society for International Co-operation in the Czech Republic; a member of the Assembly of the Parliament of Cultures in Istanbul; and plays a substantial role in Forum 2000, a think-tank initiated by former President Vaclav Havel and Nobel laureate Eli Wiesel. In addition, he serves on the advisory boards of the Peres Centre for Peace in Israel and the Global Panel in Germany.

In 2004, de Klerk established the Global Leadership Foundation, the main objective of which is to play a constructive role in the promotion of peace, democracy, and development. The organization will help national leaders who face complex economic and political challenges by providing confidential advice, especially but not exclusively in the developing world and emerging markets.

The Barrick Lecture Series, funded through a grant from philanthropist Marjorie Barrick, presents nationally and internationally known speakers from a variety of fields each year at UNLV. The presentations are free and open to the public.

For more information, call the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 895-2787.