Foreign affairs expert Susan Eisenhower, president of the Eisenhower Institute, Washington, D.C., will present the inaugural lecture in the J. Roderick Davis Lecture series at Samford University Tuesday (NOV. 19) at 7:30 p.m. in Reid Chapel. Her topic will be "Leadership in Conflict." The event is free and open to the public.

Eisenhower, granddaughter of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, is a specialist in Russia and the former Soviet Union. She has testified before the Senate Armed Services and Senate Budget Committees on policy toward that region.

She is serving a third term on the National Academy of Sciences' standing Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC). In 2000, she co-edited a book, Islam and Central Asia: An Enduring Legacy or an Evolving Threat?.

A former president of the Center for Political and Strategic Studies, she has lectured on "Russia and the West" at the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Policy at Harvard University.

Eisenhower has authored three books, two of which, Breaking Free and Mrs. Ike, have appeared on best seller lists. She has written articles for publications such as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Gannett newspapers, and has provided analysis for CNN, MSNBC, Nightline, CBS and ABC News.

The Davis Lectures honor former Samford arts and sciences Dean Rod Davis, who retired in 2001.