Vol. 18, No. 19	Feb. 11, 1999

'Secrets of Delaware's History' topic of Friday talk

James R. Soles, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Relations, will present "Secrets of Delaware's History," as the second session of UD's annual Land and Sea Lecture Series.

Soles, a noted political analyst and award-winning scholar, adviser and teacher, will give his free, public lecture on Friday, Feb.12, at 10 a.m. in Lewes and again at 2 p.m. in Seaford.

The talk, a light-hearted look at some of the little known facts, myths and superstitions of Delaware history, will be presented at the Virden Center, 700 Pilottown Rd., on the Hugh R. Sharp Campus, in Lewes and in the auditorium of the Methodist Manor House, 1001 Middleford Rd., in Seaford.

Soles earned his alumni distinguished professor rank through a noteworthy career that has been marked by demonstrated excellence in teaching and a deep and caring respect for his students.

A specialist in American government and American civil liberties, Soles has been on the UD faculty since 1968 and has twice received the University's excellence-in-teaching award, as well as the excellence-in-advising award. He also has served as chairperson of the Department of Political Science and International Relations.

Most recently, he was honored by former student Chuck Lewis, a 1975 UD graduate, and founder of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. This past fall, Lewis created the James R. Soles Fellowship at the center, in honor of his former professor. It enables a UD graduate to spend a year in Washington working at the center and observing national politics firsthand.

In announcing the fellowship, Lewis said, "Jim Soles has this rare quality...I've actually not seen anything like it...where he cares about people directly. It's not corny or insincere, which we sometimes see in Washington. It's real and genuine.

"I saw a lot of students who came to this University who weren't going to become Rhodes Scholars and who didn't know what they wanted to do," Lewis said. "Jim Soles would take time and sit down with them and talk about their life and their parents and their families and their goals. There are very, very few people on this planet that care about other people like that. Jim Soles has hundreds-hundreds, plural-of young people, whose lives were impacted because of that deep personal concern."

In l991, Soles received the del Tufo Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities from the Delaware Humanities Forum. Soles earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida State University and his doctorate in government from the University of Virginia.

The Land and Sea Lecture Series is sponsored by the UD Office of Alumni and University Relations. For more information, call (302) 735-8200 or (302) 855-1620.

-Beth Thomas