To: All Grove City College Faculty and Administration

From: Fred J. Brenner, Biology Department

I am extending an invitation to all Grove City College Faculty and Administration to attend a lecture on Public Policy and Resource Management by Mr. John C. Oliver, former Secretary of the Pennsylvania department of Conservation and Natural Resources at 4:30 P.M. on Monday, February 17, 2003 in the rare book room in the Buhl Library. Mr. Oliver was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge in August 1995 to oversee the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) established on July 1, 1995. As Secretary of DCNR, Mr. Oliver was responsible for the management of all state parks and state forests, Pennsylvania Geologic Survey and the administration of grant programs to benefit river, trails, greenways, local recreation and regional heritage.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Oliver served as president and chief executive officer of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in Pittsburgh for 17 years. As chief executive officer for the Conservancy, he oversaw the protection of thousands of acres of wild lands and natural areas. Through the purchase and conveyance of wildness areas, the conservancy has enables the creation of five state parks and several additions to state forests and game lands.

A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Oliver hold a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in ecology from Kenyon College and master’s degree in government and political science from American University in Washington, D.C. Following his graduation from Kenyon, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War from 1965-66, earning the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star for Valor and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross.

Mr. Oliver has served on the Sewickley Heights Borough Council and Citizens Advisory Council of the former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. He was chairman of both the Citizens Advisory Council from 1985-1988 and Governor’s Tom Ridge’s Transition Team on the Environment in 1994. He is also a member of the External Advisory Committee to the Maurice K. Goddard Chair of Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation at the Pennsylvania State University.

Please encourage you students to attend this lecture by an outstanding public servant and one of our nation’s experts in Public Policy and Natural Resource Management.