U.S. Diplomat Hillas (UMaine ’76) to Speak at
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Kenneth M. Hillas Jr., the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Prague, will return to his alma mater on Wednesday Oct. 13 to give a talk, “The Enlargement of the European Union.” UMaine’s second event in this semester’s International Affairs Lecture Series, Hillas’ lecture is co-organized by UMaine’s International Affairs Program and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau for Public Diplomacy.
Hillas graduated from UMaine in 1976. In his current role, he is the principal adviser to the ambassador and serves as the chief operating officer of the embassy. His distinguished 24-year career with the Foreign Service has included posts in Russia, Italy, Serbia and South Africa.
His Wednesday talk is scheduled for 12 noon in the Bodwell Lounge, Maine Center for the Arts. Hillas is expected to address a variety of issues, including whether the European Union will retain its capacity to act with the addition of new members and whether the eight former Communist countries that are now part of the EU have become genuine democracies.