Media Advisory: Malala Yousafzai to lead off 31st annual Distinguished Speakers Series at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai will open the University at Buffalo’s 2017-18 Distinguished Speakers Series at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19, in Alumni Arena on the UB North Campus.

A champion since the age of 10 of the right for girls to receive an education, Malala made headlines when she was shot by the Taliban in 2012 at the age of 15 while traveling home from school on the bus with her friends in Pakistan.

Now living with her family in Birmingham, England, she is internationally known for her courage in refusing to be silenced and continues to campaign for the right of every child to go to school.

Malala is the co-recipient with Kailash Satyarthi of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and children’s educational rights. Aged 17 at the time, she was the youngest-ever to receive the Nobel Prize laureate.

Lecture sponsors are the Girls Education Collaborative, a Buffalo-based nonprofit that works to equip girls in developing countries to transcend their circumstances, realize their fullest potential and become catalysts for change; and the UB School of Management Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness. Built on a foundation of high-impact scholarship and problem-focused organizational and economic engagement, CLOE strives to advance research, education and outreach in leadership and organizational development.

During the sold-out program, audio and/or video photography, as well as still photography, will be limited to the first five minutes of her lecture.

Working media may reserve tickets for the program by contacting Christine Vidal in the UB Office of Communications at 716-697-2935 or vidal@buffalo.edu no later than noon on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Reserved tickets may be picked up at the will-call window in Alumni Arena prior to the program. Media may need to show press credentials in order to be admitted to the program.