John E. Parkerson, Jr., director of International Programs for Clayton State University, is planning an extended trip to Europe, specifically to Hungary and the Republic of Georgia.
Parkerson leaves for Hungary on June 27, where he will attend the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s “Ronald Reagan Centennial Dinner” at the Hungarian Parliament. Also in attendance will be the deputy prime minister of Hungary and former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese. Parkerson will also attend, along with former Secretary of State Condoleesa Rice, the June 30 opening of the Tom Lantos Institute and the unveiling of the Ronald Reagan statue in Budapest.
Parkerson points out that the former President Reagan holds a special place in Hungarian memories as an instrumental figure in the final days of Central-Eastern European Communism and the fall of the Soviet Union.
While he’s in Hungary, Parkerson also has a series of meetings arranged with some of his local contacts from the education, business and government fields.
After leaving Hungary, Parkerson will head to Tbilisi, Georgia on Thursday, July 7 to deliver the commencement address at the Georgian American University (GAU) on Sunday, July 10. The title of his address is: “Georgia to Georgia: How Education Advances U.S.-Republic of Georgia Ties.”