OSU sets O'Toole International Speaker Series for March 31
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Dr. June Henton, professor and dean of the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University,
will speak on “Universities Joining the Fight Against Hunger” during the Dean Lela
O’Toole International Speaker Series at Oklahoma State University. Henton’s public
presentation will be held in the Wes Watkins Center Auditorium at 2:30 p.m. on Monday,
March 31. There is no charge for the event. The OSU College of Human Sciences and
the Division of International Studies and Outreach are sponsoring the event as part
of Human Sciences Week 2014.
Through a 2004 partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Henton lead Auburn
University into a higher education war on hunger campaign. The widely regarded Auburn/WFP
educational model addresses both short-term and long-term solutions to alleviating
hunger through an action agenda that encompasses (1) hunger awareness, consciousness-raising,
and fundraising; (2) advocacy; and (3) academic initiatives including teaching, research,
and outreach.
A primary result of this partnership was the establishment of Universities Fighting
World Hunger (UFWH), which was founded by Henton in 2006 at the inaugural University
Hunger Summit. UFWH works with the World Food Programme to engage students directly
in hunger-reduction strategies and to create and/or adapt curricula that will educate
students about issues of human sustainability and social justice.
“The model addresses both domestic and global hunger,” Henton said. “It operates
under the premise that every academic discipline has a role to play in the fight against
hunger, and it brings universities together in unprecedented collective action to
take their place at the table with other activists and experts in the hunger community.”
Eight years later, UFWH has more than 300 participating college and university campuses
around the globe with a positive trajectory for continued growth.
“UFWH grassroots initiatives, like the Why Care Campaign, World Food Day, and record-breaking
food packaging events, are happening all over the country and around the world,” Henton
said.
In 2012, Henton was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for her efforts
to strengthen food security in the United States and around the world.
A native of Hominy, Okla., Henton earned her bachelor’s degree in Home Economics
Education and Community Service in 1961 from Oklahoma State University. She completed
her master’s degree at the University of Nebraska, and her doctorate at the University
of Minnesota. She was also conferred the Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa by
the University of Guelph for her “drive to foster an international effort to create
a more sustainable world, free of hunger and full of an active youth.”
Established in 1995, The Dean Lela O’Toole International Speaker Series in the College
of Human Sciences focuses on timely and relevant topics related to public policy,
ethics, and international issues in the scholastic areas of the college. Lela O’Toole
served as dean of the College of Human Sciences from 1951-1975. She believed universities
have an important role in the conduct of international and world affairs. Dean O’Toole’s
interest in the world community led the college and Oklahoma State University to a
position of international leadership during the mid-twentieth century.