Charles Murray, the W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, will give the BB&T Distinguished Lecture at 3:30 p.m., Friday, March 25, in the Latham Ballroom at the Inn at Virginia Tech.

The talk, hosted by the Pamplin College of Business and part of its BB&T Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism, is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. 

A political scientist and author, Murray has explored culture, crime, libertarianism, human intelligence and social structure, and marriage, family, and social mores in his research and writings.

According to his American Enterprise Institute bio, Murray first came to national attention in 1984 with the publication of  "Losing Ground," which has been credited as the intellectual foundation for the Welfare Reform Act of 1996.

His most recent book, "By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission" (2015), urges Americans to stem governmental overreach and use America’s unique civil society to put government back in its place.

The BB&T lecture series is part of a Pamplin teaching program to explore the foundations of capitalism and freedom. The program’s undergraduate and graduate courses examine alternative economic systems, including socialism and communism, and compare them with the economic solutions offered by free markets. For more information, please contact finance professor and program director Douglas Patterson.

The program was established in 2007 in the college’s finance department with a $1 million gift from BB&T Charitable Foundation.

Free parking is available at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. Find more parking information online, or call 540-231-3200. If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Leanne Brownlee-Bowen at 540-231-7251 or email lbrownle@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. Pamplin emphasizes technology and analysis that improve business, entrepreneurship that leads to innovation and innovative companies, international opportunities for learning and research, and an inclusive, collaborative community. It is named in honor of two alumni: the late Robert B. Pamplin, retired chairman of Georgia-Pacific, and businessman, author, and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr.

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