O'Meara International Lecture - Jon Huntsman

"U.S. and China: Challenges and Opportunities"

Jon M. Huntsman Jr., former governor of Utah and former U.S. ambassador to China, who has served four U.S. presidents in critical roles around the world, will present the fifth annual Patrick O'Meara International Lecture at Indiana University Bloomington.

Huntsman began his career in public service as a staff assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He has since served presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, in positions including ambassador to Singapore, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Asia, U.S. Trade ambassador and, most recently, U.S. ambassador to China, from 2009 to 2011.

Twice elected as Utah's governor, Huntsman brought about strong economic reforms, tripled the state’s rainy day fund and helped bring unemployment rates to historic lows. During his tenure, Utah was named the best-managed state in America and best state in which to do business.

Today, he serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council and co-founder and honorary co-chair of No Labels, as well as serving on the boards of Ford Motor Co., Caterpillar Corp., Chevron Corp., Huntsman Corp., the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania.

He is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institute, a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a trustee of the Reagan Presidential Foundation and chairman of The Huntsman Cancer Foundation.

He has served as a visiting fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as a distinguished lecturer at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. He is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania and has seven honorary doctorate degrees.