Jim Leach, current chairman of the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH), will give a lecture at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13 in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol. Leach will speak about the importance of the humanities and the role of the humanities in a democratic society as part of the annual meeting of the Central Division of the Community College Humanities Association.

Leach, a native of Iowa, served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 to 2007, representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. He then went on to serve as the interim director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and was the John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. He was appointedNEH chairman by President Barack Obama in August 2009.

The lecture is free and open to the public, though seating is limited. A reception will follow. For more information or for special accommodations, contact Kristine Thomsen at 319-335-0548.