Baltimore, Md. – Former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder will discuss “Women and Leadership” at UMBC as part of Women's History Month and the twentieth anniversary of Women's Studies at UMBC. Sponsored by the Office of the President, Schroeder's talk will be held on the seventh floor of UMBC's Albin O. Kuhn Library at 7 p.m. on March 6, 2002. The event is free and open to the public.

Schroeder is President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), national trade organization of the U.S. book publishing industry. She left Congress undefeated in 1996 after serving in the House of Representatives for 24 years. From January to June 1997, held the rank of Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She is currently leading New Century/New Solutions, a think tank for the Institute for Civil Society in Newton, Massachusetts, and Co-Chairs of the Democracy Online Project's National Task Force, which is funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1940, Mrs. Schroeder graduated magna cum laude in 1961 from the University of Minnesota (working as an insurance claims adjuster to support herself through college). Mrs. Schroeder went on to Harvard Law School, one of only 15 women in a class of more than 500 men. She earned her J.D. in 1964 and moved to Denver, Colorado with her husband James, who encouraged her to challenge an incumbent Republican for Colorado's First Congressional District seat in 1972.

About Women's History Month
The first women's history celebration was held on March 19, 1911, organized by Klara Zetkin, a German woman who called the event International Women's Day. A Californian school district began to celebrate Women's History Week in March of 1978, to coincide with the celebration of International Women's Day. In 1981 Congress passed a resolution making the week a national week of celebration which grew into Women's History Month in 1987.

About Women's Studies at UMBC
UMBC's Women's Studies program, founded in 1982, offers an undergraduate certificate or minor. Program coursework and discussions seek to help students understand and articulate how gender makes a difference in the lives and experiences of women, as well as men; in the practices and institutions of human societies and in the cultural products of societies, such as art and literature. The program emphasizes the importance of historical and cross-cultural perspectives, women's studies critically examines the intersections of gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and ability to make visible structures of power that otherwise remain hidden.

About UMBC
Founded in 1966, UMBC is a medium-sized, selective, public research university situated on 500 acres between Baltimore, Md. and Washington, DC. UMBC has an enrollment of more than 11,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences and engineering. A campus community rich in cultural and ethnic diversity, UMBC promotes cutting-edge research and creative activity. The campus is home to the nationally-known Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, the Shriver Center, and a number of major research centers. UMBC is a member of the University System of Maryland and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.