Ralph Nader, a long-time consumer advocate and former presidential candidate, will deliver New York University’s Inaugural Dr. Jack G. Shaheen Memorial Lecture on Thurs., May 3, 6:30 p.m. at NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life (Rosenthal Pavilion, 60 Washington Square South, 10th floor [at LaGuardia Place]).

The lecture, presented by NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute and Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, recognizes Jack G. Shaheen (September 21, 1935-July 9, 2017), a professor, author, and NYU Distinguished Visiting Scholar whose work centered on identifying and contesting stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims in the media.

In his lecture, “Ethnicity: Values, Virtues, and Vexations—With Special Attention to Arab Americans,” Nader will address the impact of Shaheen’s work in combating anti-Muslim and anti-Arab discrimination in the U.S.

An author, lecturer, attorney, and political activist, Nader has advocated for safer cars, healthier food, safer drugs, cleaner air and drinking water, and safer work environments. In 2006, he was cited by the Atlantic as one of the 100 most influential figures in American history. TIME magazine called him the “U.S.’s toughest customer,” while the New York Times has written that “[w]hat sets Nader apart is that he has moved beyond social criticism to effective political action.”



Among the advocacy organizations he founded and co-founded are the Center for Study of Responsive Law, Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, Clean Water Action Project, Disability Rights Center, Pension Rights Center, and Project for Corporate Responsibility.

Nader first made headlines as a young lawyer in 1965 with his book Unsafe at Any Speed, which lambasted the auto industry for producing unsafe vehicles. He is also the author of Breaking Through Power (2016) and Animal Envy (2016), among many other books.

Shaheen’s collection of over 3,000 moving images and papers were donated to the NYU Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive in 2010.

The lecture is free and open to the public. RSVP is required here. For more information, please call 212.992.9653. Reporters wishing to attend must contact James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.

Subways: N/R (8th Street), A/C/E/B/D/F/M (West 4th Street), 6 (Astor Place).