The University of Toledo will host Dr. Laurie Garduque, director of justice reform with the MacArthur Foundation, at 6 p.m. Monday, April 16 in Doermann Theatre.

She will discuss the role of philanthropy in social change at the free, public event that marks the third of this year’s Jesup Scott Honors College Distinguished Lecture series.

A panel discussion and question-and-answer session will follow her remarks with Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, representatives of the Lucas County Safety and Justice Challenge Team, Commissioner Carol Contrada and Common Pleas Court Judge Gene Zmuda.

“We are thrilled to bring Dr. Garduque to campus. Her program represents one of the finest examples of social change achieved through evidence-based practices,” said Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College. “We’re also very proud to showcase the highly successful local initiative as part of the event. The evening will be a memorable demonstration of how national and local partners can affect meaningful change.”

The MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge is providing support to local leaders from across the country who are determined to tackle one of the greatest drivers of over-incarceration in America — the misuse and overuse of jails.

To continue building upon its comprehensive criminal justice reform efforts, Lucas County was awarded $1.75 million from the Safety and Justice Challenge in 2016 to invest in effective strategies to further reduce the average daily jail population over the next two years while addressing racial and ethnic disparity.

MacArthur is one of the nation’s largest independent foundations. Organizations supported by the foundation work in about 50 countries.

Garduque joined the MacArthur Foundation in 1991 after serving as director of the National Forum on the Future of Children and Families, a joint project of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. From 1984 to 1987, she was the director of governmental and professional liaison for the American Educational Research Association in Washington, D.C. This position followed the year she spent as a Congressional Science Fellow in the U.S. Senate. From 1980 to 1985, Garduque held a faculty position as an assistant professor of human development at Pennsylvania State University.

Garduque received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her PhD in educational psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Guests are invited to stay for a reception following the lecture, which is co-sponsored by The University of Toledo College of Law.

Tickets are free to students and the public by visiting utoledo.edu/honorslecture.