First female president of Malawi to present Landon Lecture

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The first female president of Malawi will deliver a Landon Lecture in the Kansas State Student Union on Monday morning. The lecture is open to the public and will take place in Forum Hall at 10:30 a.m.

Joyce Banda served as the president of Malawi from 2012 to 2014, and, according to K-State News, she is credited with healing the country’s hurting economy. Malawi’s economic growth rate stood at 1.8 percent when Banda entered office and grew to 6.2 percent when she left. The country’s operational industrial capacity also increased from 35 percent to 85 percent.

Since leaving office, Banda has worked as an activist and philanthropist, serving on the boards of Nutrition International Canada and the Tana High Level Forum of Peace and Security in Africa as well as the Council of Women World Leaders.

Banda also founded the Joyce Banda Foundation International in 1997, which supports the empowerment of women and programs dealing with HIV/AIDS, leadership training and human rights.

In both 2013 and 2014, Forbes magazine named Banda as one of the most powerful black women in the world.

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Hey, hi, hello! I’m Rachel Hogan, the copy chief for The Collegian. I’m a senior in journalism from Olathe, Kansas. When I’m not at work in the newsroom, I like to spend my time cuddling with my dog, working as a barista and laughing with my friends.