A Virtual Centennial Birthday Celebration
The University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections Archives
Held virtually via Zoom on November 19, 2020 at 1:00 PM (MST) / 3:00 PM (EST).
Organized by the
Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, The University of Arizona
The University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections
In cooperation with the
Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation
And partially supported by the
David and Eliza King Udall Guest Lecture Endowment
About the Event
Stewart L. Udall is best known for his eight-year tenure as Secretary of the Interior during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. In those years (1961 to 1969), and in advance of the environmental movement of the 1970s, he had an enormous impact on the Nation’s public lands and helped enact legislation on water and air quality, endangered species, and sanitation. Later in his career, he advocated for solar energy and for Indigenous rights, and wrote prolifically about the environment. He left a strong imprint on those issues, which resonates in the United States today.
All throughout his public career—both in and out of government—Stewart Udall traveled across the globe, meeting with political leaders, including those from Native nations, and with like-minded conservationists, environmentalists, and natural resources managers. Those encounters included exchanges on strategies for preserving and protecting natural lands and resources, reducing pollution, and encouraging sustainable practices, while addressing conflicting interests and perspectives. Without calling it that, Secretary Udall was a prototypical environmental diplomat.
This program sheds light on how Stewart Udall used his communications skills, his training in law, his political acumen and influence, and his expansive vision to promote shared environmental values across borders. It opens with a presentation by Secretary Udall’s son, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM). That talk is followed by two substantive keynotes on the theme of the program: Stewart Udall’s public and private work as an environmental diplomat. The first speaker, Stewart Udall's most recent biographer, Scott Einberger, reviews Secretary Udall’s experiences in mitigating conflict by forging domestic and international linkages through pursuit of mutual environmental interests. The second speaker, The Honorable Diane Humetewa, U.S. District Judge, U.S. District Court of Arizona, addresses Secretary Udall’s lifelong championing of American Indian Indigenous sovereignty.
The program then turns to a moderated roundtable panel discussion featuring three individuals who reflect on Secretary Udall’s legacy of environmental diplomacy. The panelists include Karletta Chief (Diné/Navajo), Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at The University of Arizona; Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director for the National Audubon Society; and Kartikeya Singh, Deputy Program Director at the Netherlands-based SED Fund, and 2006 Udall Foundation Scholar. These panelists offer reactions to points made by the speakers and respond to questions by the moderator and remote audience members.
download a PDF version of the presentation slides
