A.P.E.X. Events Welcomes National Park Scholar Al Runte
Published: November 03, 2020 | Author: Kenzie Lundberg | Read Time: 2 minutes
A.P.E.X. Events and Southern Utah University are proud to present internationally recognized national park and public lands scholar Al Runte. Runte will present “The Legacy of Our National Parks” on Thursday, November 12 at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Hunter Conference Center at SUU.
“Aside from being an incredible historian, an intuitive writer, and a strong advocate for our National Parks, Al Runte is above all, a storyteller,” said Ryan Paul, lecturer of history at SUU. “His work on our public lands and the railroads that helped create and promote them have become essential reading not just for historians, but the American public. Al places our National Parks, rightly so, as one of the crowning achievements of the American experience.”
Runte is the author of five critically acclaimed books on national parks, railroads, and the natural environment, including “National Parks: The American Experience,” considered standard in the field. He was a principal consultant to Ken Burns during production of the PBS documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," and appeared in all six episodes of the Emmy Award-winning series.
In April 2011, Runte was elected to membership in the College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame at Illinois State University “in recognition of exemplary achievement” as a teacher and public scholar. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University), a master’s degree from Illinois State University, and a Ph.D. in American Environmental History from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Runte has been a guest on Nightline, The Today Show, 48 Hours, the History and Travel channels, and speaks frequently in public forums on the need to protect our parks. Nationally and regionally, he has been an outspoken advocate for the preservation of America's wilderness landscape against urban and industrial blight.
“At SUU we have prided ourselves on being the University of the Parks for years, and we treasure our connection to the breath-taking parks around us,” said Dr. Lynn Vartan, director of A.P.E.X. Events at SUU. “Al Runte’s message about how the parks came to be and the legacy of them for the future is an essential one for us. Join us to learn the history of the parks and the needs and desires for them moving forward into the future."
A.P.E.X. Events is SUU’s premier weekly lecture series, with speakers and presenters invited from all areas of the world. While on campus, guests are invited to interact with students and faculty in multiple ways, with opportunities to connect and network in vast areas of scholarship. All A.P.E.X. events are free and open to the public.
This semester, A.P.E.X. Event presentations will also be streamed live via Zoom. Join the event virtually at suu-edu.zoom.us/j/95861182001?pwd=U2NpZnhNR1NDMGtndWt0RVNSNEJLZz09