Webster University: Janessa Gans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 1, 2007

Former U.S. Official in Iraq to Discuss Blackwater at Webster University Nov. 7

Former US official in Iraq and consultant to the State Department on Iraq, Janessa Gans, will discuss her Middle Eastern experience and the security services she received from the much-disputed private military security firm, Blackwater, Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m. in the Webster University University Center Sunnen Lounge, 175 Edgar Road, Webster Groves, Missouri. The event is free and open to the public, is part of the Holden Public Policy Forum's Pizza and Politics series and includes an open discussion moderated by former Missouri Governor Bob Holden. A question-and-answer session will follow.

Gans was a US government specialist on the Middle East and has spent considerable time overseas, including nearly two years in Iraq from 2003-2005 and in the Palestinian Territories in 2006. Gans has founded a non-governmental organization called The Euphrates Institute, whose purpose it is to build relations between the Middle East and the West. She has written several opinion articles on Iraq and the Middle East that has been published nation wide. Her most recent op-ed was entitled, "I Survived Blackwater," which ran in the Oct. 6 Los Angeles Times and garnered national media attention. Gans holds a Master's degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

To arrange an interview with Janessa Gans, contact Christine Wells Eason, director of media relations, Webster University Office of Public Affairs, at 314-968-5976 or eason@webster.edu.

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The Holden Public Policy Forum at Webster University is a bi-partisan speaker series, created by former Missouri Governor Bob Holden and Webster University President Richard S. Meyers that bring public policy
leaders to St. Louis to discuss key national and international issues. For more information about the Holden Public Policy Forum, visit www.webster.edu/holdenppf or call 314-968-7423. Webster University is a nonprofit, international university, based in St. Louis, Missouri, with a worldwide network of more than 100 campuses across the United States, Europe and Asia.