Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former president of Costa Rica, joins Town Hall lecture series

Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the former president of Costa Rica, will kick off the 2023 Ringling College Town Hall lecture series on Jan. 17, replacing Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has had to cancel her appearance, the Ringling College Library Association announced.

Alvarado, the 48th president of Costa Rica, completed his term in May 2022 and was praised for his innovative approach to sustainable energy, ambitious climate policies, and a successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He joined the faculty of The Fletcher School at Tufts University in July and is a Senior Fellow in the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World.

Under Alvarado’s leadership, Costa Rica has contributed to global efforts to combat climate change and defended human rights, democracy, and multilateralism. In February 2019, Alvarado launched Costa Rica’s National Decarbonization Plan, the first of its kind since the Paris Agreement of 2015, establishing a road map to decarbonize the country’s economy by 2050.

Ressa, a free speech and press advocate, was forced to cancel her appearance because of personal legal matters, RCLA said.

Subscriptions as well as single tickets for the Town Hall presentations are available. The series includes mental health advocate Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all-time; Admiral James Stavridis, NATO’s 16th Supreme Allied Commander; New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman; and José Andrés, founder of the World Central Kitchen.

To learn more about the lecture series and to purchase tickets, visit rclassociation.org or call 941-309-5100.

Submitted by Lauren Kurnov

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Ringling College Town Hall lecture series adds Carlos Alvarado Quesada