Four decades after walking across the commencement stage, Russ Feingold will return to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in fall 2018 as a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in International Studies.
The former state and U.S. senator will teach a capstone seminar for International Studies majors entitled “Negotiating Peace in the African Great Lakes Region.”
“I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater to teach, having benefitted so greatly from the education I received at UW–Madison,” Feingold said.
Though chiefly known for his role in bringing bipartisan legislation to the Senate floor, Feingold has long been lauded as the Senate’s leading expert on Africa and African affairs. He served on the Foreign Relations subcommittee on African Affairs for 16 years, acting as ranking member beginning in 1995 with stints as Chairman from 2001 to 2003 and 2007 to 2011.
In 2013, former Secretary of State John Kerry appointed Feingold as special envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa. For more than two years, he worked to elevate a region long overlooked in U.S. foreign policy conversations. Former Senate colleague Chris Coons praised his relentless advocacy for “responsible and constructive U.S. engagement” in sub-Saharan Africa. Most notably, Feingold helped persuade the March 23 Movement in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to lay down its weapons, putting an end to one of the most serious armed conflicts in the region.