Dean and Rove address health issues for Distinguished Speaker Series

University Park, Pa. -- Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to President George W. Bush, will give a joint lecture on health care reform at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Eisenhower Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus as part of the 2009-10 Distinguished Speaker Series.

The event is free and open to the public but tickets are required for admittance. Tickets will be available for students -- two issued per I.D. -- on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and available to faculty, staff and the general public on Tuesday, Oct. 20, based on availability. Bags, backpacks and large purses will not be permitted.

As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dean made the Democratic Party competitive in every race in every district throughout the nation, helped to build party infrastructure in every state and laid the groundwork for the party's electoral gains. He is the founder of Democracy for America, and was a 2004 candidate for the Democratic nomination for president and the governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003. Under his leadership, Vermont paid down its debt and by 2001 had a surplus of $100 million. Through his health care plan, 96 percent of Vermont's children now have health care coverage and more than a third of Vermont's Medicare recipients receive state help in paying for their prescription drugs.

While at the White House as senior adviser to the president and deputy chief of staff, Rove, who is also a Fox News contributor and Wall Street Journal and Newsweek columnist, oversaw the Offices of Strategic Initiatives, Political Affairs, Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs. As deputy chief of staff for policy, he coordinated the White House policymaking process. Before working with Bush, Rove was president of Karl Rove & Company, an Austin, Texas-based public affairs firm that worked for Republican candidates, nonpartisan causes and nonprofit groups.

Tickets are available at the following times and locations:

Eisenhower Auditorium, corner of Shortlidge and Eisenhower roads, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; HUB-Robeson Center, on Pollock Road, weekdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Bryce Jordan Center, corner of University Drive and Curtin Road, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., all on the University Park campus; and Penn State Tickets Downtown, in the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 146 S. Allen St., State College, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information about the Distinguished Speaker Series and the Student Programming Association, visit http://www.spa.psu.edu/dss.html.