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December 6, 2013 (New York, NY) – As the world honors the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the iconic international civil rights advocate and symbol of freedom, who died yesterday at the age of 95, the Leitner Center’s Professor Gay McDougall, Mulligan Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Law, has been sharing her own memories of working with him. Professor McDougall served as a member the South African Election Commission, which oversaw the country’s first democratic, non-racial elections in 1994. She stood next to him when he voted for the first time that year. Mandela went on to become South Africa’s first post-apartheid President – leading the country from the darkness of racial segregation to democracy and reconciliation.
Professor McDougall has made a number of appearances today to discuss his life, impact, and legacy. On Monday, December 9, 2013, she will travel to South Africa to join in the celebration of his life, pay her respects, and participate in memorial events. “I think that [Nelson Mandela] stands for the importance of personal commitment, for being true to one’s principles, of working with people who share that kind of a vision, and of modeling a new kind of leadership for the future,” Professor McDougall said on a segment of PBS Newshour dedicated to remembering Nelson Mandela.
“I think these are all lessons that young people in the United States, as well as throughout Africa, are going to continuously turn to,” Professor McDougall said. “He is a figure that is going to, in many ways, live forever. His lessons to us will live forever.”
Below is a compilation of her media appearances as they become available online:
Professor Gay McDougall, Good Morning America [Interview begins at 42:47]
Professor Gay McDougall, This Week with George Stephanopoulos
Photo credit: United Nations/Chris Sattlberger; Photo was cropped from original.
