Ruth B. Mandel, nationally-known scholar in the field of women and politics, will speak at Iowa State next week.

Mandel’s first public appearance will be Sunday in the Olmsted Center at Drake University in Des Moines from 7 to 9 p.m. with a speech titled “Moving Forward Together: A Women’s Political Movement.”

A reception honoring Mary Louise Smith and Iowa women political leaders will follow, according to a press release.

On Monday, Mandel will speak on “Women in Higher Education” at 1 p.m. in the Campanile Room of Iowa State’s Memorial Union. She will also be the guest speaker in an ISU journalism class, discussing the topic of “Politics and Public Relations” at 2:10 p.m. in 102 Hamilton Hall.

Following each speech, the floor will be open for discussion on women as leaders in politics and publications, women in higher education and personal experiences, said Robin Hinders, program assistant at the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

Mandel will also be present at the Catt Center’s Annual Strong-Minded Women Reception, Dinner and Awards Ceremony on Monday. More than 200 people are promised to attend, and among them will be state representatives, state officers and family members of Mary Louise Smith, said Julie Snyder-Yuly, secretary of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center.

“The Strong-Minded Women celebration is our major spring event, which will feature Anita Hill,” Diane Bystrom, director of the Catt Center, said. “And we are pleased to have Ruth Mandel, the 1997-98 Mary Louise Smith recipient, here to coincide with Anita Hill. They both are strong-minded women who have contributed significantly to the discussion and scholarship on women in politics and the workplace.”

Mandel, a life-long friend and colleague of Hill, will introduce her. Hill’s speech, “Speaking Truth to Power,” is open to the public and will be held in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union from 8 to 9:30 p.m. on Monday.

On Tuesday, Mandel’s documentary, “Not One of the Boys: Then and Now,” will be shown. A discussion on how things have changed for women in politics over the years will follow the film, Hinders said. That event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in 302 Catt Hall.

Some of the people expected to attend the discussion will be JoAnn Zimmerman, former state legislator from Des Moines, and Florence Buhr, former state representative from Des Moines who is currently on the board of supervisors in Polk County, Bystrom said.

Mandel is director and professor of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. She writes and speaks frequently about women and leadership, with an emphasis on politics.

In May 1993 she was appointed vice chairwoman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council by U.S. President Bill Clinton, according to the press release.