Former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tony Blair is scheduled to speak at the Ateneo MVP Center Sesquicentennial Leadership Forum on March 23, 2009, Monday, at the Rev. Henry Lee Irwin Theater, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. 

 Blair will speak on “The Leader as a Nation Builder in a Globalizing World,” a topic resonating the theme of the Ateneo’s sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary celebration this year of “Building the Nation.”

Blair was named special envoy to the Middle East by his successor Gordon Brown. He is also the recipient of the $1 million Dan David Prize for “his exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict.” He is credited for helping forge the peace agreement in Northern Ireland after decades of armed conflict. 

The Ateneo MVP Center Leadership Forum began in 2006 as an avenue for students to listen to and learn valuable lessons from international leaders in different fields. Past speakers at the forum are Aleksander Kwasniewski, former president of Poland; Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank in Thailand, one of the largest regional banks in Southeast Asia; and Ronnie Chan, chairman of the Hang Lung Properties Limited, one of the largest real estate development, management, and investment firms in Hong Kong. 

This year’s forum is organized by Ateneo de Manila University together with PLDT-Smart Foundation. PLDT-Smart Foundation is the social outreach arm of PLDT, the largest telecommunications company in the country, and supports long-term programs on education, community building, sports development, arts and culture.