Lani Guinier, the first tenured African-American woman professor at Harvard and a civil rights attorney, will speak on the topic of "Leading from Behind: A 21st Century Strategy for Leadership," at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 6, at Nightingale Concert Hall in the Church Fine Arts building. An Evening with Lani Guinier is part of the 2014 Forum for Excellence Series hosted by the College of Liberal Arts.

Her accomplishments include serving as a special assistant to Assistant Attorney General Drew S. Days in the Civil Rights Division during the James "Jimmy" Carter administration, head of the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1980s and a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

"Professor Guinier is a distinguished legal scholar who has also written a number of books accessible to a general audience, such as her writings about leadership -a topic relevant to many contexts," Heather Hardy, dean of the University of Nevada, Reno College of Liberal Arts, said.

In her memoir, Lift Every Voice: Turing a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice, she talks about her experience In 1993 when she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. However, her name was withdrawn from the nominees. Guinier has used her accomplishments and experiences to speak to others about leadership.

"The Forum for Excellence lecture series was initiated to bring to campus nationally and internationally recognized thought leaders and scholars to stimulate critical thinking and discussion of ideas pertaining broadly to the liberal arts," Hardy said.

Tickets for the event are free and can be picked up at the Lawlor Events Center and Nightingale box offices prior to the event. Parking is available in the Brian J. Whalen Parking Complex.