Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Recipient of the Inaugural International Labour Organization Decent Work Research Prize, To Present Lecture at Pitt Sept. 18

PITTSBURGH-University of Pittsburgh Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies Carmelo Mesa-Lago will present a free public lecture at 4 p.m. Sept. 18, titled "Lessons for the United States From Social Security Reform in Latin America." The event is being held in recognition of Mesa-Lago's recently awarded Inaugural International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Research Prize, which he shared with Nobel Peace Laureate Nelson Mandela, former president of the Republic of South Africa. The event, which is cohosted by the School of Arts and Sciences' Department of Economics and the Center for Latin American Studies, is being held in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, 650 Schenley Dr., Pittsburgh.

The prize for extraordinary lifetime contribution to knowledge, understanding, and advocacy on the central concerns of the ILO was awarded to Mesa-Lago in recognition of his major scholarly contributions to the analysis of socio-economic relationships and policy instruments for the advancement of decent work. Throughout the years, Mesa-Lago has had a significant impact on social security and pension reform in Latin America.

The prize, created by the ILO's International Institute for Labour Studies, was awarded during the closing plenary of ILO's International Labour Conference June 15 in Geneva.

Mesa-Lago, a Pitt faculty member since 1967, is a former director of the University's Center for Latin American Studies within the University Center for International Studies, where he founded and edited the journal Cuban Studies. He is the author of more than 60 books and 200 articles published in eight languages in 33 countries.

For more information, contact Paula Riemer at 412-648-7073 or PaulaR@pitt.edu.

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