Humanitarian and New York Times bestselling author Greg Mortenson to speak at UIS

WHAT: Tickets are now on sale for humanitarian and author Greg Mortenson’s appearance at the University of Illinois Springfield. Mortenson is the co-founder of the nonprofit Central Asia Institute, Pennies for Peace and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea.

WHEN: Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Sangamon Auditorium

DETAILS: Three Cups of Tea is mandatory reading for all U.S. military commanders and Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan. The book has sold over four million copies, been published in 45 countries and was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 170 weeks following its release.

Mortenson’s new book, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan, was released by Viking on December 1, 2009 and debuted as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list.

As of 2010, Mortenson has established over 141 schools, and another five dozen temporary refugee schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 64,000 children, including 52,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.

Several bi-partisan U.S. Congressional representatives have nominated Mortenson twice for the Nobel Peace Prize in both 2009 and 2010. President Obama designated $100,000 of his Nobel Peace Prize award to be donated to Mortenson’s effort in Afghanistan in March 2010.

Ticket Information:

Tickets for this event are $30 and are on sale now. To order tickets call the Sangamon Auditorium Ticket Office at 217-206-6160 or toll free at 1-800-207-6960. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the Ticket Office, which is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.