By Leanne Smith | lsmith12@mlive.com
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on August 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM
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In March 2012, former Albion College President Donna Randall, left, and Susan Ford Bales unveil the President Gerald R. Ford maquette that will stand outside the office of Albion College’s Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service. Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell is in the background.
Courtesy of Albion College
ALBION, MI – Susan Ford Bales, daughter of former President Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford, will deliver this year’s Albion College William K. Stoffer Lecture, the centerpiece of the college’s Opening Convocation.
Her presentation, titled “The American Presidency: Before Jerry and Betty – and After,” follows a processional, which begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, in the college’s Goodrich Chapel.
The convocation is free and open to the public.
In March 2012, Ford Bales was present with former Albion College President Donna Randall when a maquette that was given to Albion College was unveiled at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids.
The maquette, a small bronze sculpture of President Ford, has been permanently installed at Albion College’s Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service in Robinson Hall.
Ford Bales will receive an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Albion College during the convocation.
President Ford’s relationship with Albion College dates back to 1963 when, as a U.S. Congressman, he began serving a five-year term on its board of trustees. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1965. The establishment of the Ford Institute was announced by President Ford on Albion’s campus in October 1977.
The nation’s first educational program to be named for Ford, the institute allows undergraduate students to fully explore policy issues and prepare for leadership positions in public service.
In its nearly 35 years, the institute has graduated 700 students who have gone on to careers in all levels of public service, as well as in law, journalism, social services and education.
The youngest child and only daughter of the Fords, Ford Bales served as a White House hostess while in high school, following her mother’s breast cancer surgery, according to an Albion College news release. With her mother, she also helped launch National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the release said.
Ford Bales worked as a photojournalist for several national magazines before devoting her energies to public service, the release said. Since 1981, she has served as a trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and currently serves as co-chair of the foundation’s programs committee, it said.