French Ambassador to visit May 12

Jean-David Levitte, France’s ambassador to the United States, will visit the UW–Madison campus Thursday, May 12. During his visit to Madison, Mr. Levitte will meet with UW–Madison faculty, staff and students, as well as with government and business leaders.

Ambassador Levitte will give a talk on “France and America: Common Challenges Ahead” at 4:30 p.m. in the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. The talk is free and open to the public.

Ambassador Levitte has had a distinguished 30-year career in the French Foreign Service, serving on the staff of two French presidents. Before becoming ambassador to the U.S. in 2002, Levitte was appointed French Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York by President Jacques Chirac.

Levitte had served as Senior Diplomatic Adviser to President Chirac from 1995 to 2000. Other positions have included Assistant Secretary for Asia and Undersecretary for Cultural and Scientific Cooperation in the Foreign Ministry, and French Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva from 1988 to 1990.

Born in 1946 in the south of France, Ambassador Levitte has a law degree and is a graduate of Sciences-Po, the Institute for Political Science in Paris. He studied Chinese and Indonesian at the National School of Oriental Languages.

French language and culture have been an integral part of Wisconsin since the early 17th century. In 1634, Frenchman Jean Nicolet established a fur trade in the region, which became known as New France. Many of Wisconsin’s cities and towns bear names that recall the state’s early French connections.

According to Wisconsin Department of Commerce figures, France was the eighth export destination for the state, with $365 million of Wisconsin exports in 2004. There was a 29 percent increase of Wisconsin exports to France in the first two months of 2005 compared the same period last year.

Today, New France lives on at UW–Madison, which is recognized internationally as an important center for French studies and Franco-American partnership.

UW–Madison’s Department of French and Italian is among the top ten in the U.S., distinguished for its tradition of excellence in teaching and research. The department’s Professional French Masters Program has been praised for its efforts to bring the humanities closer to government and the professions.

The department has also worked with the State of Wisconsin in hosting trade and government delegations from France and French- speaking Quebec. UW–Madison’s Center for Interdisciplinary French Studies, a member program of UW–Madison’s International Institute, is one of only 16 such programs nationally. Each year, about 100 UW students study abroad in France or French-speaking countries.

UW–Madison also has several important partnerships with French universities and educational organizations in a variety of disciplines and fields of study, including business, medicine, engineering and education.

UW–Madison was recently selected to receive a grant from FACE (French American Cultural Exchange) to support the development of a joint curriculum on environmental studies with Montpellier ENSAM-Agro, which will allow students from Madison and Montpellier to explore a bicultural approach to environmental issues.

During Levitte’s visit, two new joint initiatives between the French Embassy and UW–Madison will be highlighted, the French Resource Center and the French Internet Resources Gateway. Both these initiatives foster educational outreach to teachers of French. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding is expected to be signed between France and the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction.

Levitte’s visit is being sponsored by UW–Madison’s Center for Interdisciplinary French Studies, the Department of French and Italian and the Division of International Studies.