The talk is free and open to the public and will take place in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall.
Immediately following the lecture, Paul — on behalf of the French government — formally will recognize WUSTL alumna Elizabeth Gentry Sayad as a Chevalier (knight) of L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. The honor recognizes major contributions to French culture and education, both in France and throughout the rest of the world.
For more information, call Robert Fulstone at (314) 757-6860 or email bfulstone@sbcglobal.net.
Graham Paul
Paul assumed the position of consul general of France in Chicago on June 4, 2010. He previously served as deputy head of the French embassy in Berlin (2007-10) and as consul general in Munich (2006-07).
Paul joined the Foreign Service in 1984. He first was posted in Cameroon as second secretary at the French embassy in Yaoundé (1984-87), before returning to Paris to work on German affairs. He served two years in East Berlin at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989-1990). Other postings have taken him to Hamburg, Vienna, Tokyo and Bordeaux.
Sayad
Sayad, who lives in St. Louis, is chair emeritus of Les Amis (The Friends), a French Colonial Heritage preservationist group she founded in 1994, following the Great Flood of ’93.
The organization supports the entire “Creole Corridor” on both sides of the Mississippi River — a region currently in the nomination process for designation as an UNESCO World Heritage site.
Sayad is author of A Yankee in Creole Country: The Unfinished Vision of Justus Post in Frontier St. Louis and The Scarlet Thread, a collection of essays on arts and culture.
She earned a master’s degree in music from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in American culture studies from Washington University, where she also earned a bachelor’s degree. She was awarded a Distinguished Alumna Award from the university in 2000.