Adelphi University will showcase *Global Passage: Selections from the Robert R. McMillan Panama Canal Collection,* beginning Wednesday, December 2, 2009 and ending Sunday, January 10, 2010, in the Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY. The timing of the exhibit coincides with the tenth year from the transfer of the Canal to Panama per the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The exhibit will feature holdings from the Robert R. McMillan Panama Canal Collection in University Archives and Special Collections, curated by Special Collections Librarian Elayne Gardstein and Project Archivist Claudia Lemlich. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2009 in the Ruth S. Harley University Center from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., to be followed by a brief presentation by Robert R. McMillan *57. The event is free and open to the public.

The Panama Canal Collection offers a historical perspective of Panama, the Panama Canal, and the Panama Canal Commission. It includes documents, books, and other items dating back to the initial attempts to build the Canal by the French government in the late nineteenth century and the success of the United States effort in the early twentieth century. There are materials related to the strategic and economic importance of the Canal in today*s global economy. The collection consists of correspondence created by Robert R. McMillan, former board member and chairman of the Panama Canal Commission, official letters written by other board members and important figures. There are essays, articles, and chapters included in Mr. McMillan*s book Global Passage, as well as a selection of manuscripts centering on the Panama Canal, dating from 1989 to 1999. The papers document the transitional period prior to the changeover of control from the United States to the Republic of Panama in 1999. Other items featured in the collection are reports on educational and employment practices, administration, regulations, presentations, financial reports, government reports, audits, newsletters, press releases, proposals, proceedings, tourist guides, certificates, photographs, maps, memorabilia, and media.

Mr. McMillan, of counsel to Bee Ready Fishbein Hatter & Donovan, LLP, has served on various boards of the government, community, and private sectors and is a former member of Adelphi*s Board of Trustees. An advocate of community service with a distinguished legal career, Mr. McMillan founded Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. for affordable housing in 1987. He was appointed to the board of the Panama Canal Commission by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, and served as chairman from 1993 to 1994-the only non-member of the Department of Defense to hold this position. In 2002, he became the first non-physician member on the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association. Mr. McMillan is an alumnus of Adelphi and earned his juris doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School. In 2004, he received the inaugural Ruth S. Harley Distinguished Alumni Award.

To R.S.V.P. for the reception in the Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery, please contact Stephanie Alois at (516) 877-3520 or alois@adelphi.edu. For more information about this event, please visit http://libraries.adelphi.edu/bar/panama/ or contact Special Collections Librarian Elayne Gardstein at 516877.3563.

About Adelphi University: Adelphi University, chartered in 1896, was the first institution of higher education for the liberal arts and sciences on Long Island. Through its schools and programs-The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work-the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,500 students from 41 states and 63 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.