Former CIA Director James Woolsey will be giving a guest lecture in the Crum Auditorium today. The lecture, sponsored by the Cox School of Business and the Maguire Energy Institute, is entitled “Defeating the Oil Weapon.”

Select students, faculty and members of the community can attend the lecture, which is geared towards people interested in international affairs, the environment and energy.

“I expect he [Woolsey] will focus on threats to national security and their links to our energy infrastructure,” Ahnert said.Woolsey’s past jobs have helped spark his views on many of these pertinent subjects.

According to “Grist Magazine,” over the course of a dozen years, Woolsey held presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations. He has served as undersecretary of the Navy, as well as director of the CIA under President Clinton from 1993 to 1995.

Woolsey has become an influential advocate of energy independence, and he has been involved with the Energy Future Coalition and the National Commission on Energy Policy. These two nonpartisan groups are pushing for an energy strategy concerned more with the future, stronger fuel economy and renewable energy provisions to energy bills.

“With the recent damage to our oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and to the Gulf Coast refineries, this is a very hot topic right now,” Ahnert said. “Woolsey has been thinking about these issues for at least 25 years and has a lot to say.”

Other sponsors for the event include the World Affairs Council of Greater Dallas and the Dallas chapter of the Sierra Club. The lecture will be held today from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Crum Auditorium of the Collins Executive Education Center. Parking is available on Bishop Boulevard and in the Meadows Museum parking garage, and admission is free of charge for all guests.