Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon and an award-winning artist, will be the featured guest at the 2011 installment of the Archie McDonald Speaker Series at Stephen F. Austin State University.

"Alan Bean is a member of a most exclusive group - one of 12 people who have walked on the moon and captured the focus and imagination of the nation and the world during the apex of manned space exploration," Dr. Archie McDonald said. "Our speaker series is delighted to feature a fellow Texan who has viewed our world from a perspective few others have experienced."

He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, man's second lunar landing. In 1973, Bean again flew in space as commander of Skylab Mission II, a 59-day mission in which he traveled more than 24 million miles. He later served as backup spacecraft commander for the joint American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and as chief of operations and training and acting chief astronaut until the first flight of the space shuttle.

The conversation will begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus.

Reserve tickets are $75 and available for purchase. These tickets include a private reception with Bean starting at 6 p.m. in the Twilight Ballroom and priority seating during the speaking event.

Free passes for general admission seating may be picked up at the SFA Involvement Center located on the first floor of the student center or at the downtown Nacogdoches Visitors Center, 200 E. Main St.

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Archie P. McDonald Archie P. McDonald has taught history at SFASU for 46 years and served as director of the East Texas Historical Association and editor of the Association’s Journal for 37 years. He is a past president of the Texas State Historical Association, past vice chair of the Texas Historical Commission, and author/editor of more than 20 books on historical topics—and one book of humor titled Helpful Cooking Hints for HouseHusbands of Uppity Women. Along with teaching, McDonald currently serves Stephen F. Austin State University as the University/Community Liaison and is a weekly commentator on National Public Radio. Read More...

Alan Bean Alan Bean was born in Wheeler, Texas, in 1932. He graduated from high school in Ft. Worth in 1950 where in his last year he was selected for a NROTC scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin. Five years later he was awarded a bachelor’s in science and was commissioned Ensign, United States Navy. In 1956 he completed flight training and was awarded Naval Aviator wings. He was assigned to Jet Attack Squadron 44 in Jacksonville, Fla. Four years later he was selected for the Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. When his schooling was completed, Bean was assigned to the Service Test Division. Bean spent three exciting years as a test pilot, flying almost every type of plane in the Navy service. Read More...

The Archie McDonald Speaker Series is designed to honor and preserve the legacy of a distinguished scholar, educator, and community commentator who brings American culture to the average person. The speaker series will host a prominent national figure annually at SFA to discuss contemporary cultural issues—from politics to art—in the tradition of the writings and oral presentations of Dr. McDonald. In the process, the profile of SFA will be enhanced at the national level while the regional community will be enriched at the same time.

The speaker series will include several unique features:

1. The speaker will be accessible to the community at-large through (a) an interactive dialogue with the audience, (b) a separate meeting with students, and (c) a pre-speech dinner open to the public;
2. A curricular focus on the speaker’s topic during the semester of the lecture to deepen academic understanding of contemporary American culture;
3. Publication and distribution of each lecture in an effort to promote a national conversation on issues of public importance.