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CORVALLIS - George Dennis O'Brien, a philosopher and former university president who has written extensively about higher education, will give the annual Newman Lecture on Monday, Oct. 13, at Oregon State University.

His lecture, "The University Before and After," begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Construction and Engineering Auditorium of LaSells Stewart Center. It is free and open to the public.

O'Brien is the former president of Bucknell University and the University of Rochester, who gained attention with his 1997 book, "All the Essential Half-Truths About Higher Education." He previously had taught philosophy at Princeton University and other institutions, and has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago. In his lecture, O'Brien will examine the future of universities in a spiritual context.

"Universities are a relatively recent and relatively rare human invention," he said. "Before there were universities in Western Europe, there were monastic schools. When the university movement began, the monks had profound objections to this new-fangled institution."

Given the "brief" history of universities, O'Brien asks, what may follow them?

The Newman Lecture is an annual event that brings a leading Catholic intellectual to campus to speak to the university. It is sponsored by The Newman Center and its student association, and supported by the OSU Philosophy Department, the Hundere Endowment for Religion and Culture, and St. Mary's Catholic Church.