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CORVALLIS - Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, whose first weeks in office have focused on developing a bipartisan effort with the legislature, will deliver the annual Gov. Tom McCall Memorial Lecture at Oregon State University on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

His talk, which will focus on a message of hope for Oregon's future, begins at 7 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center. It is free and open to the public.

In his lecture, Kulongoski will touch upon the legacy of McCall, who was known as a political maverick, and present some of his own ideas about Oregon's future.

Kulongoski, 62, grew up in Missouri and entered the U.S. Marine Corps after high school. After later graduating with undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri, he opened his own law firm in Eugene. In 1974, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, and four years later, to the Oregon Senate.

Oregonians elected Kulongoski into the office of Attorney General in 1992, and to the Oregon Supreme Court in 1996. He is one of the few Oregonians to have served in the three branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial.

The OSU lectureship is named after Tom McCall, who served as Oregon governor from January of 1967 to January of 1975. After he finished his second term of office, McCall came to OSU and taught political science and journalism before returning to Portland as a commentator for KATU-TV. In 1982, the OSU College of Liberal Arts created the lectureship to honor McCall's legacy and to bring to campus notable people in journalism and political science.

Kulongoski's appearance continues a tradition of Oregon governors speaking in the series. Other governors who delivered the lecture while in office have included John Kitzhaber, 1995; Barbara Roberts, 1991; and Neil Goldschmidt, 1987. Former Gov. Bob Straub delivered the 1989 lecture, and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden spoke in 1996. Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus was the 1986 McCall lecturer. And in the year 2000, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered the McCall lecture.

Notable speakers from different careers have included Washington Post columnists David Broder and William Raspberry; CBS journalists Terry Drinkwater, Richard Threlkeld and Betsy Aaron; Oregon political analyst Floyd McKay; and former Oregon editor and educator J.W. "Bud" Forrester.