George W. Boudreau will deliver a 50 minute biographical presentation entitled ""  He's what Professor Boudreau had to say about his topic: "Could the phrase "great American" be suited to anyone better than Benjamin Franklin?  As a printer, businessman, politician, civic leader, revolutionary, and diplomat, Franklin constantly had to survey the world around himself and adapt to address the problems at hand in his 84-year life.  Often, he went so far as to ‘re-edit' his persona, changing his manner of speaking, his perspective, and the way he looked, to help the causes he supported – the rights of common people, the importance of education, liberty, and freedom.  This lecture, accompanied by numerous slides of visual images of Franklin, explores the uniquely American voice of Pennsylvania's most famous founding father."

George W. Boudreau took his B.A. from Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana.  He earned his M.A. in history fand his Ph.D. in American History from Indiana University.  Since 2000, he has been an Assistant Professor of History and American Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the American Revolution, Native American History, and American Studies topics.  Professor Boudreau has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Indiana University, and West Chester University.  Dr. Boudreau also possesses a wealth of public history experience, having worked on projects with the National Parks Service, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and the Powel House in Philadelphia.

Professor Boudreau is the author of a number of scholarly publications, including: "Highly Valuable and Extensively Useful: Community and Readership among the Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia Middling Sort," Pennsylvania History (Summer 1996).  His Ph.D. dissertation was titled: "The Surest Foundation of Happiness: Education and Society in Franklin's Philadelphia."

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