The lecture is held annually to honor public service, said Political Science Department Chairman Harry Wessel.
Professor James J. St. Germain was a renowned figure on campus, Wessel said. He taught at Merrimack from 1951-1981in the History, Political Science and Social Science departments. St. Germain founded the Political Science Department and served as its first chairman for 13 years.
“We do (the lecture) to honor the memory of James St. Germain,” Wessel said.
Wessel has a couple of red folders in his office chock full of testimonials for St. Germain and pictures of him with political dignitaries such as then-Sen. John F. Kennedy.
Moulton is a first-term congressman representing Massachusetts’ Sixth District. He’s a Harvard University graduate who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer during some of the fiercest fighting. He left the corps as a captain in 2008.
Previous speakers in the lecture series have included Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe while he was still chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, and then-Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Timothy Murphy.
The Policital Science Department will induct five students into the honor society’s Pi Sigma Alpha’s Psi Tau Chapter as part of the program. Inductees include Bridgette Custis ’18, of Ellsworth, Maine; Jasmine Guerrette ’17, of Lawrence, Mass.; Meghan Lang ’16, of Peabody, Mass.; Jaspreet Singh ’16, of Boxborough, Mass.; and Matthew Smith ’17, of Tewksbury, Mass.
Students must complete at least 62 credits, including 15 in political science courses, and have at least a 3.0 grade point average in their major and cumulative grades to qualify for Pi Sigma Alpha, said Mary McHugh, director of Stevens Service Learning Center.
“Beyond the recognition here on campus that they have done solid work in political science, they will be recognized at graduation,” McHugh said.
