State Senator James Skoufis to Deliver Hartwick College’s 2026 Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture

New York State Senator James Skoufis will deliver the 2026 Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture on Thursday, March 5, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Celebration Room at Shineman Chapel House on the Hartwick College campus. His presentation, “Pay Your Damn Taxes! Holding Corporations Accountable to the Public,” is free and open to the public.

Skoufis, a four-term state senator currently representing the 42nd Senate District, serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. He previously served in the New York State Assembly after beginning his public service career on the Woodbury Town Board in Orange County. When elected to the Assembly in 2012 at age 25, he became its youngest member.

Skoufis and his family moved from Queens to Woodbury in 1995. After graduating from Monroe-Woodbury High School, he became the first in his immediate family to attend college. He earned a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.

Lecture Honors Leslie Rude

The lecture honors Leslie Rude, a former Hartwick College faculty member and administrator. Following his death in 1998, his widow, Marion Rude, and Professor Emeritus Norma Hutman established the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture to reflect his passionate interests in political science and public speaking, and his commitment to public life. The annual lecture brings a prominent speaker with political expertise to campus to share ideas with students, faculty and community members about issues pertinent to the current political climate.

For additional information on the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture, contact Matthew Chick, assistant professor of political science and pre-law program coordinator, at chickm@hartwick.edu.