Alpha Phi Alpha president to be featured ‘fireside chat’ guest

Dr. Willis L. Lonzer III, general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-lettered fraternity for African American men, will be the featured guest of the “Fireside Chat with Dean Martijn Cremers” at 3 p.m. EST on October 6 in the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business’ Jordan Auditorium. The fireside chat, hosted by Martijn Cremers, the Martin J. Gillen Dean of the Mendoza College of Business, will focus on leadership and community service, as well as the challenges of leading service organizations. Lonzer also will offer remarks during the reception and dinner following the chat.

The event is open to the Notre Dame faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the local community. It is part of Mendoza’s Solidarity in Leadership Immersion taking place October 6-7 on the Notre Dame campus. Lonzer is the regional medical director at Horizon Therapeutic in the greater Chicago area. As a medical professional, he has more than 20 years of experience in global medical affairs and pharmaceutical research and development. He began his term as the president of the national Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 2021 and is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which fosters cooperative actions of its charter members in dealing with matters of mutual concern. Lonzer earned a bachelor of science in chemistry from Delaware State University and his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Akron. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the Mendoza College of Business began an ongoing partnership effort in July of 2021 that included a two-day Alpha Phi Alpha Inclusive Leadership Immersion in October of 2021 at Notre Dame focusing on career development and professional degree opportunities. As part of the partnership, the College also offered a designated fellowship program, waived application fees to its graduate programs and required entrance exams, and provided test preparation programming, early access to Mendoza graduate business career coaching and alumni mentoring. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, was founded in 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, the Honorable Andrew Young, Edward Brooke and Cornel West. Through more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, the fraternity serves communities in the United States, Canada, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. For more information, visit apa1906.net.