A 1964 U.S. Olympic gold medalist is scheduled to speak at NDSU as part of Native American Heritage Month.

Billy Mills will present “Global Unity Through Global Diversity” on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great room. The event is free and open to the public.

Mills will share what remains consistent in a changing world and a value-based concept of self-empowerment that will help all of us, individually and collectively, to meet change and reach our greatest potential.

Mills is the spokesperson for Running Strong for American Indian Youth. He set a world record while winning a gold medal in the 10,000-meter race at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He is an Oglala Lakota who was raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. On Feb. 15, Mills received the Presidential Citizens Medal at a White House ceremony.

The presentation is co-sponsored by the Centennial Endowment Fund, Cargill, Compass Program Foundation and the Fargo Native American Commission.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.