Franois Bujon de l'Estang, the French ambassador to the United States, will visit the Cornell University campus Sept. 29 to give an address, visit with students, faculty and administrators and tour the campus.

The ambassador's lecture, at 4:35 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall, is titled "France, Europe and Transatlantic Relations" and is free and open to the public. He will be introduced by Cornell President Hunter Rawlings.

In his lecture, to be delivered in English, Bujon de l'Estang will address such issues as French President Jacques Chirac's vision of the post-Cold War relationships among France, Europe and the United States, while also outlining areas of likely or necessary concord and cooperation, said Steven L. Kaplan, Cornell's Goldwin Smith Professor of History.

"[France and the United States] share fundamental values, yet rivalries of all sorts and differences in style as well as in substance separate us," Kaplan said. Bujon de l'Estang also will discuss persistent friction between France and the United States regarding trade, NATO, Bosnia and perhaps Africa, he said.

While on campus, Bujon de l'Estang will view the French collection of rare books at Cornell's Carl A. Kroch Library, visit the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and tour the campus with Philip E. Lewis, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He also will interact with undergraduate students in a class dealing with French language and culture.

Kaplan, the founder of the interdisciplinary French Studies Program at Cornell and a member of the French Ministry of Culture's Order of Arts and Letters, said the ambassador chose to visit Cornell because the university was named a "center of excellence" in French studies by the French government in 1996.

Editors: Seats at the lecture for the media have been reserved in the auditorium.

"Centers of excellence are universities in which teaching and research in the various disciplines concerned with France and Francophone culture are considered to be the most creative and fruitful," Kaplan said. Only six other universities in the United States -- Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Chicago and Stanford -- boast this status.

Prior to his appointment as ambassador to the United States, Bujon de l'Estang served as the ambassador to Canada, from 1989 to 1991. He also has worked in the private sector with various companies. He created FBE International Consultants in 1992, a consulting firm specializing in international relations, policy risk analysis and government counseling.

When Chirac became prime minister in 1986, Bujon de l'Estang was named his senior adviser for diplomatic affairs, defense and cooperation. He was named ambassador to the United States in 1995 after Chirac was elected president.

"Chirac is said to have [offered him the ambassadorship] because he 'knew how to talk to Americans' better than any other French diplomat," Kaplan said.

The ambassador's visit is sponsored by the French Studies Program.